The capabilities of voice-enabled devices have evolved since the introduction of voice search, allowing consumers to conduct increasingly complex and accurate searches. Because of this, we are on the verge of not only a search revolution but also an eCommerce revolution.
Thanks to the rise of voice control and intelligent assistants, customers, and prospects with digital assistant devices or smartphones can now shape the way they search and shop on the internet.
As a result, businesses risk being left behind if they believe voice search only applies to B2C. Brands must consider optimizing their content for voice search as they shift their content to be more mobile-friendly. Due to the rapid development of mobile devices and the growing popularity of search by voice, brands must adapt to this new way of searching sooner rather than later.
What is voice search?
Voice search is a technology that allows users to use verbal commands to search for information. Due to continuous improvements in speech recognition technology and other factors, such as the rise of smartphones, voice search has seen a significant increase in popularity since its initial launch by Google in 2011.
Voice-activated systems are now available from all of the major tech companies, including Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft.
According to Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, voice searches accounted for roughly 20% of search queries on the company’s Android devices and mobile apps in 2017. As virtual assistant technology develops and improves, that figure has rapidly increased, with 71% of people now preferring to use voice commands rather than typing.
How is voice search changing SEO?
Voice searches are not the same as typing searches. Voice search, in particular, adapts to how, when, and for what people search. People input queries in two ways: long-tail searches and more conversational searches. This has a significant impact on both on-page SEO and keyword research.
Companies’ SEO strategies will need to keep up with voice search components in order to continue attracting customers who are increasingly using assisted search queries. To match the types of search queries in assisted search results, your content will need to be more direct and conversational.
The only way to increase traffic is to become more visible and credible, both of which can be achieved by optimizing your website and content for voice search queries ahead of the competition.
How does the growing popularity of voice search impact B2B?
According to Statista, there will be 8.4 billion voice assistants in use globally by 2024. As voice search becomes more prevalent, more business-related searches will emerge.
According to BCG’s research, conducted in 2017, 80% of B2B buyers use mobile devices at work and more than 60% stated that mobile played a major part in a recent transaction. This means that B2B marketers must plan accordingly and optimize their content to rank high in voice search results. They must also prepare for increased volumes of voice searches and capture as much current voice search traffic as possible.
So what can you do?
1. Improve the user experience on mobile
In an era of mobile technologies, the ability to do and make business is no longer chained to a desk. Customers can now evaluate a company based on its internet presence. Additionally, brands now want a mobile solution that provides more to their customers than just connection and efficiency.
B2B brands will improve consumers’ and business researchers’ experiences by providing fully optimized mobile websites, mobile-friendly content, and employing mobile search queries to influence content creation.
In addition to optimizing for mobile responsiveness by adopting a responsive design, brands should consider how they may need to eliminate pop-ups, drop-down menus for navigation, and ensure that videos can play full-screen when turned vertically. By doing so, the user experience will improve.
So, since customer experience is vital for business growth, B2B marketing strategies should take advantage of mobile to build and promote a strong brand.
2. Make keywords more conversational
As previously stated, voice searches are more natural and conversational. When voice search matures, natural language keywords will undoubtedly see a significant increase in search volume. This means that you should use long-tail keywords in your web content. Instead of filling your entire page with long terms, simply add them evenly throughout your content to avoid search engines marking your content as spam.
3. Make use of featured snippets
Featured snippets are a type of search result that appears on top of Google’s organic results and aims to provide an immediate answer to the user’s question. Featured snippets should be both SEO-friendly and informative. Your brand will be recognized as the authority when the search engine reads out your brand name and snippet.
Conclusion
Voice search has the potential to revolutionize how we search and shop on the internet. It also has the potential to empower customers to use these tools on a daily basis to find what they require. Therefore, voice search optimization is critical for increasing traffic and giving your company a competitive advantage.
