As a business owner who’s digital marketing savvy, you know about SEO–search engine optimization.
You also know how important it is to incorporate it into your site and blog content.
But are you aware that SEO is going through a major change?
The use of voice search via mobile is on the rise.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re appealing to audiences in Portland, Oregon or the high mountains of Nepal.
The growing popularity of this technology will affect your web design and SEO.
Voice Search Versus Desktop Search
Traditionally, people have typed out exactly what they want to find into search engines.
They don’t bother with full sentences.
If they want to know Johnny Depp’s birthday, they’ll just type “Johnny Depp’s birthday.”
But the thing is, that isn’t the way we talk.
When we want to know something, we phrase our query in the form of a question.
So we’d verbally say, “When is Johnny Depp’s birthday?” or “When was Johnny Depp born?”
Notice that the second query does not contain the word “birthday.”
As the technology becomes more prevalent, we need to anticipate not just keywords but also questions.
Who’s Using Voice Search and Why
Unsurprisingly, the largest group of people using voice search are millennials.
The demographic least likely to use it is older folks of retirement age.
Most instances of its usage also occurred recently, which indicates growth.
Top uses of the technology include asking for directions, calling a contact, and dictating text.
Younger users are also likely to use it to get help with their homework.
The Rise of Instant Answers
Anyone who’s used Google recently has seen its tendency to enlarge text from its first result.
It also places the text on the right or at the top in a blurb-like manner.
This makes the text pop out to the searcher’s eye.
Not to mention, it steals visibility from the info in the other results.
Searching via voice operates much the same: highlighting the info in the first result.
We’re an impatient society. And we like having results now.
This trend of getting “instant answers” is going only to continue.
The Increasing Use of Mobile Devices to Get Answers
These days, phones are essentially like handheld computers.
And you can bet that they make up a huge portion of search engine devices.
In fact, they’re used to get over 50% of all search engine uses.
The percentage is so high that Google has actually switched to mobile-first indexing.
Again, we’re an impatient society. We like conveniences.
We don’t like waiting to get answers.
The trend of using mobile devices, which are voice search compatible, is going to grow.
Switching Strategies
Given all of this data, it’s clear: the time to regroup and rethink SEO is now.
Especially given that user engagement with your site affects your ranking.
One strategy is to offer safe content.
That is, content that can’t be confined to a simple answer.
For instance, it’s better to offer an in-depth product comparison instead of just a price comparison.
You can also hire a marketing firm to help you optimize your site or blog for this new technology.
At Midas Marketing, it’d be our pleasure to make sure your web space is ready for the change!
Please reach out to us to get a head start today!
