The number of people who use voice search daily is quickly rising. Smart technology has made rapid advancement and mass adoption. Voice search has enabled people to access information quicker and more efficiently than ever before.
Devices like Amazon’s “Alexa” and “Google Home” have accelerated the adoption of voice search, a feature that was previously rarely used by smartphone users.
Why You Should Care About Voice Search
As more people begin using voice search to find information online, the more critical it will be to optimize your websites, especially eCommerce websites, for voice search.
Related: Ecommerce Stats in Canada
Recent studies have found that over 40% of the United States population uses voice search on at least one device. While many different types of smart devices enable voice search, the two most popular types of smart devices are smartphones and home assistants.
In another study, researchers found that seven out of ten people prefer voice search to typing, due to having increased flexibility when it comes to multi-tasking and time saved.
Voice search is also the preferred method of searching for information online by those with disabilities such as blindness.
As recently as 2022, over 30% of households across North America have at least one smart speaker home assistant device.
As recently as 2022, over 30% of households across North America have at least one smart speaker home assistant device. The three market leaders are Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Homekit.
Of the households with smart home assistant devices, half claim to use the voice search feature at least once per day, with over 10 billion voice searches being conducted each month.
Users also found that voice searches are more engaging and helpful due to having fewer intrusive ads or, in most cases, no ads. Across the world, it is estimated that over a quarter of all smartphone users have used voice search.
Related: Smartphone usage in Canada
While the current most popular uses of smart home assistants are to play music, check the weather, or set alarms, research and inquiry voice searches have risen each year.
The added hands-free convenience of voice search is gaining plenty of attention and usage worldwide. It is unsurprising to see that in 2020 over $2 billion of online sales were conducted through voice searches. As an eCommerce website, you should have a plan for optimizing your product pages for voice search.
How To Optimize Your Website For Voice Search
Voice searches are different from traditional methods of searching online. They are more conversational and usually ask a question with a clear sentence structure as opposed to the traditional method of typing keywords into the search bar in the order you think of first.
When optimizing your website for voice search, it is vital to aim for the top position or even position zero, the featured snippet. The featured snippet is the text information box that you see at the top of the search results that answers your question without the need to click any links.
Related: How to do keyword research
A search query’s featured snippet is the most likely option for smart devices to respond to a voice search. Your odds of appearing in position zero, the featured snippet drastically increase as you optimize for the question being asked.
The most significant difference between traditional typed and voice searches is that voice searches are long-tail key phrases. In contrast, traditional type searches usually contain each keyword but not a coherent sentence.
Here is an example of a typed search:
“sushi restaurant near me”
Here is an example of a voice search:
“Where is the nearest Sushi restaurant?”
The obvious difference between these two examples is that voice searches sound more conversational and will have a more natural-sounding context. The best way to optimize your website for voice search is to convert your keyword into questions that will likely be asked by those using voice search. When optimizing for voice search, be sure to include words like:
- Who
- What
- How
- Where
- When
- Why
Another method of optimizing your website for voice search is using adjectives commonly used when looking for a specific business or product. These include:
- Best
- Nearest
- Top rated
- Highest Rated
- Safest
Voice Search And Local Business
Voice search is one of the most effective ways for small local businesses to market themselves online. First and most importantly, if you own a local business, create a Google My Business profile. Without one, your chances of appearing in voice searches are extremely unlikely. The top three businesses with Google Business listings appear in position zero of local search results.
Include as much information about your business as possible in your listing. This means including information about your hours, costs, product or service offerings, phone number, location, and any other information your customers would want to know about you.
By including the above adjectives and question words in your Google Business listing, your business will be far more likely to be the response to local voice searches.
Related: Pages every website should have
What Are The Most Popular Voice Search Devices?
Smartphones and smart home assistants are the most popular devices used for voice searches. More than 83% of people worldwide own a smartphone and over 30% of North American households own a smart home assistant device. The three most significant players in the smart voice search assistants are Apple, Amazon, and Google. Their popularity and usage differ among different devices.
Smartphone voice searches are led by Apple’s Siri. A smart assistant used by over 90% of Apple device users compared to 70% of Google voice search users. Additionally, Amazon also makes a small dent in the smartphone voice search market. Only 26% of smartphone users ever used Alexa through their phones.
However, when it comes to smart home assistant speaker devices, Amazon Alexa holds an impressive 63% market share. Google only holds 25%, with the remaining users opting for other smart device options like Apple home kit, Wink, or Samsung Smarthub.
Take-Aways
As smart device usage increases and the adoption rate of voice searches increases, so will the importance of optimizing websites for voice search. SEO is an industry that is constantly evolving and changing.
With these changes come new tactics to optimize websites for different types of search. Voice search seems to be the next big thing since the push for mobile-first.
If you want to learn more voice search, check out the rest of our blog!
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