Our voice activated friends: Google Assist, Siri, Alexa, and Cortana have become a household pet for many. You may have yourself or heard someone else say aloud from across the room “Alexa, what time is it?” or “Hey Google, play chillout music!”. And as if by magic the answer is revealed, or music starts playing.
Focus of Featured Snippets
But how does this magic happen? Simply the device scours featured snippets for your search. What is a featured snippet? This is a short snippet of text, that you can find at the start of Google’s results and these are aimed to answer a user’s search query. This snippet is from pages that have been indexed with Google.
Good digital marketing will already take into consideration snippets, however with the surge in voice search queries a new way of enhancing voice search results has been developed. Voice SEO.
Much like standard SEO, Voice SEO needs to be built up over time. Content needs to be optimised for voice search queries, and a company (or hire an agency) will need to have a good digital marketing plan that incorporates a strategy for voice search. But if your business is still not online you must hire a digital transformation agency that will transform your business into an online business.
Position Zero
What is Position Zero? This is the result at the very top of the search results page, this is also known as the ‘featured snippet’. Appearing in this spot maximises visibility to users.
Featured snippets are coveted spots, and businesses are now starting to recognise the value of Position Zero. Therefore, it is important to include a voice search strategy in your overall digital marketing strategy to ensure that your business content is being optimised for voice queries.
Usually our friends: Google Assist, Siri, Alexa, and Cortana read the featured snippet when presenting results.
Conversational Search
What is conversational search? it is a term used to describe how a user interacts with a voice activated search device like: Google Assist, Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. The conversational aspects come into play in the way the user outlines their request: “hey Google, what is the time.
Businesses need to consider how they optimise content so that when a voice related query is actioned, the algorithms behind the scenes can easily identify the relevant optimised content for a keyword string.
Mobile Voice Search
More and more people are using mobile devices when accessing data online, and voice search request are easily carried out on a mobile device, with the help of built in apps, or easily downloadable ones.
Therefore, it is important for a business to make part of their digital strategy, mobile optimisation, mobile responsiveness, and mobile user experience.
Future Voice
Technology is moving forward rapidly, and users want to have a more seamless experience. It quicker to request a search query through voice then by typing. The speed at which such a request can be made is changing the online game.
In 2019, 10.1% of Baby boomers, 17.2% Gen X, and 39.3% of Millennials were using voice search. (Source: eMarketer).
The inclusion of voice search into a digital marketing plan is becoming increasingly important. Businesses need to consider adding voice search optimisation into their digital marketing efforts, or they if they lack the skill set engage an agency that can help.
Here at Perceive Digital we can help you with Voice SEO, feel free to drop us a line to see how we can help your business.
