VOICE SEARCH OPTIMISATION: THE FUTURE OF THE SEO INDUSTRY

Around 15 years ago, Google launched the first voice search engine. Since its inception, the scope of voice search and development made by it has witnessed a commendable progress. The way people use the voice command application has also changed over the years. Initially, several users used it to find directions from one place to another or follow a step by step process to carry out certain tasks. However, today, the applications of voice search have increased as one uses it to find restaurants, movie theatres, call people, text people and several other applications. At present, voice search has gradually started to gain significant importance and its adoption has also witnessed a growth for different purposes. The influence it has made on B2B decision makers is also worth pondering over.

Before one analyzes the pros and cons of voice search in SEO, it is essential to understand who use it and why they use the same. In the current scenario, around 55% teens and 41% adults use voice search on a daily basis. The growing adoption of voice search can be largely credited to advancements in technology. The error rate in 2015 for voice commands was around 20% which has significantly reduced to 8% today. The remarkable success in enhancing the voice search technology by reducing the error rate has paved a path towards a bright future for it.

Progress in technology drives voice search optimization

The current era is predominantly digital. Digital marketing has slowly but steadily grown as an industry and it is safe to say it is one of the fastest growing industries today. It is important to assess that there is a huge difference between how people type and how they speak especially for search queries. Voice search is capable of spelling correction, interpreting what has been previously said, context based on location, app-based context and context about you.

B2B voice search and optimization

According to different studies carried out in this domain, around 50 percent of all the searches will be conducted by voice. In 2016, Google confirmed that approximately 20 percent of its mobile queries were voice searches. In order to cater to the demand in the future, all the digital marketing aspirants should start focusing on optimizing voice queries. Currently, there are three crucial techniques to optimize website content for voice search:

1. Mobile-centric approach: As the majority of voice searches are likely to be carried out on a mobile device, mobile optimization is extremely essential. Improvements in page load speeds, elimination of extra interstitials and drop down menus are a few ways to enhance the overall mobile user experience

2. Long-tail keywords : Voice search queries are predominantly longer than text queries and the use of conventional language is high. Hence, it is crucial to identify relevant long-tail keywords and target the same in site content to meet the conventional language queries.

3. Featured snippets : Featured snippets could play an important role to boost brand recognition if it is populated for a query as Google declares one company an expert. For voice search, “position zero” is set to be the new page one.

Changes in search queries in the SEO industry

Majority of the current world population is not accustomed to seeing technological devices responding to voice commands and hence there is a certain level of stigma. However, the younger generation has embraced the technological progress with open arms. The trend of voice search is on the rise worldwide and it would not be a smart move to ignore the same in the SEO industry. How voice search optimization progresses and how the loopholes are addressed will play a pivotal role in the development of voice search in the SEO industry. Thus, today, it is important to chalk out impactful strategies for voice queries as well as text queries. With the constantly evolving technology and efforts to improve voice search, it is safe to say that voice optimization will boost the growth of the same in the future. So if you are one who is looking for an extra ordinary field to move on then this might be one of those. All the best!!!