Voice search is being utilised by more people to surf the internet with each day. This first voice search websites came about following the launch of Apple’s virtual assistant Siri back in October 2011 – it looks like voice search is set to explode and evolve even further over the next 12 months. Siri was initially designed and released so users could hold ‘conversations’ with the internet. Since this time, voice search is predicted to see unprecedented growth in 2017 supported by a recent finding of 61% of the population estimated to talk to their mobile devices through AI applications. Voice search has many benefits for search engine users including its speed and hands-free nature.
Optimising your online and offsite content for voice search
We encourage you to consider voice search in your content marketing strategy. Voice search queries contrast to text-based queries so this involves adapting a new approach rather than using traditional methods which target specific keywords. A voice search will usually involve the user asking a question such as ‘What is the best restaurant in Newcastle?’ compared to a more refined search like ‘Best restaurants Newcastle’ which most businesses are working to rank highest for. With voice-search set to continuously grow, it has been said that more conversational search terms will be the road to success. However, it is possible to appeal to both types of search; those who use text and voice by using optimisation strategies which complement each other.
What does voice-search mean for the future of digital marketing?
From a digital marketing perspective, we think that marketing departments should focus on optimising website content for voice search and delivery as part of their digital marketing strategy. It has been predicted that 50% of all searches online will be via voice search by 2020! With AI popularity and voice search becoming the fastest growing type of search, we are eager to see what changes it will mean for PPC and other digital advertising campaigns which are keyword-rich strategies.
When using voice search our queries are different, we have stronger intent, we are often more specific as we expect the correct result first time without then having to filter or browse the results. We tend to use voice search to find very definite responses, rather than general information.
As digital marketing and content marketing continues to evolve it is likely that focus keywords will start to become relevant again, if general websites are to benefit from the opportunities and demand that the growth in voice search necessitates, watch this space!