Over the past few years, technological developments have increased the use and functionality of voice-activated devices both in the home and on the move. The importance for voice search SEO has never been so important.
Due to the increase in hardware sales and the adoption of voice search technology there have been many transformations in the market.
Voice searched massively improves user experience it is estimated that 50% of all searches will be made by voice throughout 2020.
With the cost of these products reducing the amount of internet searches will only increase over the next 12 months.
The Rise of The Voice
The arrival of IBM Watson in 2010 paved the way for speech recognition tools, developed by ISM’s DeepQA project and was initially designed to answer questions on the quiz show Jeopardy! Google followed soon after, launching Voice Search. Apple jumped on the bandwagon, releasing Siri for the iPhone – The first digital personal assistant.
In 2014 Microsoft launched Cortana which was originally launched for Windows Phone, however, it eventually expanded to Windows Mobile, Windows 10, Xbox One and even iOS and Android.
In November 2014 Amazon released their flagship voice-activated product called Echo. Echo, or as she’s also known, Alexa is a smart speaker which is a voice controlled intelligent personal assistant.
Google entered the competition in 2016 with a smart speaker, conveniently named Google Home.
Voice recognition software has improved massively since its birth. Developer claiming up to 95% accuracy. The technology has also expanded to other home devices, allowing control of intelligent devices, including smart TVs, thermostats as well as CCTV and light switches.
It’s not only voice searches that can be made, but homes can be made ‘smart’ by installing third-party accessories allowing users to boil kettles, switch on lights, change the TV channel – the mind boggles!
More and more people are enjoying the utilisation of Smart homes that uses internet-connected devices to enable the remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems throughout their homes and businesses
The Impact of Voice Searches on SEO
With new and improved voice recognition software, the systems are perfectly adequate to follow everyday language, so users can give commands or ask questions naturally. Whilst spoken language is a preferred method of communication there are still likely to be issues with dialect and variation of language, despite this it’s been reported that 70% of English language voice searches were made in natural or conversational tones.
After analysing 10,000 Google Home results Backlinko noted that voice searches average 20 words in length, meaning that those responsible for SEO will have to utilise more long-tail keywords to ensure a higher probability of conversion.
According to seoClarity, almost 20% of all voice search queries are triggered by just 25 keywords. Incorporating these words and optimising content is key to voice success!
How Can I Improve my Voice Search For SEO?
- Google prefers optimised websites, so ensuring that your website loads quickly, all files are compressed and that the site is fully responsive.
- Local information should be provided – utilising Google My Business will certainly help!
- Website content and articles should be fully optimised and long-tail keywords should reflect popular voice searches.
- Utilising structured data and schema markup help in providing more information about your brand. Pages are more likely to appear in rich snippets, increasing the chances of appearing first in voice searches.
- Increasing domain authority will help with search rankings.
