Voice search is poised to have a significant impact on marketing. It will comprise fifty percent of all searches by 2020, according to ComScore — making this an exciting time to ‘be found’. In this article, we share how to identify and use the right keywords in your voice search optimization journey.
Google Voice search was introduced in 2013 and since then, has revolutionized the way people ask queries and look for products or services, simply because it is fast and effective. Whether you are a service provider or retailer, an upcoming business or a well-known brand, it’s time you prioritize voice search as a marketing tool.
Let’s understand why…
But first, we look at some crucial statistics to set the context:
- According to SEOExpert Bradley Shaw’s voice search statistics for 2019, 61 percent of people used voice search when they were occupied (for example, cooking) and 30 percent used it for faster search results (as opposed to typing in queries).
- BrightLocal reported that 58 percent of consumers used voice search to find local businesses in the last 12 months.
- 52 percent of voice-activated speaker owners want to receive information about deals, sales, and promotions from brands, while 39 percent use their voice-activated speakers to find business information, according to Think with Google, insights on consumer behavior.
- Microsoft’s 2019 Voice Report found that 19% of respondents use Microsoft Cortana, 36% use Siri, 36% use Google Assistant, 25% use Alexa.
Learn More: Voice Search – How to Get your Brand Started
Voice search is not only shaping the way people search but is also reshaping consumer behavior, making it a new battleground for marketers. Voice search queries are different from regular search queries and to feature on Google Search Results, you will need to do things unconventionally.
Let’s understand how it works.
The Voice Search Journey
From making phone calls to looking for keywords on the web using ‘Say your Search Keywords’, Google’s voice search has evolved to be elegant, relevant, and contextual. The Hummingbird update emphasized on semantics in search queries. With this, user search intent became a fundamental element of search. As a step further to enhance the user’s search experience, Google started using it’s Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning-driven RankBrain algorithm to identify searcher’s intent based on keywords, location, and personalization among many other factors.
Voice search is used for quick answers or when a user is about to take an action, making semantics and contextual relevance more important. Although voice search results are still not perfect, you can prepare your content around keywords based on how it is being used today.
How to Optimize Your Content for Voice Search?
Voice search is being used for various purposes and while developing content for voice SEO, you can focus on these content types, viz. Informational intent (how-to, FAQs), navigational intent (store location, contact us, etc.), and transactional intent (buy now, product information, comparisons, etc.).
Learn More: Marketers Need to Know This About the Future of Voice & Audio in 2019
Here is how you can identify keywords to map to the user’s voice search queries across various points in the customer journey.
1. Find Intent in Questions
When a user is in the awareness or research phase, her search queries will include questions like what, who, how? For instance, what is the best baby massage oil? While evaluating various brands, a typical query would be, “Which are the best brands for baby products?” A query that shows interest could be, “Does (brand) baby shampoo have parabens or sulfates?”
While making a purchase a user could ask, “Where can I buy (brand) massage oil?”
Neil Patel in his blog also describes how a question can be used to interpret a user’s intent.
While crafting content to maximize voice search capabilities, keep semantics in mind and structure your website to answer conversational queries. You can use various analytical tools such as Google Analytics to check the popular natural language phrases for your product or service. Instead of simply writing a blog post about your product, structure it to answer popular user queries. For instance, which brands offer sulfate and paraben free baby products? could be a subhead in your post. It will not only be voice search friendly, but also relevant to specific voice search queries.
2. Conversational and Long Tail Keywords
Thanks to Google’s Speech API, voice search is becoming more and more seamless. Gone are the days when Google Voice cracked us up with these hilarious transcription fails. Natural Language Processing (NLP), powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is revolutionizing this space and therefore gave rise to conversational keywords. In essence, conversational keywords are long tail keywords or search phrases with higher word counts.
Voice-based queries are longer than text-based queries as the user takes longer to type. Users generally use voice queries as though they are having a conversation and are more likely to be specific in search queries on voice assistants like Alexa, Siri and Cortana.
For instance, 5-Star Sushi Restaurants in San Diego would become Where can I find a 5-Star Restaurant for Sushi in San Diego?
Apart from being longer at the tail, voice queries will have a question at the end. Also, such queries tend to be conversational, so answers to them will be sequential. For example, a follow-up query to this question could be, Can I book a table for two? Thanks to semantics Google will know the context; you need to structure your page to answer sequential and/or conversational queries.
3. Leverage ‘Near-Me’ Queries
People extensively use ‘near-me’ queries while they are traveling or driving to explore what’s nearby. Navigational queries can be integrated with local search listings to boost sales for the products’ services available at a nearby location.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to add your Address, Location pin on Google Maps, Landmark(s), Contact Number, Open Hours (and Special Deals or Products) if applicable on Google listings, and as the meta description of your webpage.
4. Voice Search Revolves Around Action Queries
The best thing about voice search is, it generally happens when the user is in action. For instance, when a user is driving and performs a voice search to look for ‘deals on pizza’. The intent here is to order or dine out shortly.
If you can structure your pages around action words like ‘Order Now’, ‘Buy’, ‘Call’, ‘Find’, ‘Book’ etc., it will provide better opportunities of showing up on the Search Engine Ranking Page (SERP).
Learn More: The Key Voice Search Features to Use in Your SEO Strategy
Summarizing Voice Search Keywords
Voice search algorithms will continue to evolve, and so will the way users search. But if you optimize for voice search earlier in the race, there will be more scope for experimentation, learning, and above all featuring on the search engine results page, therefore improving customer experience. The key is to analyze, experiment, test, and modify to get the maximum out of voice search.
What are your top keyword tips for voice search? Tell us on Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook; we’re always listening!