How Does Voice Search Affect SEO?

Voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, have become all the rage in recent years. The increased use and popularity of voice assistants have changed the way we manage SEO. These have changed the way in which people are searching for things online. Keywords are becoming longer, more conversational and highlights the user’s intentions. Here are some of ways in which voice search has changed SEO.

Evolution of Voice Search

Over 20% adults use voice search on their phones, smart watches and laptops on a regular basis, the majority of which are millennials. We have also found that a fifth of voice searches are used to locate local businesses and their business information.

Since many of the searches are tailored based on your location, this allows for local businesses to gain exposure. Business, which previously didn’t have the budget to market their establishment, can create a Google My Business account to gain greater awareness of their brand. This allows them to build up a customer base and promote their business, without paying a dime for any marketing services.

Future of Voice Assistants

The future for voice assistants is an exciting one, with widespread use of voice assistants and improvements in its technology. A study suggests that up to 90% of new car models will feature voice recognition in their infotainment systems by 2022. There is going to be greater appearance of voice recognition in many more of the technology that we use.

One of the factors that has limited its widespread use is the lack of trust that people have towards voice recognition technology. Some people believe that such technology allows companies to tune in to their conversations or other private information. This, however, is not the case as such technology is only functional when there is a wake-up command. In order for a greater use of voice recognition technology, people would have to trust that companies would respect their privacy and that any indirect information would not be used or stored by them. 

The finance and insurance industries have built quite a bit of trust before voice assistants and assistants are to be used in their services. The industry tends to be slow adopters to technology for good reason – Transactions and information has to be secured. Over the next few years as voice recognition technology becomes more advanced, people will start to realize that their data is secured when using voice recognition technologies.

Modify SEO to Fit Voice Searches

There are a few things to take note when optimizing your website for voice searches online.

Firstly, you can try to make your content more conversational and take into account long-tail keywords. The way in which people do voice searches gives greater information about the intent behind their query. Secondly, businesses have to ensure that their website is optimized for mobile devices and have good page speed. A majority of voice searches come from mobile devices, as such, it is essential that your website is usable on mobile phones. Page speed is important to ensure that search engines rank your content higher on web searches. SmartSites is a trusted digital marketing agency, based in New Jersey, United States. With over $100 million in client revenue generated from our projects, we have helped multiple companies in achieving their marketing goals. Give us a call at 201-448-9010 to speak to one of our marketing experts to find out how we could help you in the marketing of your business. Learn more about SmartSites by vising our website here.