How Voice Search Will Change the Future of your Online Business

Back when mobile search was in its infancy, smartphone owners searched the Internet pretty much the same way they did on desktop, using the same head keywords and phrases. However, as voice search feature developed into sophisticated voice assistants powered by artificial intelligence (AI), it’s already changing online marketing.

Now that text-based mobile search has reached its first major milestone – surpassing desktop Internet traffic for the first time – we’re about to witness the second one. This time, assisted by powerful AI technologies such as natural language processing, mobile search is shifting from typing to speaking.

And this shift will have a profound impact on online businesses. In fact, many of them are already experiencing these effects. For example, a lack of optimization for voice search can seriously undermine a website’s position in Google search results.

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In this article, let’s talk about how voice search is impacting businesses in 2018 and what you as an owner of an online business should expect in the next few years.

What You Need to Know: Rapid Adoption

The rise of voice search is fueled by several factors, including the following.

# Increase in smartphone/smart speaker use.

The sales of smart speakers such as Amazon Echo are rapidly increasing all around the world, as suggested by numerous studies and research papers; for example, Statista predicts that the global smart speaker market revenue worldwide will reach $17.4 billion in 2022, which represents a $13 billion difference compared to the 2017 revenue of $4.4 billion.

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In the U.S., 19.7 percent of the adult population, or one in five adults, reported having a smart speaker, according to the Voicebot Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption Report 2018. This translates into 47.3 million people.

#Increasing availability of voice assistants.

Almost every major technology company has its own smart speaker, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Samsung. With more and more products on the market, the starting price for many is about $50, so anyone could afford such a device.

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#Google search algorithms.

To meet the needs of mobile users, Google has recently rolled out the so-called “mobile first” update that means the search giant predominantly uses the mobile-friendly version of a website for indexing and ranking.

#Simplicity.

Voice search is powered by AI technology that makes Internet search “more human.” Just think about it: spoken language is one of the easiest – if not the easiest – ways to translate thoughts into commands. The voice search is basically a conversation with a device that doesn’t require the user to learn any new technology or tool. So people appreciate that; in fact, 71 percent of people surveyed by PwC said they would prefer using a voice assistant for searching the Internet instead of typing.

Based on these factors, it seems clear that voice search technology is the next go-to technology for businesses, customers, and marketers.

What You Need Know: Voice Search Optimization

Clearly, preparing your online business for the voice search revolution is something that you have to do to remain discoverable in Google searches. Besides, you can get an opportunity to have a presence of voice assistants, which is an excellent way to connect with customers directly.

That’s why it’s important to remember that neglecting voice search while creating and optimizing content is critical to achieve this goal.

Here are some of the essentials of voice search optimization for online businesses.

#Be as mobile-friendly as possible.

Since Google prioritizes websites with responsive design, you need to make sure that your business’s site is fast and friendly to smaller mobile screens. Use Google’s free Mobile-Friendly Test tool to find out whether your website meets this requirement.

#Write content in natural language.

Voice searchers are using simple, natural language when speaking with their devices, so you need to make sure that your content is written in the same style. This also involves using long-tail keywords that are longer than traditional head keywords and include more details to get the best search results (“best mountain bikes for beginners under $500 in Atlanta”).

#Optimize content for featured snippets.

In an effort to speed up the process of providing clear and accurate answers to users, Google introduced featured snippets feature. A snippet is a concise result that has the best answer to the search query; this image from Google illustrates this well.

Optimize content for featured snippets.

Being featured in snippets is an awesome thing for your online business because, well, you’ve been selected by Google as the best answer! To increase the chances of appearing there, you can optimize your content by limiting paragraph snippet to 50 words or less, making your content easily scannable with headings and subheadings, and including keywords within answer part.

Looking Forward

Voice search optimization is something that you absolutely need to do to keep your online business relevant and competitive. Remember, more and more customers are using this feature to look for information and products online, so your content needs to be ready to be found. So, start optimizing today!

| About the Guest Author:

Guest Author
Tom Jager is professional blogger. He works at A-writer. He has degree in Law and English literature. Tom has written numerous articles/online journals. You can reach him at G+ or Facebook .