Voice-powered searches are growing at a staggering rate. Fueled by the widespread adoption of smart speakers and voice assistant devices, In the US, voice search seems to be a little more popular than it is globally. 41% of American adults and over half of teens in the country use voice search every day, according to a Google Mobile Voice survey.
“Voice search represents a pivotal shift in consumer behavior,” commented Cassandra Gucwa, CEO of Menerva Digital. “Brands that start optimizing for voice search now will have a huge competitive advantage in the coming years.”
With voice queries outpacing typed keyword searches, brands that historically invested heavily in SEO face new visibility challenges. Voice search provides no traditional SERP display with page links, images, and text snippets. Instead, spoken answers are read out by Alexa, Siri or another service.
This seismic change requires brands to reorient their discovery and visibility strategies around voice interfaces. Companies that realign quickest stand to benefit the most from emerging voice search traffic and engagement.
Understanding the voice search user mindset
The psychology and intent behind voice searches differ greatly from typed queries. Voice interactions come across as more conversational, casual, impromptu and frank. Shorthand phrases are common. Queries often start with:
- “Find me...”
- “Where is the nearest...”
- “When does...close”
- “What is the best...”
- “How do I...”
Unlike text search, voice queries indicate users want direct, consumable answers more akin to having a conversation versus browsing or researching in depth.
Common intents include:
- Locating nearby establishments
- Getting product recommendations
- Checking operating hours
- Confirming factual information
- Discovering contact details
- Listening to entertainment
This distinction means brands must optimize for specific answer-driven intents frequently served through voice results. Identify key voice searcher needs aligned to your offerings and ensure content ranks well for those particular questions and commands.
Speaking to voice assistants like real users
One foundation of voice search success lies in having a brand name people find natural to say conversationally. Elaborate naming conventions don’t translate well into spoken phrases. Consider shortening your brand name or allowing common shorthand references if they exist.
For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken smartly rebranded to KFC to embrace a more concise, catchy identifier. The name rolls off the tongue cleanly when spoken to a voice assistant.
Ensure all locations and listings use a consistent public business name matching your brand’s identity. Redirect nicknames or abbreviations to your unified entity. This improves brand name recognition and visibility for voice.
Optimizing content for featured snippets and quick answers
Ranking highly for featured snippets - those short inserts that display directly in SERPs - proves critical for voice search visibility. Voice assistants like Alexa often pull snippets directly rather than lists of links for more natural-sounding spoken answers.
To optimize for snippets, ensure key pages on your site publish high-authority, meticulously researched content formatted to provide quick answers. Lists, explainers, and brief FAQs that define entities (“What is Bitcoin?”) all allow voice services to excerpt your content or say facts verbatim from your page.
LD syntax can boost authority here as well. Detail key properties like your business type, founding date, contact info, location branches, and management hierarchy.
Generating more direct customer reviews
Customer views and ratings on review sites carry substantial influence on local voice search queries. The presence of recent positive ratings helps surface relevant stores and service businesses ahead of those lacking verification through ratings.
Brands should focus intently on generating recent reviews showcasing satisfied experiences customers had. Enable seamless feedback channels asking patrons to leave even brief reviews following transactions.
Monitoring and encouraging further reviews greatly aids local visibility. Brands could offer small incentives for select customers with the most referrals or reviews to help accelerate volume.
Registering and enhancing local business listings
To display in voice search results for nearby offering requests, brands must register verified listings on major local and maps directories. Ensure all business locations claim updated listings on Google My Business, Facebook Places, Yelp, Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, and Apple Maps.
Completing listing data should include open hours, all available contact phone numbers and emails, high-quality images of store interiors, menus for restaurants, and amenity icons indicating special features like good for families, vegetarian options, or languages spoken by staff. Promote native bookings or curbside pickup options if available.
Enriched listings stand out better for voice searchers seeking something nearby, meeting the attributes they request in queries. Brands that neglect directory management surrender discovery opportunities.
Developing direct integrations with voice assistants
Leading voice platforms offer avenues for brands to build dedicated experiences, allowing seamless requests from users of that assistant. Examples include Actions in Google, Skills for Amazon Alexa, and Shortcuts on Apple devices.
These specialized brand integrations enable streamlined access to key tasks customers may want to accomplish conversationally, hands-free via their smart speaker or mobile voice assistant:
- Checking account status or recent transactions
- Quickly reordering frequently purchased items
- Accessing self-service support conversations
- Calling or messaging specific business locations
- Summoning services like taxis or food delivery
- Controlling Internet of Things smart home devices
- Getting loyalty program updates
Banking providers, retailers with subscriptions, hospitality brands - any company with recurring high-value transactions should build robust voice Actions/Skills catering to common customer intents.
“Building voice Actions and Skills is crucial for brands right now,” emphasized Cassandra. “These integrations foster convenience, visibility, and habit-forming engagement as customers embrace voice tech."
Ads and sponsorships in voice assistants
In addition to organic search and voice app visibility, brands can now also advertise directly into results people get back from Alexa, Google Assistant and others. Sponsored audio ads allow brief marketing messages to play contextually during sessions - introduced conversationally akin to product placement in podcasts.
Amazon and Google have enabled various forms of native voice search ads leveraging advanced targeting parameters. Queries around certain topics, locations, usage habits and smart device triggers allow very specialized contextual sponsorships. These voice ads feel less intrusive and more helpful if kept concise.
Brands exploring channels beyond organic rankings should test voice ads for seasonal promotions, new location launches that have geographic relevancy, or campaigns requiring urgency around timing, like limited-time sales.
Publishers can also sponsor the integration of their content. News brands commonly have custom newscast audio skills and daily briefings via Alexa, allowing branding and updated headlines. Consider repurposing visual media into recurring voice-friendly audio content users can subscribe to.
The social impact of voice
Of course, optimizing for voice search warrants consideration beyond commerce. Voice assistants have revolutionized accessibility, helping those visually impaired or immobilized due to age, injury or illness. Voice eliminators cumbersome typing navigation on small screens.
Brands have an opportunity to make disabilities less limiting through voice assistant skills that deliver audio news, readings, religious services and spiritual content. Voice tech enables many to feel connected, entertained and self-sufficient despite physical challenges.
Studying analytics insights around voice
Most voice interactions leave no referrer or typical web analytic breadcrumbs. However, Google and Bing provide search analytics related specifically to spoken voice queries. In Google Search Console and Microsoft Bing Webmaster Tools, brands can isolate voice search as their own channel digging into key questions driving traffic.
Analyze which long-tail natural language queries show up most frequented for your brand. Tailor pages around conversational question matching for better rankings. This quantitative data fuels smarter voice optimization decisions.
The future shapes itself by voice
As voice input becomes most people’s primary computer interaction, the brands are best positioned to match the patterns of natural conversation. Search evolves from typing to speaking. Attention shifts from screens to sounds.
Brands that learn the unique visibility challenges voice search surfaces and realign their discovery optimization accordingly stand ready to greet the influx of voice searchers. Companies that continue clinging onto tactics tuned primarily for text search surrender opportunities to get found as search behaviors irrevocably transform.
“Voice search represents a pivotal shift in consumer behavior,” reiterated Cassandra. “Brands that start optimizing for voice search now will have a huge competitive advantage in the coming years."
The future of search won’t display itself across screens but instead, be heard and felt. Savvy brands will tune themselves to the frequency of voice today to ensure their visibility when voice becomes the primary signal.
