The Voice Search Revolution for Digital Marketing
Written by Zak Hillard
Do you talk the same way you search on Google? We’re willing to bet you don’t. With voice search functionality continuously improving, more and more people now use it to quickly find answers to their questions.
In fact, around 20.5% of people around the world now use voice search and this number is expected to rise even higher.
With such a big pool of users searching this way, it’s time to start paying closer attention. How does it impact the search landscape in general, as well as digital marketing specifically?
Let’s take a look.
What is voice search?
Voice search is exactly how it sounds – searching by using your voice rather than typing out a query. This includes using Google’s in-built ‘search by voice’ function, as well as AI assistants like Siri or Alexa. This leads to some significant differences in the way people search.
Let’s use an example. If you were searching on Google for a restaurant, you might search ‘best restaurant near me’, however if you walked up to a friend and said that, they may wonder if you’ve been replaced by AI.
If you were actually asking a friend for recommendations you might say something more like ‘what are the best restaurants near me?’. The difference might seem subtle but when it comes to digital marketing, subtle changes can have huge impacts.
We all have voice search functionality built into our phones and computers now, and more than 60% of UK homes have at least one smart speaker, making it a very convenient way to search without actually ‘searching’.
What does this mean for digital marketers?
Changes to keywords and search terms
One of the biggest impacts of voice search is the wider net of keywords and search terms it opens up. The vast majority of voice searches are much more conversational and start with the words ‘how’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’ or ‘who’, whereas text searches get straight into the focus keywords with little filler.
To go back to the restaurant example, you might typically focus on terms such as ‘best restaurant near me’ (110k monthly search volume), whereas now you could see things like ‘What are the best restaurants near me’ (50 search volume) becoming much more sought after. The drop in volume is clearly something to consider, but by weaving a few longer tail keywords together and targeting them in tandem, you can expand your reach whilst staying away from those ‘monster’ keywords.
Longer tail keywords are becoming much more widely used and are less saturated than your typical Google-isms, offering a very interesting option for digital marketers – especially those working with smaller budgets.
Championing local SEO
Almost 50% of voice searches are locally-focused, or aimed at finding local business information – think ‘where is the best garage near me’, et cetera.
This means the rise of voice search incentivises a focus on local SEO, especially your Google My Business listings. So much so in fact, it’s suggested that businesses with fully updated GMB listings are 70% more likely to get location-based inquiries from voice search.
Typically, local SEO is much more time-sensitive or ‘right now’ than typical organic SEO. If you combine this with voice search regularly being used by people on the go (driving/multi-tasking), voice search can be a valuable, high intent resource to tap into.
Content format shift
Voice search is all about speed and convenience – ergo, users don’t want a 1,200 word blog post as an answer to their question. For people using smart speakers and AI assistants, the answer you’ll receive to your question is typically taken straight from the AI snippet or overview at the top of the SERP. As such, you want to be there.
This means a shift in content format in order to increase your chances of being included in these AI snippets and overviews. This format of ‘ask and answer’ is tailormade for FAQ content.
Whether you create blog content in an FAQ style, have a dedicated FAQ page on your site or tag a few relevant Q&As at the bottom of each question on the site, answering these commonly asked questions is going to be a big part of your voice search strategy.
Voice search isn’t just for SEO
While voice search has some pretty significant impacts for organic marketing, it will also leave its mark on paid marketing, specifically PPC.
With CPCs steadily on the rise across the board and the ‘game’ getting more competitive than ever before, finding areas of lower competition and high intent is a key focus for PPC-ers. PPC typically leans more heavily on shorter-tail keywords, but some comprehensive research into the way customers in your industry are searching can present some new avenues you might not have gone down yet.
For example, if you’re in the travel industry, you might bid on keywords like ‘winter sun destinations’ (8,100 monthly search volume). But with voice search, more and more people are searching for things like ‘where to go on holiday in November for sun’ (880 search volume).
Remember, when people are searching (whether voice or text), they’re not necessarily looking to see ads, and their choice of words will reflect that. As marketers, it’s our job to make sure we get involved in the conversation whenever and however our customers are searching.
Make your voice heard
As the world of search marketing continues to change with each passing day, the core concept remains the same – understand exactly how our customers are searching and be there when they do.
If you’re looking for support with setting your business up for the voice search revolution, get in touch with us today to claim your free digital audit or check out our digital marketing services for more information.
