What’s all the fuss, and is there any substance to this trend? Yes, more people are comfortable using voice assistants to perform tasks like searching the web. A report published by National Public Media says that there are more than 40M+ smart speaker users in the U.S. alone. And this number is expected to grow, not only in the U.S. but also Worldwide. Nevertheless, there seem to be many misconceptions about the growth of smart speakers and voice search usage in particular. Some “studies,” say that by 2020, more than 50% of all searches will be done using voice. Afaik that number is 20% at the moment. Now, take a moment to reflect on that 30% jump in only one year. Sounds a little out of this world, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. At most, we can expect voice search usage to even out and then see slight increments in new adaptation over the coming few years. But, marketers love to market ideas, and perhaps in the case of voice search, rightfully so. Getting a head start on adapting to this technology will give you a solid business edge for many years to come. And if anything, voice assistant technology will only get smarter and more capable.
For the uninitiated: What is Voice Search?
Voice search lets you talk to your smart devices rather than having you type search queries manually. You can be in your kitchen cooking dinner and look up any missing ingredients without having to distract yourself from the process. Even though the buzz for voice search seems to be emerging more frequently now, it has been around for several years.
Why does voice search matter?
It’s clear as day that brilliant speaker popularity is on the rise, as is the use of mobile apps that provide voice search capabilities. So, there are many good reasons to pay attention to voice-related technology. But even more so if you’re actively optimizing for better exposure on search engines. Despite what analysts might say about the voice search growth over the coming years — the number of people feeling comfortable using voice for their searches is on the rise.
What are the top voice search devices going to be?
Though, it might be helpful to study each product in-depth to understand its unique features and possibilities better. E.g., Google Home Hub provides a screen attachment, which can further improve the user experience of searching for recipes while cooking. But also let people watch the news and other shows without shuffling between television and the computer. Here’s the full list:
ECommerce: Shopping with voice-assisted devices unlikely.
Suman Bhattacharyya from Digiday thinks that this concept isn’t going to see much traction any time soon. This has to do with many user-based factors. For example, it’s foolish to think that you can shop for a new winter coat with nothing but your voice. There has to be some visual exchange, some element of research. Blindly purchasing products by merely uttering a few words isn’t something that appeals to most consumers. At the same time, we’re going to see an increased number of users who use voice devices to shop for domestic items: You know, products from brands that you can trust. Simple household items that you would need to get anyway. But nothing further than that, at least not for the time being. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start optimizing your eCommerce sites for voice search users. Getting ahead of the curve before everyone else will give you a competitive edge over your closest rivals. It’s also beneficial to look into any upcoming case studies to better prepare your store for voice search when the trend rises above the surface level.
Do you know what your brand sounds like?
More or less, brands are always following the money. And that means avoiding voice search won’t be feasible for very long. As voice search penetrates the search index, algorithms will look for user-friendly and easygoing answers to give back to the user. Writing SEO-friendly copy is one thing, but making sure that copy also sounds good is something completely different. For brands, the growth of voice search means finding an authentic brand voice — a balance between insightful content and quickly spoken answers. Most products are advertising in 3rd person, especially startups plaster their landing pages with third-party jargon. The new marketing hustle will be the optimization of copy so that it sounds good when spoken by a smart speaker. Expect there to be a lot more development in this field.
Marketing: Food for thought
Marketing with smart speakers? How hard can it be? Mostly, no one can tell where the voice search is headed shortly. But even then, marketers are bracing themselves for significant changes in the field. When you take out the visual aspect from regular searches, how will you foster user engagement beyond the 3second interaction when a user asks a question? All those hours of hard work (and money!) that have gone into designing websites are all this going to waste? The New York Times ran a piece pondering this very question. If you think about the context for voice searches, a simple question can rely on a single answer. As a result, the SERPs get completely rearranged as voice devices favor singular sites for their concise answers. You also have to consider getting your company in front of voice users. But it’s too early to say anything. Companies who own the smart tech will want to dictate a lot of the direction. That’s something we can be sure of.
Best practices: How to optimize for voice search
If you’re new to voice search optimization, this checklist should give you a clear idea of what you’re up against. Keep insisting that your writers adapt to conversational tones and easy-to-understand paragraph structures.
Add your business information to local SEO directories, and keep them updated.Learn about ‘skills’ such as the Alexa Flash Briefing. Skills can help users to get the content they like more quickly.Continue implementing AMP pages for your site, and start using the ‘Speakable‘ attribute from Schema. Speakable (BETA) lets you mark pieces of appropriate content for accessible voice output.Go back and optimize your images with appropriate tags and titles. There are tens of millions of Google Home users who want to see some awesome photos.Work on polishing your brand presence online. E.g., Get listed on review sites but also keep up regular appearances. Use precise language when responding to any good or bad reviews.Stick with lists and snippets that Google and other search engines can pick up as featured content pieces.
Keep focusing on long-tail keywords and writing with clear intent on the strict SEO side of things. What do you intend for readers to learn from your content? What’s your message? Everything else follows the same traditional rules; performance, usability, etc.
Closing statement
The Voice search is going to get interesting. It’s likely the first year when many more marketing people come together to do experiments and other exciting things. A market with 100’s millions of users will not be left untapped. And if you haven’t already, get an intelligent speaking device and run some experiments. Nothing will give you better insight than tinkering with the thing directly.
