When was the last time you spoke to your digital or Voice assistant? Was it during a drive to find a nearby coffee shop or bite to eat? Or while working on the couch, wondering of the best place to buy a new desk chair for your new home office?
In 2018, Google reported that 27% of the global online population uses voice Search on mobile devices1, and 44% of those who regularly use a voice-activated speaker say they order products they need like groceries, household items, and more at least once a week.
While Apple’s Siri is the most popular voice assistant in mobile phones, Microsoft’s Cortana and Samsung’s Bixby, Google Home, and Amazon Echo devices dominate the smart speaker market share.
Voice Search and SEO
Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko and a leading SEO expert, analyzed 10,000 Google Home search results and found that 40.7% of all voice search answers were pulled from a featured snippet. Featured snippets accentuate content that explicitly answers the search term. They appear at the top of the results page, and they show the content before the source.
Unfortunately, there is no way for you to guarantee that your content will be shown in a featured snippet. Google systems determine which content will be featured according to its relevance to the search term. For this reason, the importance of SEO for your business is amplified.
Forbes estimates that 22% of Voice Searches are looking for location-based content2. Optimize your SEO for location-based voice searches by ensuring you have accurate information on business listing platforms like Google My Business, Yahoo, and Yelp. It also helps to have a speedy mobile presence and include content on your site, making it easy for search engines to read directions to brick-and-mortar locations.
Voice Search and SEM
While a response from a smart speaker device will likely give an organic answer, voice searches on mobile devices will still show advertisements on the results page, and, likely, some of your ads have already been shown.
To check for how people are searching for services like yours and to prepare for your ads appearing on future searches, you will want to look at your recent search terms. Voice searches tend to have longtail terms, meaning that they are longer, more specific, and typically stated more like a question than just a topic. Voice searches frequently include the words “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why,” and on average, they are 4.2 words long, whereas the average query length for text is only 3.2 words.
You can optimize your SEM campaign performance by sifting through your search terms and adding the relevant longtail terms to your keywords while also adding the irrelevant terms to your negative keyword list. This will help you reach a more targeted and applicable set of users.
Regardless of your industry and offerings, you want to be easily accessible when your target audience is ready to inquire. Increase your market share of voice searches by updating your SEO and SEM practices so that Siri, Alexa, Google, Bixby, and Cortana are reciting your products and services next time someone asks their digital assistant for help.
Is your content suitable for voice search? Let us help. Contact LEAD Marketing Agency today for custom Digital Marketing assistance.
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