The Rise of Voice Search

The Rise of Voice Search: How It is Impacting and Changing SEO

Hey Alexa, Play Diljit Dosanjh’s “Born to Shine”, Nowadays we casually talk to that small box sitting in the corner of our house and tell her how we are craving some energetic Bhangra tunes. How normalized it felt, isn’t it?

This is 2024 and we are ordering around voiced AI tools to play music of our choice, to translate texts into our languages, and to show us results in our conversational languages. Voice search is the new hype in this ever-changing digital world and has recently been introduced and it is already dominating how people look for information, compelling companies to shift their SEO activities. There are many reasons for this growing trend in the usage of Voiced Assistants – Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana have introduced a new way of performing searches that are no longer typing and reading but talking to the device.

In this blog we are going to dive into the magical world of AI tools and how they are compelling big businesses to adopt them as an efficient SEO strategy to gain impressive ROI and build strong trust among customers.

The Rising Craze of Voice Search

In 2024 according to predictions, it will be observed that more than half, that is over 50% of the entire search made through the internet will be through voice. Juniper Research predicts that in 2023, there will be 8 billion active digital voice assistants in use, nearly doubling from numbers in 2021. With the increased uptake of smart speakers and the proliferation of voice search features on mobile devices, it is clear that businesses are going to have to appreciate the changes in the search patterns of users.

The Usage of Voice Assistant: Text Search vs. Voice Search

Voice search is fundamentally different from searching through texts based on several factors.

  • Conversational Questions – In this instance, users can organize or synthesize their ideas using their local languages and local slang instead of typing without using any keywords. This means more and more long-tail keywords and conversational search phrases now have to be factored into SEO strategies.
  • Search based on intent: User voice search is more user-directed. People ask direct questions like “Where is the nearest stationery shop?” or “Best remedy for dandruff?” This shift towards questions and intent means content will directly address user queries.
  • Local Queries and Searches: Among other things, voice search use helps users in searching for information particularly when they are out of their homes. As noted by Consally, consumers, in this case, 58% of them, search for business information within their locality using voice commands. This traffic can also be driven to businesses by optimizing for local SEO with phrases like ‘near me’ and having updated business information.

How Voice Search Changes SEO?

As voice search becomes prevalent on devices more and more radical transformations occur in the way SEO is practiced. Here is what SEO is now changing with respect to the views on search engine optimization:

Natural Language Processing (NLP) Will Be in Limelight

  • Speaking to voice assistants has become so natural and hence businesses need to make strategies towards rough natural language structure.
  • Optimization of a web page these days calls for the use of the appropriate language and style that people converse in. The use of local words, slang, and community-specific words is preferred over a cutting-edge professional tone.
  • This involves focusing on how people tend to ask questions via voice search and ensuring there is a compelling answer to the who, what, where, when, and why that arise in people’s minds.

Role Played by Featured Snippets

  • When conducting a voice search, notable snippets are common such as the short summary answers inserted at the top position of Google search results. Voice assistants rely heavily on the featured snippets – answers that are served on the top of the search results pages
  • Depending how your content is structured will determine if you feature in the snippets and hence enhance your chances of standing out in the voice search. So, it is very important to be aware of local words, natural language, and changing user behavior while focusing on voice search.
  • Interestingly, according to Backlinko, 40.7% of all voice search answers come from a featured snippet.

Local SEO Optimization

  • When making searches, many people often search for places that are near their locality. They want places that are only a few blocks or sectors away and can be reached easily by walking or by driving quickly. They make searches such as ‘Where is the nearest gym?’ Or ‘When does the grocery store open in sector 49?’
  • If you want people to find your business claims its Google My Business listing, keeps up its NAP (Name, Address, Phone), and asks for a review of some of the voice search visibility you can significantly improve such.

Mobile and Page Speed Optimization

  • Nowadays a lot of voice searches are made using mobile devices, so it is important to make sure that the website is mobile-friendly and can be opened on smartphones seamlessly.
  • Page Loading speed plays a critical role in ranking the results of voice search of which users are continuously anticipating immediate responses. Google favors websites that are user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Optimizing for the Voice Search Future

The use of voice search on mobile devices is also not a fleeting occurrence—it is changing the nature of search. To avoid being late, businesses are obliged to optimize their websites by addressing voice search in the following ways:

  • Creating focused and descriptive FAQ pages to capture long-tail, natural questions.
  • Enhancing content with schema markup to improve SEO out of proprietary systems.
  • Targeting mobile users and adjusting the page loading speed has to be done.

Conclusion

The current growing trend of utilizing voice search is changing the game of SEO. As voice search keeps gaining dominance in the market, organizations have to add more emphasis on natural language, local SEO, and optimizing for voice-assistant-driven queries. By embracing these changes and optimizing voice search to be suitable for all, businesses can stay competitive and enhance their visibility in this rapidly evolving and competitive digital world.

Voice search is changing the rules, and making the world of marketing more vibrant and challenging. Those who crack the code early will find themselves at the forefront of SEO success and gain a solid place in the hearts of audiences by being relatable and natural.

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