Thirty years ago, the idea of talking to a technological device seemed innovative. However, in recent webinar, SEO experts have talked about how growth of voice search has started transforming the search engines into “Voice Engine”. Today, finding answer by communicating with mobile phone or even a home assistance like Alexa, Cortana or Google is widely known and used.
Search Engines were first develop to give results based on keywords. Since voice assistant has become popular with the users, search engines like Google and Yahoo are starting to improve their set of rules. They now provide answers to queries directly on the results page.
52% of users say it is very easy to use. 2 out of 5 users use voice search to make a call, ask for address or directions for a nearby location; 80% of user are likely to use driving directions after doing a voice search.
What is Voice Engine Optimization?
SEO is a changing industry. Every year, Google comes up with a major change to its algorithm that can affect one’s digital marketing strategy. And one trend that is first to catch the attention of marketing experts is “voice search.” According to Behshad Behzadi, the Principal Engineer at Google Zurich, Voice Engine is the fastest growing type of search. Certainly, voice search is on the rise because of its ease. No one likes to type a long search on their phone and misspell it several times because the buttons are too small.
Large numbers of internet users have voice search option in their cell phones. As a result, users are comfortable to ask their questions in Voice Search rather than typing them in a search bar. According to studies 42% of UK population used voice search on daily basis and 5 million people of United States are actively using voice assistance. There was time when it was impossible to have a conversation with computers. Nowadays, you just ask a question to internet connected device feature with voice assistant and get a human like response. You can ask your voice assistant for directions to the nearest coffee shop, to wake you up at 8 a.m. or to call a person, and this is just scratching the surface. This is what millions of users are doing every day with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana and Samsung’s Bixby.
According to the ADI Consumer Electronics Report, more than half of all owners of voice assistants use it at least once per day, and more than 20% depend on on it for online shopping. By 2021, experts estimate that voice-activated searches will account for 30% of web-browsing sessions.
Major Voice Search Statistics
- In US 41% of teens users use voice search daily (Northstar Research, 2014).
- According to Thee Design, 2017, 1/3 of 3.5 billions of searches performed on Google every day are voice searches.
- According to Thrive Analytics, 2014, 71% of people between ages 18-29, 59% of people between ages 30-43, 39% of people between ages 44-53, and 38% of people ages 54+ use mobile personal assistants.
- Some professionals predict that 30% of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen by 2021.
Why Voice Search Matters to Business Owners
Voice search improves user experience of search engines, as they are faster, more convenient and gives more precise results. It means that if your website content is boosted (particularly for mobile use) effectively, your business could be the first one a digital personal assistant shows.
Let’s say, you own a plumbing company in Hyderabad. For example, If you do a standard Google search for “plumbers Hyderabad, you would see many results. However, if a family comes back to their home to find that a pipe has burst and flooded their floor, they may do a voice search to find a plumber as quickly as possible. If your website has a lot of relevant, precise content and authoritative web page like emergency pipe repair shop near me, you could be the first company that comes up when people say, “Hello, Google, find a carpenter near me who can fix my furniture.”
Where Do Voice-Activated Devices Source Their Information From?
For local search, Amazon Alexa is associated up with Yelp, Google is driven by Google Maps, and Cortana sources information from Microsoft computers, is powered by Bing. Meanwhile, Siri takes information from Apple Maps.
Creating a Voice Engine Optimization Strategy
Here are the few steps to getting started with your Voice Engine Optimization Strategy:
1. Keep your listings clean
It’s important to keep your business listings clean and your name, phone and address data consistent. Around $10.3 billion are lost each year just because of missing and incorrect listings. Always make sure you’re giving accurate business information to users.
2. Increase your website speed
People do voice search for immediate on-the-go results.If your page takes more than 3 seconds to load the customer is 90% more likely to leave. Best time for website loading in mobile should be under 3 second. Your website speed might affect your voice search opportunities.
3. Increase focus on longer search queries
For your Voice Engine Optimization Strategy, you need to focus more on long tail keywords. Voice search is designed and made to function like a conversation. 41% of people who use voice search engine say it feels like talking to a companion.
4. Content Strategy: Provide Answers
Above 40 % of voice search answers come from featured snippets. When you optimize your site for featured snippets, you’re also boosting for voice search.
Importance of Video marketing in SEO
Here are a few things you can do:
- Create Frequently asked questions page to drive conversation at an easy reading level.
- Make changes on content. Keep it fresh.
- Mark-Up language: Questions should be marked up properly in <h2> headers
- Create all possible questions about your products and services that will drive conversion.
