Look at us! We are using our mobile phones to do everything. From booking a cab to finding a date; we are lost without the help of our phones. However, it is not just our phones, is it? It is also our beloved voice assistants. Be it Siri, Cortana or Google Voice Search; we have something or the other to satiate our momentary inquisitiveness. Google voice search is most popular on Android devices, and Siri is ubiquitous to Apple devices. Nonetheless, we are asking questions, and they are delivering.
Have you ever thought of how they deliver the exact answers to so many questions users ask? It is quite simple really! They run the searches verbatim and display the answers that seem most befitting as per the SERPs. That is why SEO professionals must start thinking a little differently. Searches are not keyword focused anymore. Well, every search does have a purpose, but the search terms are not disjointed keywords anymore. They are complete phrases like, “Hey Siri, which movie theatre is showing Justice League this weekend?” That is definitely something new in the realm of SEO and content.
Just in case you do not have faith in the changing face of searches and SEO, here are a few facts and stats you need to see right now:
- Back in 2016 Google stated that over 20% searches using Google search engine have voice intent.
- 41.6% of all voice search users hopped on the voice search bandwagon in the last six months (as of May 2016).
- 50% of total Google searches will be voice searches by 2020.
There might be around 21.4 million smart speakers by 2020 in the USA. - In 2017, people have bought over 25 million smart devices equipped with voice searches.
- It brings the voice-first device count to 33 million in total (2017).
How can you shift your focus to voice searches?
Most people are busy with the changing stats and trends. It is also necessary to understand how you can change your strategies to evolve in tandem with the changing face of the digital world to stay on top of every SRL. Here are four things you can surely do –
Focus on long-tailed keywords
Firstly, as per the experts at http://profitsurgeseo.com/, voice search queries are much longer than the usual text keyword queries. The very purpose of these kinds of searches is to produce the best possible results to the users in a jiffy. Therefore, the device has to find relatable, relevant, short and info-rich content within a short span of time and return the results to the user. As an SEO, your responsibility is to create website content and blog content that has a more conversational tone. In fact, websites with rich FAQ sections tend to perform well in voice searches.
Optimize site for local SEO
Secondly, people are searching for local information and general information on voice searches. In fact, the chance of you asking Siri or Cortana to find a nice restaurant near you is much higher than you asking how many moon Jupiter has. Therefore, you must start optimizing your content and blog for local searches. Just imagine a local resident or a passerby asking questions about your business and answer the same on your site. Keep the language simple and the flow easy.
Claim your business on Google My Business
Thirdly, people are always looking for some company or another on their mobile phones. It pays off to claim your business on Google My Business listing. Google My Business is a fantastic way to curate your business information and relay it to the crawlers. Include your business name, address, contact number and mention your business hours. Adding the same information in a conversational tone in the FAQ section also helps if you want to feature in the search result of a voice search.
Adopt structured data markup
Most importantly, always be partial towards structured data markup. Look for the correct schemas and repeatedly check them before deployment. Using structured data markup gives these voice search assistants/devices more information to take back. Your site will perform much better with all assistants and future voice searches. Look for structured data markup from schema.org, since it provides specific information. It also makes it much easier for bots to crawl your site and for search engines to “understand” the context of your content keywords.
Truthfully, voice search is not going to be a passing phase. Even with AR and VR coming up fast behind it, voice search is not going to go away. In fact, soon SEOs will have something additional on their plate with virtual reality making it big in digital marketing and commerce. It is going to be the Brave New World of the SEOs, and you must switch up your game to embrace this change.