How Voice Search Will Shape the Digital Marketing World?

In today’s world, it’s a little weird to talk to yourself… but talking to your smart device is totally normal. When we have a question, we turn to Google or Siri. Something we would’ve typed out ourselves has now turned into a conversation with our smart devices. 

“Hey Siri, when is Thanksgiving?”

“Hey Google, what’s the weather in San Francisco today?”

“Alexa, turn on Cardi B.”

In 2008, we met Siri for the first time. After Siri, Microsoft launched Cortana, Amazon launched Alexa, and so it all began. Voice search was originally tied to smartphones, but now we have home assistants like Google Home and Amazon Echo. Voice search is now available in cars and on laptops, phones and speakers. But where will voice search be in the near future? How is it impacting the marketing world? 

This voice search discussion is non-stop. Some experts believe it is “the next big thing” while other aren’t phased by it. No matter what you believe, there is no denying that voice search is growing at a tremendous rate and its popularity needs to be discussed.

What is voice search?

“Voice search is a speech recognition technology that allows users to search by saying terms aloud rather than typing them into a search field. The proliferation of smartphones and other small, web-enabled mobile devices has spurred interest in voice search.” –WhatIs.com 

Let’s break this down. Voice search is when you search for something with your voice instead of typing it. Voice search enables the user to look for answers to more specific questions. The user will ask their device to answer a question or to perform a task in a conversational tone.

“What is?”

“How do I?”

“Look up…”

Most of the questions people are asking are based on one of 4 different thought processes. I want to know. I want to go. I want to do. I want to buy.

The conversational tone that we now search with will soon turn into actual conversations with smart devices. For example, this Google Assistant is booking an appointment with an actual human over the phone:

How is voice search affecting the digital marketing world?

SEO strategy is changing due to trending voice search. Before voice search we would use 1-3 specific keywords. Now, rather than specific keywords, SEO will favor longer keyword queries that target overall topics. For example, if you were to Google a question like: “How do I fix my running toilet?”  The Search Engine Results Page (SERP) will provide an answer box from the top position entry. If you were to ask Alexa that same question, this is the answer she would provide the top result.

Here are some takeaways for formatting SEO for voice search:

1. Focus on being the top result on the Search Engine Results Page 
2. Utilize question-based and conversational keywords
3. Form your blog posts on highly-searched questions

What are future predictions for voice search?

Here’s the bottom line: Everyone is going to adapt to voice search. It’s inevitable. The rising trend of voice-centered devices is just a sneak peek into what our future will look like with this advanced technology.

“The next search engine is voice.”- Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of the most influential leaders in marketing. In his latest conference, Vaynermedia, he discussed how consumers never imagined the laptop or the iPhone being a part of their daily lives. Now, they can’t imagine a life without it. He then goes on to discuss of the possibility of everything we know today getting replaced by voice. Even our showers and appliances could have voices and anything could be done audibly, without touch. Some are even predicting that voice search could completely rid the world of visual mediums (insert jaw drop here). Not convinced? 

• Smart speaker sales reached an all time high of 150 million in the year 2020. – businesswire
• 55% of households are expected to own smart speaker devices by 2022-invoca
• 40 percent of adults now use voice search once per day. –Branded3
• 71% consumers prefer voice searches over typing. – Oberlo

How do you prepare for the voice search revolution?

If this all seems a little overwhelming, don’t worry. Not all of these drastic changes are going to happen at once. You should continue to focus on best practices for SEO and adapting keywords to a more conversational and question-like tone. However, it is important to keep an eye out for the voice search revolution and make sure you’re adapting to new and coming trends.

Contact Pyxl

Not sure if you’re using the best practices for SEO? Need some tips on strategizing for digital marketing? Reach out to a Pyxl digital expert! We have a team of digital marketing mavens who would love to talk to you.

Updated: Apr 13, 2022