As a marketing officer, you might be wondering how voice search will impact your future search engine optimization strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to talk about today:<\/p>\n Voice search, in many cases, is about convenience.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise that it\u2019s popular among mobile users on the go. Would it surprise you, though, to find out more and more people are using it at home?<\/p>\n According to the 2016 KPCB Internet Trends report<\/a>, 43 percent of people use voice search in their home<\/strong>:<\/p>\n And as the technology improves, so does the adoption of voice search on mobile devices and voice assistants like Google Home:<\/p>\n Google is leading the charge to improve voice recognition technology.<\/p>\n In November 2015, Google announced that the Google app had improved its capability to understand the meaning behind voice searches<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just before that, RankBrain \u2014 Google\u2019s machine learning artificial intelligence system \u2014 hit the scene. RankBrain makes interpreting queries (including voice searches) and matching them to the best search results easier for the Google search engine.<\/p>\n The fact that over 40 percent of voice searches happen at home, versus around 20 percent happening on the go, presents a new level of complexity when we\u2019re thinking about how our brands can become a part of a person\u2019s daily search habits.<\/p>\n What we don\u2019t know yet is the future of how voice assistants like Google Home will identify and serve up results.<\/p>\n In many cases, devices like Google Home have to make complex decisions for you about which answer or result to serve up. This is unlike the traditional way of personally choosing among a set of blue links on a page, and voice search optimizations<\/a> must be accounted for.<\/p>\n Voice search adds further complexity to local search results<\/a>, in particular.\u00a0For example, someone who has a broken water pipe might simply tell their Google Home device: \u201cMy plumbing is broken,\u201d versus a more traditional voice search like \u201cshow me plumbers in my local area\u201d or \u201cwho are the best plumbers in my area?\u201d<\/p>\n Let’s not forget that search must also evolve to fit the tastes of new generations<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n What we do know is that third-party integrations are happening that allow brands to integrate with Google virtual assistants<\/a> more seamlessly. And that\u2019s worth looking into.<\/p>\n As search behavior changes, Google has more work to do to find the best answers, and we\u00a0as digital marketers have more work to do to understand how to become a part of those results.<\/p>\n We do, however, understand some things about voice search to date, and how it can impact your SEO strategy.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look closer at what you need to know about optimizing for voice search<\/a> to survive SEO as it becomes more and more the norm.<\/p>\n As part of your voice search keyword research strategy, your company needs to be aware of how someone would look for your product or service if they were using a voice search.<\/p>\n Remember, voice searches are more conversational and tend to center around questions instead of the two- or three-word queries that many people type.<\/p>\n But they can also be declarative statements, like the one I used in the plumbing example earlier.<\/p>\n As part of your research, create a list of voice searches you believe users would use. Brainstorm with your team. Peruse social media. Look at forums. Do whatever you need to do to come up with a good starting list for research.<\/p>\n We recommend in our SEO training class<\/a> that people start querying their brand, products and services using voice search to find out if they show up and how.<\/p>\n Most companies haven\u2019t taken the time to figure out how to do a search for their products or services on a device using voice search. But, with your newfound keyword research, you can start.<\/p>\n Once you perform that real-time voice query research, if you find your website isn\u2019t showing up, your web pages and their content need some work.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely that your website pages aren\u2019t doing a good job of answering a where, when, why, what or how-type question.<\/p>\n As part of your SEO strategy, you want to find out who is, in fact, showing up for those voice search queries if not you \u2014 or who is ranking above you.<\/p>\n Performing page-by-page analyses of the top 10 rankings, for example, for a voice search important to your business can help you better understand the logistics of the content on those top-ranking pages.<\/p>\n The approach to optimizing web pages is the same \u2014 meaning you want to ensure you\u2019re following SEO best practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n But you may choose to tweak your content.<\/p>\n You might decide to include the same target keywords in your meta information and heading tags, but tweak the content to be in the form of a question posed by someone using voice search.<\/p>\n For example, \u201cplanets in our solar system\u201d might become, \u201chow many planets are in our solar system?\u201d<\/p>\n This keyword modification tactic could be applied page-wide where it makes sense and feels natural. You might also use the data you gleaned from your voice search keyword research plus the competitive research I mentioned to identify content on your site that\u2019s missing.<\/p>\n Where could you better answer many of the questions your target audience has?<\/p>\n While it\u2019s ultimately Google\u2019s job to best match a search query to a web page, it\u2019s also our jobs as website publishers to do as much as we can to help make that match.<\/p>\n So, many of the SEO practices we\u2019re used to still apply to help make your pages relevant.<\/p>\n I mentioned integrations with Google Home<\/a>, and those are the types of things you\u2019ll want to watch out for, particularly for certain types of businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s worth mentioning again that voice search today is a highly mobile experience. But we can easily imagine a time when voice search is a desktop function.<\/p>\n Still, with Google planning to take a mobile-first index approach<\/a>, you can\u2019t afford not to be there.<\/p>\n Right now, it\u2019s safe to say we\u2019re in an experimental phase, where we\u2019re learning how voice search works across devices, how search results surface and how to be a part of it all. And there\u2019s still much work to do.<\/p>\n As brands, we need to figure out how to become a seamless part of our audience\u2019s search habits across technology and devices. Imagine the competitive advantage you would have in being a leader in the \u201cnew\u201d search.<\/p>\n But we also need to continue to implement the SEO best practices that help search engines understand our website and its content. Only now, we have more contexts than ever to consider.<\/p>\n What do you think? Do you think a brand can be the last to implement a voice search strategy? Can you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.<\/em><\/p>\n Let us help you develop your voice search SEO strategy. Bruce Clay\u2019s tailor-made services drive your competitive advantage. Let\u2019s talk more about growing revenue through smarter search marketing.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You wouldn\u2019t want your annual profits cut by 20 percent, would you? Just like you wouldn\u2019t overlook one out of five of your customers.<\/p>\n By the latest stats, 20 percent of people searching on mobile are doing it with voice search. And we expect that number to grow significantly as more and more people adapt to voice search and voice assistants.<\/p>\n As a marketing officer, you might be wondering how voice search will impact your future search engine optimization strategy.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to talk about today:<\/p>\n \u2022 Why and how your audience is using voice search.\n
Why Your Audience Is Using Voice Search<\/h2>\n
![\"reasons](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/reasons-voice-search.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"primary](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/voice-assistants-improved-tech.jpg\")
<\/a>Voice Search Beyond the Mobile Device<\/h2>\n
![\"sound](\"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/sound-wave-on-phone-screen.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHow to Prepare Your SEO Strategy for Voice Search<\/h2>\n
Know Your Audience<\/h3>\n
Know Your Results<\/h3>\n
Know Your Competition<\/h3>\n
Apply Voice Search Keyword Strategy and Website Optimization<\/h3>\n
\n\u2022 The impact of Google\u2019s machine-learning system, RankBrain, on voice search, where voice assistants come into play, and what voice search means in a mobile-first world.
\n\u2022 Strategic recommendations on how voice search impacts your SEO strategy.<\/p>\n