A recent study on voice search indicates that content is more likely to be returned for a query if it ranks in the top 3 web search positions.
SEMRush conducted an in-depth analysis of over 50,000 queries to find out which are the most essential ranking factors behind voice search.
In addition to ranking in the top 3 positions, content is also likely to be returned for a voice query if it’s contained in a SERP feature.
According to the study, 70% of answers returned from voice searches occupied a SERP feature (with 60% of those returning a Featured Snippet result).
The report also goes into detail about how backlinks, text length, page speed, and other factors affect voice search rankings.
Here is a summary of key findings from the study.
Voice Search in 2019: Key Findings
Backlinks
- 50% of answers had backlinks with anchor text that appeared in the question.
- Page Score and Trust Score were slightly higher for answers’ URLs.
- Content returned for voice queries is easy to ready, ranking around 8 on the Flesch Kincaid Grade.
- 80% of Americans would be able to understand/read the answers returned for voice queries.
- Page speed of content returned for voice queries is faster than the average of the top 10 non-answers.
- Some voice search results were over 10 times faster than the average of non-answers.
- Answers were found to have a particularly high input latency of 70%.
First Paint score also appears to be a key factor voice search.
For more data related to voice search rankings, see the full study here.
Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com