The Rise of Voice Search

Updated October 25, 2024

Virtual Assistance

As technology advances the way we search for information changes. Since Siri was first introduced by Apple back in 2010 voice search has been back on the agenda of all the major tech giants. As voice search becomes more popular the search part of the term is becoming more relevant to digital marketers. So how can you make sure your SEO is optimized for voice search as well as normal search?

I’m Sorry, I Didn’t Catch That

As mobile searches account for over 50% of all searches on Google virtual assistants like Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google Assistant have begun to take a bigger role. With many users using their phones on the go, or while driving, voice searches have a clear advantage over jamming our stubby little fingers all over the touchscreen. But will this make a difference to what we search?

Perhaps the simplest, but most important point is this: We don’t talk how we type. So how we optimize for SEO will need to change to take into account how we talk, as well as how we write. Using a more conversational tone will take us back the early days of search engines when everybody would politely ask Jeeves “Do you know where the best pizza place downtown is?”

Make Your Voice Heard

will be longer. This may change as we learn to use voice search, but in these early stages, people are treating voice search as if they are speaking to a person. So, instead of just saying “Pizza. Downtown.” they’re giving the query a bit more ‘fluff’.

Predictions from 2016 say that by 2020 voice search will account for 50% of searches. So how do you change your strategy to account for voice searches? Well, as shown above, typically voice searches

So as well as advertising for single, or short tail, keywords you should also make sure you’re optimizing for some longer tail keywords too. If you’re using PPC platforms, adding long tail keywords as phrase matches can be a useful way of getting cheaper clicks too (although this may change as voice search grows in popularity).

At the moment the majority of Google voice searches that are being carried out are very localized, and as said above, from mobile devices. So another way to maximise the impact of voice search you need to make sure your Local SEO is on point. Doing things like claiming your Google My Business page, or making sure it is fully up to date, can be enough to keep you ahead of the curve at the moment.

Topping Voice Search

Do you think voice search is going to change the way we do SEO? We’d love to hear if you’ve noticed any changes since voice search became more popular?

Photo credit – Top: Mark Jensen