Voice search has been a growing phenomenon since the introduction of tech like the Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Home. These devices make ordering and searching less hands on and easier. However, these companies will use these devices to benefit themselves greatly. Amazon can choose which product you buy when you voice order it. This will hurt some brands that wont be mentioned in voice selling. Voice search eliminates the evaluation of alternatives stage in the consumer decision process. Consumers enjoy whatever makes their lives easier so devices like the Echo and Google Home will most likely soar as they improve on the technology. Voice Search also greatly effects content marketers and SEO which is what I’d like to focus on. Although voice search hasn’t completely taken over, it is a growing phenomenon that entrepreneurs must pay attention and adapt to.
How exactly will this impact marketers and many companies that focus on the internet as their business model?
SEO may be impacted the most. When we voice search instead of typing our question on our mobile device or computer we don’t use the same type of language. Voice searching consists of 10 words or more on average as compared to 2 to 3 words. There are also less keywords that we use and most of the language is very general. This makes it extremely difficult for those putting hours of work in on SEO and trying to capture keywords. Obviously, voice search hasn’t taken over completely, but it does impact SEO enough that marketers must adapt to the changes in order to keep businesses alive. Voice searches are also very heavily focused on asking questions than the normal written statements in a google search bar. Therefore, marketers must focus heavily on researching to figure out what are popular questions that are being asked and deliver content that specifically answers these questions. Voice searching leads to only the number 1 spot on the SERP being heard by the consumer. Consumers wont be scrolling through googles SERP to find the article they find most fits because Siri will give them the answer she sees fits best which of course is the number one option on the results page.
What are the best tips for content marketers now that SEO is slightly changing?
After doing some research on the topic I’ve found a decent amount of tips that can be used to help still succeed in an SEO strategy.
All websites and online content must be mobile friendly. A website that does not adapt to being mobile friendly will have no chance of surviving. A large percentage of voice searches happen on Apple’s Siri which still allows for consumers to scroll through their mobile page.
Target long tail keywords. As I said before, voice searches are worded much differently then written searches. People ask questions that consist of 6 to 10 words over 3 to 5. Therefore content marketers must focus on more of a conversational keyword strategy. This keyword strategy is focused on including “who, what, where, when and why”.
Be specific. In order to get that #1 spot on voice search you must answer specific questions that google or other search engines believe answers the question exactly. Include the question as an h2 tag and you’ll find much more success. Voice search makes it very competitive so focus on a few key questions and make sure you get the number one spot. Trying to spread out to too many different search’s may kill you in the end.
Voice search is changing the game for SEO. Although it has always been extremely important to get in the top 5 to 10 spots on the SERP, now its important to get that number spot. Focusing on SEO is critical for any type of business looking to survive.
Personally, voice has been the rise for me. I never used to use it. I also thought i would never really use it. Now I use it to send a good amount of my text messages and searches on the web. It just is so much easier than typing it out and so much less effort. I think it will only increase from here as well. Especially as people get used to telling Alexa and other devices things. Standard
In voice search will give rise to brands with unique name and sellers that partner with the voice search companies. Great observation Jeff!
Thanks for sharing! This is something that I hadn’t given much thought to prior. But as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Homes and Siri is on the rise this makes complete sense. This is something that marketers really need to be aware of going forward especially in terms of SEO.
Great post, Jeff! I find it interesting that SEO has become even more specific with voice search because it seemed like you already had to be incredibly specific to yield top search results. I wonder what voice search will look like in 5-10 years? Amazon also has the Amazon Echo recently released, which will likely play a factor for SEO.