What is voice search? Voice search might appear as though it's simply begun to cross the gorge, yet its beginnings date back quite a while back. Audrey was the initial voice recognition device made in 1952. Audrey, developed by Bell Laboratories, set a new standard for recognizing digits spoken by one voice. It laid the groundwork for future voice search technology. Now fast forward to June 14, 2011, when Google announced at its Inside Google Search event that voice search would begin to be implemented within the next few days.
Little did the world realize then the way that voice search would change how we track down data. More than a year after the fact, on October 30, 2012, Google delivered another Google Search application for iOS. To compete with Apple's Siri voice assistant, this application featured an enhanced Google Voice Search function. Voice searches made up 20% of all searches in the Google App by May 2016. By 2018, voice search on mobile devices was used by 27% of the global online population.
Before we jump into ways to enhance voice search innovation, we should initially investigate which voice search is and its starting points.
How Does Voice Search Work?
Voice search allows customers to use technology to answer questions or simply learn more about a subject. The voice search feature converts voice signals into text using the automatic speech recognition system (ASR). The text is then used by the search engine as if it were a standard search query and relevant search results are returned.
Machine learning has improved over time to better comprehend natural human language and the searcher's intention to present the most relevant results. Personal voice assistants benefit from
- Improved battery life
- Improved audio quality
- Voice control from artificial intelligence (AI)
- Enhancements to natural language processing continue to improve their comprehension of the user's questions and commands
- Gain an advantage over your rivals and win the SERP
- Analyze organic traffic, competitor keywords, and the top pages
- Utilize their points of weakness to surpass them in search and win new business
How Does Voice Search Work?
Voice search can be tricky. However, a fundamental comprehension can guide your voice search optimization efforts. A voice search assistant responds to a voice search query whenever:
- Ensure that the voice query is kept out of the mix by filtering the sounds.
- Transform the voice search query into digital data by digitizing it.
- By processing the digital data, conduct a voice analysis.
- Utilize Google Search and other external data sources to locate and provide relevant answers.
- Translate the data to meet the searcher's needs.
- Recognize patterns and contrast the query with the database's samples.
Who Are the Major Players in Voice Search Assistants?
With an 82% market share, virtual assistants dominate the global smart speaker market. Other devices come in second, followed by wireless speakers. However, it's important to keep in mind that smart speakers aren't used for the majority of voice searches. In order of popularity, these are the smart speaker devices that are owned the most:
- Echo from Amazon (20.8%)
- Nest by Google (8.1%)
- Others 5.2 %
A key part of the voice search market includes:
- Avnera Corporation, Apple Inc., and Amazon.com, Inc.
- Deutsche Telekom AG, Baidu Inc.
- Fabriq
- Meta Stages, Inc. (Facebook)
- Letters in order Inc. (Google)
- Jam Sound
- KaKao
- Lenovo
According to LG Electronics Inc., the largest markets for smart speakers are China and the United States. Over 40% of smart speaker shipments worldwide are sent to China, while 30% are sent to the United States.
How Voice Search Differs from Traditional Search?
Voice search may provide faster results than typing a query on a desktop computer or mobile phone. Users of voice search frequently speak more conversationally and naturally, sounding like they are speaking to a friend. They probably will involve long-tail keywords in their question.
For instance, prospective clients might use voice search to find a gynecologist by asking, "Where can I find a gynecologist near the Lake Avenue neighborhood in Kolkata?" Cell phone clients leading a hunt may rather basically type "optometrist close to me" in the pursuit bar. Although both location-based search queries will produce relevant search results, you can see that one is significantly more specific (and longer) than the other.
Now that you know how a voice search query is different from a traditional query, and how smart device usage is broken down, let's talk about how to optimize your website for voice search.
Utilize Standard SEO Best Practices
When creating content for your web pages, adhere to standard SEO best practices. This includes improving your title tags, targeting rich results with schema markup, including long-tail keywords in your content, and more. Most importantly, your substance ought to be applicable and helpful to the peruser.
The majority of potential customers will look elsewhere if they are unable to find immediate answers after reading your content. Before writing your content, make a list of questions to make sure you answer each one. Focus on providing the best possible information rather than unnecessary fluff. The surface of that data is at the highest point of your article as opposed to making planned clients look at your substance to find what they need.
Track Down Wherever Searchers Are Looking
Your content should be filed wherever clients look, particularly on significant stages, for example, Google Voice Search, Google Guides, and Apple Guides. Your local business listing may be the first place a voice search query with local intent finds you. Additionally, because this is a common location where potential customers will find your business, your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) needs to be completely accurate and contain up-to-date information. At any rate, your business ought to guarantee coming up next is right on your nearby postings:
- Company's name
- Description of the company
- Address
- Phone number (a number at which calls are transferred to a real person)
- Attributes
- Hours of operation and closure
- Reviews (and responses to reviews from owners of businesses)
- A link to the service booking page or your local landing pages
Create an FAQ Page
Brands should create an FAQ page because it provides users with quick answers to common questions. Many people who use voice search have a problem they need to solve. A FAQ page presents replies to those normal inquiries clients are posing. Start with the most frequently asked questions by your customer service team. You can also get your questions from the Google Q&A section of the business listing for your location. Make use of FAQ Schema Markup to boost your chances of being seen in a Search featured snippet and reaching the right users.
Keyword Exploration
Keyword research requires constant revision and refinement to get the best results. Consider how a customer will search by voice when selecting keywords to target. You can see the most frequently asked questions about a seed keyword using keyword research tools like Soovle or AnswerThePublic.
Additionally, your internal team is an excellent source of question concepts.
Another great place to get ideas for questions is Google Search. Google will automatically generate a list of concepts if you enter your seed keyword into the search bar. For instance, you might type "cocktail dresses" into Google if you run a women's clothing store and are looking for questions to target. Your search will be followed by a list of popular search terms.
Google Search Party
On the off chance that you essentially add the beginning to an inquiry in your hunt question, Google will surface different inquiry keyword ideas. Also, keep in mind that a lot of Google searches by voice queries are conversational. You are missing out on many voice search queries if you do not also target long-tail keyword terms.
Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
Google found that voice search on mobile devices is used by over a quarter of the world's population. On the off chance that your site isn't portable and search-accommodating, your client experience is imperfect. To make a consistent client venture across all voice search viable gadgets, you should guarantee your client's experience stays steady, paying little heed to how or when they draw in with you. Make sure you adhere to the following fundamentals to create a mobile-friendly experience:
- Create mobile-friendly pages
- Create content with shorter paragraphs and subheadings to make it easier to read on smartphones
- Design your website in a way that is easy to understand
- At the very top of the page, display your CTAs
- Provide images that are mobile-friendly
- Speed up your page's loading time
- Make sure your contact information is easily accessible
Concluding Thoughts
Voice search has been iterated and tested for a long time to become the fast, useful time saver that it is today. Test your content to ensure that it can be viewed correctly on various devices, platforms, and operating systems (such as Apple and Android devices). Even though it has been around for 70 years, it will only get better over time. To meet the increasing demands of customers for convenience, brands must adapt to the growing use of digital assistants and voice recognition technology. Today is the day to begin implementing a voice search strategy for your business.
