Half of all searches are going to be voice searches. Analysts expect that voice search will significantly impact digital marketing before this year even starts, given the rapid increase in usage. Businesses ought to evaluate the effects of voice search on their digital marketing strategy as soon as possible to win over the rivals.
For the voice search campaign, the time has come to start considering topics like rankings and natural language processing (NLP). Find out all the reasons behind significant steps that make voice search impact digital marketing.
- It will be more focused on featured snippets.
If anyone is a user of Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana, or Alexa, then they would have found out that any of the voice assistants can answer the user’s queries. That means this assistant can read featured snippets. Digital marketing can also be focused on featured snippets, or as people are familiar with voice search or using it frequently, then both the value and competition of featured snippets are increasing.
There doesn’t seem to be much time for any business to get featured snippets. Therefore, to stay ahead in digital marketing, companies are also developing voice search strategies or taking steps to optimize their content with voice search so that they can easily reach the target audience with time.
- It will increase the value of Position Zero.
Although featured snippets occupy Position Zero in search results, the aim of digital marketing strategies is to occupy the Position Zero spot. means if any company ranks on JabPosition Zero, its online visibility is maximized. With this, the company can swipe valuable traffic from the front page of search results. The click-through rate (CTR) of the first result decreases by eight percent. Or this can prove to be a win-win situation for any business, because by this step a company is consuming the online visibility and traffic of competitors.Having seen the increasing importance of Position Zero in voice search, analysts believe that both its value and returns may increase in the coming times. This is because with the increasing value of Position Zero, the competition for it is also increasing.
Even if any business manages its Internet marketing strategies in-house, optimizing content for Position Zero is too much of a time-taking process. So take action towards this as soon as possible. For example, do a partnership with a digital marketing agency that specializes in voice search optimization.
- It will focus more on the semantics of searches.
Voice search introduces completely different ways of searching and forces marketers to learn it. Given the increasing dominance of voice search, marketers are now emphasizing semantics. People speak as they do in a conversation when they use a voice search. So, instead of typing, one might need to say only about the question.
Because voice searches are conversational queries, the way you develop and optimize content for searches and even the way you approach researching keywords must change. Otherwise, business websites will not rank in voice search results—or earn those coveted featured snippets.
- It will unlock the full potential value of artificial intelligence.
Many marketers as well as digital marketing companies will unlock the power of artificial intelligence in responding to voice searches. The power of AI, combined with machine learning, enables businesses to amass and analyze vast amounts of data that can be further used for actionable insights. Today, there are already over one billion voice searches every month, which provides an enormous amount of data. But they are not used efficiently by the businesses.
And the main reason behind this is that businesses are using no AI-powered software. MarketingCloudFX is only one example of the IBM Watson-powered software, one of the most known and powerful AIs. Many will take years to develop AI-powered software for digital marketing companies. Businesses that oversee their digital marketing will be at a severe disadvantage in voice search, which is why so many business owners are outsourcing the service.
- It will expand on the mobile-friendly movement.
Now more than half of the traffic on the Internet is coming from a mobile due to digitalization. For this reason, digital marketing agencies and Google have focused on instilling a mobile-first approach to Internet marketing. Though voice searches are happening on voice-enabled speakers, most happen on mobile devices and tablets. Hence businesses need to make sure that their website is mobile-friendly as well as web design for consumers using voice search.
Unless a company has a mobile-friendly design, it suffers from heavy consequences from the users. For instance, nearly 40 percent of consumers will avoid purchasing from a company that does not have a mobile-friendly website. In contrast, nearly 70 percent of shoppers will buy from a business that uses a mobile-friendly website.
- It will increase the value of local SEO.
Voice search will raise the stakes of local search engine optimization, which becomes a necessity for brick-and-mortar outlets that not only wish to drive foot traffic but also sales. So why should voice search focus on local SEO? Over 55 percent of consumers use voice search to locate a local business. What is more, over 75 percent of voice-enabled speaker users perform some type of local voice search each week, be it to find a new restaurant, check out the latest movie times, or find a service provider. There is a growing importance that consumers are giving to their voice assistants and smart speakers in exploring their local area.
That is why local businesses must focus on local SEO and voice search SEO. Both these offer your store a tremendous amount of value and tremendous future opportunities—now and in the future. With the benefits of combined local search and voice search, you can boost the revenue in your store or take it as an opportunity to open a new location.
- It will favor micro-moments.
Over the last few years, Google encouraged the thinking of marketers about the micro-moment. These micro-moments refer to a scenario when a user wants to do something, know something, buy something, or even go somewhere.
As voice search becomes more mainstream, companies will have to take micro-moments into consideration even more and how they inform conversational searches. What kinds of phrases signal an “I want to know” moment versus an “I want to do” moment? For some agencies, micro-moments will define all of their digital marketing strategies for clients. The potential impact of micro-moments could just influence a new wave of techniques that create a smarter and better way to market to consumers.
- It will demand digital marketing.
With more than one billion monthly voice searches, businesses and agencies cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the trend. It represents a resource that more and more consumers are using in their daily activities to locate new products and services. Companies ignore voice search at the cost of a new source of revenue. That is why voice search will become a new standard service for digital marketing. Be it a local business, an e-commerce store, or an offline company, voice search is valued immensely and can finally help reach your target audience. Most importantly, users are asking businesses to focus more on voice search.
A recent survey revealed that over 50 percent of voice-enabled speaker owners said they would like to hear from brands about deals, promotions, and sales. Here, the users of voice are asking your company to give them a reason to buy your product or service. For those businesses that seek to increase their revenue and sales, voice search happens to be a rather intelligent means of making it happen; all one needs is to integrate voice search optimization into your digital marketing strategy.
If you want to get ready for voice search but have no idea where to start, consult with the Digivik Business Solution team and learn more about featured snippet creation and optimization services. Our expert team can help your site optimize for voice search, being data- and results-driven about making your digital marketing strategy yield more revenue for you. Contact us today to get started! We’re a full-service search marketing agency that can help take your business to the next level!