When the trend of voice search emerged back in 2011 with the launch of Siri, it gained immense popularity; but no one could foresee this innovation would become mainstream so quickly.
Now, after nearly eight years, one in every six Americans has a smart speaker, and it is predicted that another 100 million users will prefer using voice assistants by 2020.
As brands such as Google and Amazon compete for market share, the use of voice assistants is progressing across all industries and sectors – making voice search a $601 million industry by the end of 2019.
So it’s no wonder that businesses are always on the lookout for ways to deploy voice-enabled technologies to fulfill ever-evolving consumer demands.
Why Voice Search?
Voice technology dates back to the 1950s when Bell Laboratories designed the “Audrey System” that could recognize numbers and digits spoken out loud. A decade later IBM came out with “Shoebox” a voice recognition system that could understand 16 words of English – and the rest, as they say, is history.
We’ve come a long way since then, as voice recognition devices gain immense popularity with tools such as; Google Home, Alexa, Siri, and Amazon Echo, to name a few.
People are now more comfortable than ever using voice search because technology giants have made voice recognition devices that understand and recognize the patterns of human conversation. For example, the Google platform now knows words and phrases with 90% accuracy, making it easier than ever for people to communicate with these devices.
More than 50% of all US adults commonly use voice search with the help of voice assistants on their smartphones. A study has also revealed that instead of typing queries, consumers now prefer voice search, as made evident by the fact that 20% of all Google mobile searches are powered by voice.
There are several reasons to prefer voice search – but the biggest reason for its widespread adaptation is the fact that it lets people use a conversational tone, which allows for more spontaneity as well as longer query length. The average length of the query in voice search is 4.2 words as compared to 3.2 words for typed searches.
Simply put, searchers like to speak search results into existence, and Google is making it easier than ever for them to do just that.
Voice Search Optimization – What Can We Expect In The Near Future?
It is crucial to adapt to this growing technology while it is still in its infancy.
Since voice search is gaining momentum and is fast becoming the preferred way for your prospects to find whatever they are looking for, you should tweak your digital marketing strategy to include voice search.
Here are a few ways it will impact the future of businesses:
Voice Search Will Become Vital For A Great Mobile Experience
If you don’t optimize your site for mobile, your mobile version might be complicated to use for the consumers along with slow loading pages. Since, most of the voice searches are carried out via mobiles, it becomes important for you to have a responsive web design and optimize it for voice search.
Research has revealed that more people are now inclined towards smartphone use and spend more time on mobile sites. Website visits from mobiles increased from 57% to 63% while the bounce rates fell from 52% to 47%.
Within the US, about 96% of Americans own a smartphone; from 2011 till now, the overall smartphone use has increased from 35% to 81% and it is predicted to grow exponentially over the next decade as well.
Also, 52% of users actively utilize voice assistants from their smartphones, while Google voice assistant is now available on more than 400 million devices.
Long-Tail Keywords Will Become More Prevalent
It is imperative to keep up with the way people search using voice commands – especially since voice can have some major implications for keyword analysis.
That’s because when typing, most users want to keep their queries short and precise – but in the case of voice-enabled queries, they prefer asking entire questions.
Stats show that 55% of teens and 41% of adults already use voice search several times a day as it saves them time.
That’s the future, and it has already begun.
You can ensure that your business doesn’t get left behind by using long-tail keywords will help you attract focused and committed customers who genuinely want to avail your services.
Additionally, users also tend to be more specific when asking questions to get accurate results. As such, the use of long-tail keywords is essential if you want to rank higher for voice searches.
It Will Boost Location-Based Searches
Amongst all the voice-related queries, around 22% are actively looking for location-based answers; this is a valuable insight as to why businesses should incorporate geo-location in their voice-enabled content.
With voice search becoming a part of Google Maps, local businesses can benefit to a great extent as customers will get location-specific answers and suggestions to their queries. For companies that operate online as well as offline, having location-based content helps businesses to get found locally.
Even if your business does not have a physical store, voice search will help you get users who have physically visited a similar kind of business.
It is advisable to use marketing metrics to ensure that you are targeting the right area. For companies to localize their experience, creating location-specific pages and incorporating their region within the content is recommended.
In Conclusion
With the ever-growing popularity of voice search, brands need to optimize their website for this feature – it is a proven tool for improving the number of online purchases and your revenue.
Voice technology has a huge potential and some fantastic benefits for early adapters – but don’t jump the gun just yet. Take the time to understand this technology and figure out all the ways your business can best use it to your advantage.
If you want to know how you can adopt new technologies and trends in digital marketing into your campaigns, book a one-hour free consultation with us.
