So, how can voice search transform your digital marketing and SEO? Let’s take a look.
Since the beginning of time, humans have been trying to make their lives easier. From when man invented the wheel to the advent of the internet, we’ve continuously strived for ways to render information more readily available and easy to access. The latest development in this vein is voice search.
With the release of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana, we can now access information with nothing more than our voices. This hands-free approach is not only convenient, but it’s also fast and efficient.
1. Increased Mobile Usability
With the rise of voice search, there’s been a corresponding increase in mobile voice search usage. 71% of people now prefer using voice search for SERPs. This is likely because mobile devices are the most convenient way to use voice search. We always have our smartphones and gadgets with us so that we can use voice search anytime, anywhere.
This increase in mobile voice search usage is good news for digital marketers and SEOs. That’s because it means more people are searching for information on their mobile devices. And, since mobile devices are the primary way people access the internet, this trend will only continue.
What does this mean for you? Your website must be mobile-friendly. If it isn’t, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to reach potential customers. Read more on mobile marketing techniques here.
2. Long-Tail Keywords
When people search using voice search, they tend to use natural, conversational language. This is in contrast to traditional search, where people tend to use shorter, more concise keywords.
For example, let’s say you’re looking for a new pair of sneakers. If you’re using a traditional search, you might type in something like “sneakers.” But if you’re using voice search, you’re more likely to say something like, “I’m looking for a new pair of sneakers.”
This difference in language usage is important to consider when optimizing your website for voice search. That’s because you need to ensure you’re using long-tail keywords that match how people speak.
3. Location-Based Searches
Another way that voice search differs from traditional search is that it’s often location-based. This means that people use voice search to find information about businesses and services in their area.
For example, let’s say you’re looking for a new Italian restaurant. If you’re using voice search, you might say something like, “I’m looking for a new Italian restaurant in New York City.”
Approximately 58% of users have used voice search to search for local businesses. This trend is essential to consider because it means you must ensure your website is optimized for local SEO. If you want to reach people who are using voice search, you need to appear in local search results.
4. Question-Based Searches
Another trend to consider is that people are using voice search to ask questions. This is in contrast to traditional search, where people are more likely just to type in keywords.
For example, let’s say you’re looking for information about the Eiffel Tower. If you’re using voice search, you might say something like, “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?”
This trend is important to consider because it means you must ensure your website is optimized for question-based searches. This means including questions and answers on your website and in your blog posts. It also calls for using natural language that matches how people ask questions.
5. Increased Personalization
One of the core benefits of voice search is that it’s highly personalized. This is because virtual assistants can recognize the user’s voice and provide results tailored to their preferences.
For example, let’s say you’re looking for a new pair of sneakers. If you’re using Siri, she might pull up results from Nike, since that’s a brand you’ve shown an interest in.
This trend is relevant and you need to ensure your website is personalized for each user. You can use cookies to track user behavior and provide results that are tailored to their interests.
Voice search is here to stay. And it’s a trend that can significantly impact your digital marketing and SEO. It’s still relatively new, which means there’s a lot of opportunity to be one of the first businesses to capitalize on it. If you can get ahead of your competition and start optimizing for voice search now, you’ll be in an excellent position to benefit from this growing trend.
How Different Smart Speakers Search
When it comes to digital marketing and SEO, there is no one-size-fits-all approach – every campaign has a different impact. But one constant is the need to be visible and easily found online by your target audience.
With the rise of voice search, businesses need to rethink their digital marketing and SEO strategies to ensure they are visible and quickly found when people search for the products and services they offer.
Here’s a look at how different smart speakers search and what businesses need to do to ensure they are being found.
Amazon Alexa
When you ask Alexa a question, she uses the power of Amazon Web Services to give you the best answer she can. Here’s how it works:
First, Alexa takes the question you’ve asked and converts it into text. Then, she uses Amazon’s natural language processing algorithms to understand what you’re asking.
Next, Alexa searches through Amazon’s vast collection of data to find the best answer to your question. This includes data from Amazon’s own products and services, as well as third-party sources.
Finally, Alexa speaks the answer to you.
To ensure that Alexa always gives you the most relevant and accurate results, Amazon is constantly improving its algorithms and adding new data sources.
Searching with Amazon Alexa is simple and easy. You can ask Alexa to search for what you want, and she’ll help you find it.
When users ask Alexa to search for something, she’ll first look in her internal search index to see if she can find a match. If she finds a match, she’ll return the result to you.
If Alexa doesn’t find a match in her index, she’ll search the web using Bing. She’ll return the top result to the user, along with a link to the web page so you can learn more.
Users can also ask Alexa to search specific websites for them. They just have to say, “Alexa, search [website] for [keyword].” For example, you could say, “Alexa, search Amazon for laptops.” If users are unsure what they want, they can ask Alexa for help.
Google Home
When you ask Google Home a question, where does the answer come from? Part of the answer comes from the so-called “knowledge graph,” a massive database that Google has built up over the years. This database includes information about many different entities—people, places, things—and their relationships.
But the knowledge graph isn’t the only place Google looks for answers. Sometimes, the answer comes from good old-fashioned web pages. When you ask Google Home a question like “How do I make a pie?” Google will scour the web for pages that contain the word “pie” and are likely to have the answer you’re looking for.
Of course, not all web pages are created equal. Google has a pretty good idea of which pages are more likely to be helpful and which are less likely. That’s why, when you ask Google Home a question, you often get a result from a website like Wikipedia or allrecipes.com—these are websites that Google knows are generally pretty good at providing helpful, accurate information.
Google Home searches the internet using something called Google Now. This is a voice-controlled assistant that is built into the Android operating system. Google Now will answer questions that you ask, either through text or voice.
Apple Siri
When you ask Siri a question, it’s like you’re asking a really smart person who happens to know a lot about the Internet. A combination of technologies powers Siri. Here’s a look behind the scenes at how Siri searches the web to find the best answer to your question.
Siri goes to Apple’s data centers and looks for the information in a number of sources, including the Internet, your email, your contacts, your calendar, and more.
Siri uses a technique called natural language processing (NLP) to understand what you’re asking. NLP is a branch of artificial intelligence that involves teaching computers to understand human language.
Siri also uses something called a semantic network. This is a database of information about the relationships between concepts. The semantic network helps Siri understand the meaning of words and how they are related to one another.
Once Siri understands what you’re asking, it searches the Internet for sources of information. Siri uses a web search engine called Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram Alpha is designed to give you answers to questions, rather than a list of websites that might contain the answer.
When Siri finds information on the Internet, it uses heuristics to determine whether the information is likely to be helpful. Heuristics are rules that help you make decisions when you don’t have all the information.
For example, Siri might use a heuristic that says popular websites are more likely to be helpful than websites that are not popular.
Once Siri has found information that it thinks is helpful, it uses a ranking algorithm to determine which answer is the best. The ranking algorithm looks at factors like how relevant the information is to your question, how well the answer fits the question, and how popular the website is.
The ranking algorithm also looks at how often Siri has given this answer to other people who have asked similar questions. If Siri has given this answer to many people who have asked similar questions, it’s a good sign that the answer is a good one.
After Siri has found the best answer to your question, it formats the answer, so it’s easy for you to read and understand. It also uses voice synthesis to read the answer out loud.
Microsoft Cortana
Microsoft Cortana has a Bing search bar prominently placed, but Cortana is so much more than just a simple search engine. In fact, Cortana is powered by some of the most advanced artificial intelligence technology available today. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Cortana searches and what makes her so unique.
When you ask Cortana a question, she doesn’t just blindly search the internet for an answer. Instead, she employs a technique called “question decomposition.” This involves taking your question apart and understanding the underlying concepts. For example, if you ask her, “What is the capital of Uganda?” she will first break down the question into its components. She will then use her vast knowledge base to understand what a capital is, what Uganda is, and how the two concepts are related.
Once Cortana understands your question, she will search her extensive database for the answer. This database includes not only the Bing search engine but also a variety of other sources, such as Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, and even the CIA World Factbook.
Cortana is constantly learning, and her search abilities are continually improving. Microsoft is continuously working to make Cortana even more intelligent.
Conclusion
Like traditional SEO, you need to ensure your website is optimized for voice search. Use natural language and long-tail keywords and create content that is easy to understand and digest.
In addition to optimizing, you must check to verify that voice search engines are finding your content. This means promoting your content through social media, as well as directories and other websites that are relevant to your niche.
You can use voice search to improve your local SEO if you have a local business. List your business in online search directories like Google My Business and Yelp, as well as optimizing for local keywords. By following these tips, you can use voice search to improve your SEO and get ahead of your competition.
