A decade ago, voice search seemed like something relegated science fiction. But voice search is now a very real aspect of people’s lives who use voice-based interaction with devices, such as Alexa, Siri, and Google.
This amazing feature uses voice recognition software to translate the spoken word into text and makes it easier to interact with your device or search for something on the web. It could be something simple like, “Where is the closest gas station?” or “Who wrote Pride and Prejudice?”
If you aren’t sure if it is worth the investment of getting your website voice search optimized, consider these stats from Branded3.com:
- By 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice searches.
- Google voice search queries were 35 times greater in 2016 than they were in 2008.
- 55% of teens and 40% of adults use voice search on a daily basis.
- As of January 2017, there were approximately 8.2 million homes using items such as Alexa and Google Home.
Having your website search engine optimized is a must have to rank in web searches. But now it is time to take it a step further – especially if you want to be found via voice search. Keep in mind, that because voice search optimized doesn’t require people to type in their queries, then their search requests are going to flow as more natural language. The searches are peppered with words such as “why, how, what and where” which means when you optimize your site for voice search, you need to include these words -as appropriate- with your long tail phrases.
An advantage of voice search is that the customer who uses it is more likely to make the purchase than one doing things on a keyboard because they have either already done their research or either because voice search helps them make a quick decision regarding a purchase.
Other than ease of use and more purchases, the other benefit is that people making the voice search queries are more likely to be local consumers. In fact, studies found that mobile voice searches are 3x more likely to be locally based than those using text. To make voice search work for you to its full potential, be sure that your NAP (name, address, phone number) is included on your site, as well as in online directories, so that a search engine can easily identify your website in a voice search.
If you have not yet ensured your website is set up for voice search, then now is the time do it. You don’t want to wait until 2020 to suddenly start trying to improve your ranking. Give the Page Progressive team a call today to learn how to get started.