Can I Use Voice Search Strategy to Bring My Business on the First Page of Google?

The answer to the above question is a million times – yes!

Voice search has changed the way people used to look for different types of information on the internet. Now, you can see small children of different ages asking silly questions to Google, Siri, and Alexa.

We often find ourselves using voice commands to call someone or to set a reminder. This shows how minimal tasks can be completed using voice searches and how convenient voice searches have become.

Many times, people use voice commands to search for a restaurant nearby, to get directions to reach a location, or even to see and hear the weather forecast.

Therefore, if you want your website to be listed at the top of the search results whenever someone searches for something related to your business using voice search, you might want to work a little bit harder on the technical SEO audit of your website.

The graph below shows how voice searches have increased in the last 6 months – from 19.0% to 41.6%.

The 10 Most Impressive Stats on Voice Search:

1. From Technavio, the voice recognition market will be a $601 million industry by 2019.
2. As of January 2018, there were an estimated one billion voice searches per month, according to Alpine.AI.
3. CTA says that 1 in 4 shoppers used voice assistants in their holiday shopping during the 2017 season.
4. GeoMarketing stats revealed that 65% of people who own an Amazon Echo or Google Home can’t imagine going back to the days before they had a smart speaker.
5. Google says that 41% of people who own a voice-activated speaker said it feels like talking to a friend or another person.
6. 25% of individuals ages 16-24 use voice search on mobile according to Global Web Index.
7. 70.6% of Americans who used a voice-enabled speaker at least once a month in 2017 used an Amazon Echo says eMarketer.
8. Grocery shopping accounted for 20% of voice shopping in 2017 a study from OC&C Strategy Consultants found. Compare that to apparel shopping, which they found was just 8%.
9. According to Google, 52% of voice-activated speaker owners would like to receive information about deals, sales, and promotions from brands. 39% would like to receive options to find business information.
10. 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020 estimates comScore.

A Little Hint as to How Voice Search Really Works:

Voice search simply means converting what we say to a written word in the most accurate way possible so that a device understands it. There are four ways to do so –

1. The first is simply matching the words with sounds of the same kind stored in the device’s memory.
2. Analyzing the pattern and features is the second. Each word is broken into bits which then are recognized from set key features, such as a vowel.
3. The third one is language modeling, and statistical analysis where knowledge of grammar and certain sounds or words to follow each other is used to improve the accuracy and speed of voice recognition.
4. Artificial neural network counts as the fourth. They are like brain-computer models that can recognize patterns of sounds and words after extensive training.

Why You Should use a Voice Search Strategy for Your Brand

Every bit of advancement being done is for the benefit of humankind. As technology is changing and becoming more advance day by day to provide better customer experience, voice search isn’t a trend. It will be with us for a long time, and it is better we try to work on our Go-to-Market strategies as soon as possible.

In the last few years, Google has increased its word recognition accuracy rate from below 80% to over 90%, and this means devices are getting easier to use and interact with.

There are already 45 million voice-assisted devices in use in the United States, and while screen less browsing is expected to account for 30 percent of browsing by 2020, 50% of searches will be conducted through voice search by that same year.

Alexa and Google Assistant can pretty much differentiate between voices. They provide valuable insights about users that leads to more personalized content, improving the customer experience at the same time. Voice searches intend to create better relationships between customers and the brands and provide the brand with loyal leads.

The Latest Voice Search Assistants in use are Google Assistant, Cortana, Siri, Bixby, and Alexa

As we know, different brands offer different voice search assistants. Google provides Google Assistant, Apple has Siri, Microsoft uses Cortana, Samsung is using Bixby, and Alexa is found with Amazon.

Here are some test case responses when voice searches were performed on all these platforms.

Hey Google, where is the closest market?

Google assistant

Smart assistants are primarily used for two purposes: searching for information and controlling connected devices. With Google being the default search engine for most, even for Siri, you should easily see that Google has the upper hand here. Google Assistant can answer almost all your questions.

Hey Alexa! Can you play the top rated Hollywood movie for me?

Amazon Alexa

When it comes to controlling devices, smart home assistants are great, such as Alexa by Amazon. To make your device understand what you want it to do, it is important that what you are saying is crystal clear because it is a command and not a conversation. Amazon’s Alexa has been in the market for a long time which is the main reason behind why it works better than its competitors. It’s had the experience to grow. However, Google and Apple are catching up fast.

Set a Reminder for me!

Samsung Bixby

Controlling small tasks on mobile phones is one of the major tasks a voice assistant should perform. Since systems like Alexa are not used on mobile devices, this brings Bixby into the picture. It’s the way to manages individual apps and controls their functioning remarkably. No one has reached that level except maybe Huawei.

Cortana and Siri

Although it all started with Siri and Google, with Samsung not even looking much into this area of research, Siri has left us with less convenient voice search optimizations. It seems that Apple will also not make voice searching a priority. The same goes for Cortana, Microsoft tried to optimize the voice search using Cortana for laptops and desktops, but it is not that effective.

How to Optimize Your Website for Voice Search

We know that voice search is typically based on questions and requests. Thus, your content needs to be in line to the answers and replies that are relayed. While optimizing for voice search, a few factors should be considered primarily, such as –

• Integrating natural-sounding language
• Converting queries into questions and sentences
• The answers should be short and precise
• Include and target long-tail keywords in the content
• Find out how a user will try to fetch information
• List out all the commands and action queries
• Improve your local search engine optimization plan
• Make sure that your website is fast, mobile-friendly, and secure
• Ensure that your Google My Business profile is up to date

How to Rank on Voice Search

You need to create content that is relevant and concise to rank on Google Home. If a person who uses a home assistant ask for specific information, Google is going to pull the content that best suits this intent. When a user searches for a local service provider, the search results are based on –

• Relevancy – Does the search request matches to the local listing accurately
• Prominence – Is it a famous and commonly searched location
• Distance – What is the distance between the listing to the user who searched for it

What to Expect from Voice Search Marketing in the Future

We do not know where voice search is going to take us in the coming years. We do know that advertisement revolves around SEO and digital marketing services, but this scenario will completely change when there are no screens to see the search results. This is why the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and the rest of voice assistants are more advanced than Siri, a mobile voice assistant.

In the future, where devices only give one answer to your queries, how will you rank on the web? How will you be listed in relevant searches? Will companies be able to have sponsored search results? The only solution that will bring your business on top of the search results is by keeping up with the constantly advancing technology and evolving digital marketing landscape.

That is where we come in. With our search engine optimization services based on data-driven assessments, we establish your company as the leading online authority in your industry. We help businesses to achieve top slots, whether on voice search or in a standard text search results.