Who uses voice search? By that time, platforms like Google Assistant, Amazon Echo, Microsoft’s Cortana and the other personal assistant apps will be a daily part of our lives. Long tail keywords will be the norm, but you’ll also have to think about the context of people’s search queries and the user intent behind them. How voice tech will shape the future of search marketing From a search marketing perspective, voice technology is going to change everything. Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and a bunch of other tech giants are building their own gateways to the web and this alone will shake up the search marketing industry. Multi-platform marketing Instead of marketing for Google, it’ll be a case of marketing for Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and any number of search platforms. Turning conversation into conversion The real challenge for marketers in a voice orientated web is turning conversations into conversions. People are using voice search in a different way and with different user intents, which means you need to rethink your approach to keyword targeting. This isn’t something you want to wait around for either – voice search is taking off now and the brands that understand user intent first will be the big winners. The future web will be hands-free, voice-activated and truly mobile.
Voice search has been with us for more than half a decade now, but most of us are still used to typing out our chosen keywords. However, the stats suggest people are finally warming to voice technology – and just in time, too.
The tech giants are all pushing their personal assistant platforms, each one powered by artificial intelligence and the ability to complete useful tasks. Voice search isn’t the future anymore, it’s the now – and it’s going to change search marketing as you know it.
Who uses voice search?
The rise of voice search hasn’t exactly been meteoric. It’s been a gradual progression since the likes of Siri and Google brought the technology to our smartphones – but things are now finally starting to take off.
Google says 20% of mobile queries are voice searches while ComScore believes at least 50% of all searches will be voice orientated by 2020.
By that time, platforms like Google Assistant, Amazon Echo, Microsoft’s Cortana and the other personal assistant apps will be a daily part of our lives. We’re now entering a new period where voice search becomes our first choice in a wide range of situations.
Voice tech is already changing the nature of search
Voice technology and the mobile web have already changed the way people search online. When users type queries, they tend to use the minimum amount of words possible – like ‘best restaurants London’, for example. But when people turn to voice search they’re typically using it in a more conversational way – like ‘which are the best restaurants in London?’.
This has an obvious impact on the kind of keywords you’ll be targeting as voice search becomes more prominent. Long tail keywords will be the norm, but you’ll also have to think about the context of people’s search queries and the user intent behind them.
This is where Google’s RankBrain and other AI technology is pivotal to the future of voice search. The goal isn’t single query interactions but a new kind of conversational search experience. Something along the lines of this:
User: “Where’s the Golden Gate Bridge?”
Google: “It’s in San Francisco.”
User: “Show me a picture of it.”
Google: shows image
That conversation may not look like much, but the user’s second question relies on Google’s ability to remember previous searches and interpret the context of future ones. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to understand what “it” means in the second query/command.
Google is also known to be working on the concept of conversational shopping. So it won’t be long before you’ll be able to say things like “hey Google, order me a pizza” and wait for the doorbell to ring.
How voice tech will shape the future of search marketing
From a search marketing perspective, voice technology is going to change everything. We’ve already touched on the idea of conversational search, but the key for marketers is…
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