Voice Search is Changing Marketing –Here’s How You Can Adapt
According to DBS Interactive, 41% of adults are using voice to search instead of typing things down. Voice is no longer just a trend—it’s a feature and it’s here to stay.
In 2007, Google created the first voice-to-text application for the then newly-released iPhone. Back then, no one cared for voice search because it was too inaccurate and inconvenient.
But in 2011, Apple introduced the feature we now know as Siri. Siri was meant to be a virtual assistant, right on your mobile phone. And with this technology, for the first time, people could now talk to their phones instead of just talking at them.
People were having full conversations on their phones, asking Siri everything from “What are you wearing?” to “What are the restaurants near me?” And they were amazed at the snarky, informative, and accurate responses that Siri could give.
Now, in 2019, that technology is no longer amazing. In fact, it isn’t even a novelty anymore—we expect to have some sort of voice assistant on our mobile phones whether we use them regularly or not.
We have tools like Alexa from Amazon, Siri from Apple, Cortana from Microsoft, and Google Home and Google Assistant. When this technology first emerged, it was unreliable. No one really wanted to use it when we could just type things down.
Today, the tables have turned. Why type things down when you can just say something and get the same results? Voice is changing how people search and interact with the internet. It’s changing what people want to see and how people want to see it. And as marketers, that’s something we need to be prepared for.
How is Voice Search Being Used?
To start understanding how we can adapt to voice search, we first need to know how it’s being used. In 2017, nearly a third of all search queries that went through Google were made through voice.
One of the main drivers of the growth of voice search is the introduction of smart speakers. While the younger generations have their reservations, over 2.2 million units of smart speakers were sold in the third quarter of 2018 alone. That means a lot of homes now have them—but what are they used for, exactly?
According to Google reports, half of their speakers go in common areas, like living rooms, while a quarter goes in the kitchen and another quarter goes in the bedroom. Consumers say that they put their devices in accessible places for convenient hands-free searches.
Let’s say you’re in the kitchen, cooking. Your hands are all oily or flour-y and you can’t touch your phone. The solution? Voice search.
People are searching for everything from local business hours and chicken recipes to today’s weather and the sports forecast of the year. Research shows that 22% of queries are asking about “things near me.” This means that local businesses, if they adapt to voice search, will be some of the biggest winners with the rise of this technology.
People not only use their speakers to search, they also buy things. One prediction is that people might start bypassing search entirely and going directly to action. For example, instead of searching for a plumber to fix the sink, users could decide to just jump straight into making an appointment with the highest-rated plumber in the area—which can all be done through voice.
In the world of mobile, on the other hand, DBS Interactive reported that 20% of all mobile searches are now being done through voice.
People not only enjoy the hands-free function, but they also enjoy the interactive experience. Having a virtual assistant on your phone who talks to you is better than having a robot who just gives you answers. In line with this, Google even hired a team of people to “humanize” its virtual assistant. This team consisted of empathy experts, comedians, and video game designers.
So when people search using voice, they don’t search like they type. They don’t say “LA weather today,” they say something more along the lines of “What’s the weather today in LA?” There is a human aspect that’s being added to search that wasn’t there before.
And that’s changing the future of search engine optimization (SEO).
The most amazing thing is that voice search is leveling the playing field. While Google is still the top search engine, with about 70% of the US market share, voice search has allowed other big players like Amazon and Bing to take some of Google’s customers. The top smart speaker is currently Amazon’s Echo Dot, with Alexa as its virtual assistant—which is powered by Microsoft’s Bing.
How things will turn out is still unclear. Voice search is still relatively new—but it’s growing fast. Now that you know how consumers are using voice search, what can you do about it?
How Can We Adapt to Voice Search?
In the previous section, we talked about how people are interacting with the voice search function. Now let’s talk about what you can do to optimize for this new feature:
1. Aim higher on the search page.
As of 2018, 1 billion search queries were being made through voice every month — which is why Google is now rewarding websites that optimize for both voice and typed search.
So you have to optimize for both. SEO is becoming even more competitive because people are no longer looking at the first page of results—just the first five or so. For “screenless” searches, users aren’t even given two options—just the top result.
For local searches and “top ____ ” searches, people usually only listen to the first result and go with that. So what can we do about that?
Read more to find out specific ways you can optimize for both types of search.
2. Write how you talk.
Like we said earlier, people who use voice search aren’t using traditional keywords. In the world of SEO, we used to only look at what people were typing into the search bar. Unfortunately, what people type and what they say are not the same.
One way to make sure you’re writing the way people are talking is by using long-tail keywords, rather than short-tail ones. People don’t just say, “NBA game winner today,” they say, “Who won the game today, the Lakers or the Celtics?”
We talk in sentences. Thus, with voice search, we search in sentences. Try adding whole sentences to your list of target keywords. Actively look for questions (yes, the entire questions) that people are searching for and use those as your headings or subheadings.
3. Optimize for local searches.
Make sure your business listing is complete—with your address, opening and closing times, whether you offer delivery or not, and even your menu if you’re a restaurant. Add geotags and tell everyone where you are.
Make sure you’re on Yelp, Google Business, and all the other online directories. That’s where smart speakers get their information from. And then add in some keywords.
We already know that a lot of people (22%, in fact) use voice to search for locations “near me.” So add those keywords to your website. Okay, so maybe not exactly those, but you get the idea.
Think of how your audience is looking for businesses like yours. For example, they could be asking, “Where is the nearest gas station?” or “What is the best pizza place in _____?” Use that information and optimize your site.
4. Aim to be the best.
In the same way that you need to optimize for local searches, you also need to start looking at new ways to get ahead. Apart from using full sentences to search, another thing you can do is gather good reviews.
People aren’t going to be searching for “pizza place in Brooklyn” or “handyman in San Francisco” anymore. They will be searching, “What are the top _______ near me?” or, “What are the best ______ near me?”
And when smart speakers or virtual assistants answer, they will only give users the business with the best reviews. For example, as shown in a photo above, Siri will say, “The best rated option I found is _______ on (address) which averages 5 stars. Do you want that one?”
Ask your customers for reviews after they use your product or service. Make sure those reviews are up on your business listings on Google, Yelp, and Bing, among others. That way, you get to the top of the list and your business is the one that people will want.
5. Add a featured snippet to your pages.
You might be wondering, what’s a featured snippet? This is:
That featured snippet explains what featured snippets are better than we ever could. And why are featured snippets important?
When search results are presented to a user, the virtual assistant will usually read from the featured snippet. It should be concise (usually around 29 words), and make use of bullet points and/or clear headers.
6. Interact with the top products.
Voice search is used on both smart speakers and mobile devices—so interact with them! There are two companies that you can order pizza through using just your voice—Domino’s and Pizza Hut. Why? Because they used something called Google Action and Alexa Skill.
By creating actions and skills that are accessible to these devices that can redirect to your site, you are teaching smart speakers (and mobile devices) how to reach you faster and provide a better user experience.
They’re not going away, might as well make the most out of them.
What Are Some Challenges Voice Search Still Has to Overcome?
1. Privacy issues.
A lot of people have raised their concerns regarding privacy and privacy breaches that could be made even more possible with smart speakers. After all, they are in your homes, listening in on your conversations, and taking note of the things you have searched for.
There’s still a long way to go in terms of building trust. Despite this setback, though, most houses already have smart speakers anyway!
2. There’s no way to monitor effectiveness (yet).
Because the technology is still in its developing stages, there’s no way for you to see what your search rankings for voice are like—yet.
There are some companies that have started making programs to automate tracking, but the reports are not yet completely accurate. So for now, the best way to keep your company visible on voice search is to just keep trying.
What’s Next?
Voice search is something new, and like all other pieces of technology, it’s still changing and will continue to change. The best thing you can do is be prepared and make the most out of this new piece of technology.
