What is Voice Search and How Does It Affect Your Online Marketing?

Why should I type when I can speak? Voice assistants have become an indispensable part of our daily life. Already today, 65% of people use Voice Search in the form of Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa – a rising trend. Particularly, voice messages are being used, but Voice Search is also used for querying information such as weather forecasts or local queries.

What influence Voice Searches can also have on your SEO, our guest author Nicole Fiebig will tell you.

What is Voice Search?

Voice Search is a search function that works not via text input, but via voice input. Via your mobile phone or microphone, you can ask for information. The search engine then searches for the most relevant matches and responds to the query verbally or displays the result on the mobile phone or PC.

In order to technically make Voice Search work, so-called “Natural Language Processing” (NLP) is required. This prevents the direct communication between humans and PCs. Specifically, it works as follows: The spoken text is converted into a text string via the microphone and broken down into meaningful words and sentences. The text is then checked for its grammar and the words are associated with the correct meaning in context. Finally, it's about the function of the text. It is determined whether it is a statement or an instruction.

All these findings of the NLP are now summarized to deliver a corresponding result.

Internet users can use this method to search for information on the internet not only via text input. They can speak their request directly into the phone, via the voice assistant or the PC's microphone. The search engine then searches for the most relevant matches. For example, it's possible to easily ask for directions or have the weather forecast read out loud.

Which Voice-Search providers are there?

In 2010, Apple made the start with Siri. They were followed in 2014 by Amazon with Alexa and Microsoft with Cortana. In 2017, Samsung followed suit with Bixby. All voice assistants are operated with the “Hey and corresponding device name (e.g. “Hey Siri) function.

Of course, the Google Assistant uses the in-house search engine. The voice search is possible via Google itself in the browser as well as via an app for mobile devices. This works for both Android and iOS devices. Because Siri has also been using Google for some time. The voice assistant Alexa, like Bixby and Cortana, uses the search engine Bing.

What are the benefits of Voice Search?

Operating smartphones is actually a simple matter. At least in theory. In practice, the touchscreen keyboard does not always make it easy. How often words were misspelled because you typed too fast. The autocorrection is not really helpful. Especially older people and people with dyslexia have difficulties with the text feature.

Voice inputs make communication easier. The need to type in queries and terms in search engines is eliminated, as is the reading of results. A properly programmed speech recognition makes the search faster and the results are less error-prone.

Another advantage is that your hands remain free. Whether cooking, turning on music, driving or activating the emergency case – Voice Search supports us in everyday life and makes our life more comfortable.

How does Voice Search influence your marketing?

“It's still SEO“, says SEO expert Greg Grifford.

It is widely believed that the programming of Alexa Skills and Google Action is the only way to reach users. However, this is a misconception. Those who want to take a front position in the voice assistants must above all do very good search engine optimization. If you now think that we are dealing with a completely new form of search engine optimization with Voice Search, you are mistaken. It's always about knowing the interests and needs of the users and creating matching content – regardless of whether the search query is typed or spoken. The better you know your target group, the easier it is to deliver concise responses and guide users to a specific offer.

One of the biggest challenges of voice-based search is the fact that voice search really only names one result. Since the result is read aloud, users do not really have the opportunity to scroll through the results page to find the best matching answer themselves. As a result, so-called zero-click searches occur and the traffic on the website decreases.

In future there will be even higher pressure to reach the top position in the search results. The following measures are important to achieve a good ranking position:

Mobile UX (Mobile User Experience)
The voice search is primarily used on mobile devices. Therefore, it's important that the websites are mobile optimized and responsive. PageSpeed is the basis for the success of mobile websites and voice search. In May 2021, Google declared PageSpeed a ranking factor. Ideally, the loading time is under 3 seconds. To measure the PageSpeed on your site, you can use the Google tool PageSpeed Insights. this shows you your value and suggests potential optimization options.

Featured Snippets

A Featured Snippet is a highlighted search result. Concise content on the website in the form of texts, tables, lists, or videos is displayed by search engines in a so-called Answer Box. In general, featured snippets appear when a user makes an informative query. They are less likely to appear in transactional or local search queries. Featured snippets are displayed above the other results in organic search results. They are therefore also referred to as “Position 0“.

Ultimately Google determines which search queries and which domains are displayed in the Answer Box. But unique content and very good formatting increase your chances.

Speakable Content

As with traditional search, unique content that provides users with added value is key. A good text structuring with headlines, subheadings, and lists also play a role in Voice Search. However, with Voice Search, the natural flow of speech in the form of sentences or questions is particularly important. The texts have to be written in such a way that they can be read out effortlessly. FAQ lists are very suitable. Tables or very long texts make less sense. Google prefers short and concise answers. For illustration: The typical verbal search result is about 25 words long.

Schema Markup

With Markups, websites can be structured uniformly so that their contents can be quickly processed by search engines. The source text of the passages and areas, which are particularly suitable for text-to-speech, are stored in the markup system schema.org. The result is that the search engines better understand what the website is about. This increases the chance of ranking on a front position in the search engine results.

Longtail Keywords

The main difference between text and speech lies in the complexity of the dialogues. Text-based queries make do with 2–3 words on average. With Voice Search, people search with 7–9 words. Therefore, a longtail keyword optimization is worthwhile for Voice Search, since the communication with a voice assistant is not solely composed of individual keywords.

For example, we would enter “Cheapest liability insurance” in the typed search, whereas in the verbal search we would ask the question “Alexa, tell me the cheapest liability insurance”. Combined terms and complete keyword-phrases come very close to the natural flow of speech and are therefore much more suitable than the use of short keywords. Another advantage is that individual keywords are far less competitive and the likelihood of ranking higher is therefore increased.

With a detailed keyword research and suitable tools for keyword research you can find suitable longtail keywords for you.

Local search queries

Where is the nearest restaurant? Until when is the bookstore open? Search queries via digital voice assistants usually have a local reference. People use voice search to find places of interest, hotels, restaurants etc. To be displayed “near you”, you have to provide correct, complete, and current information.

For optimal presentation, these should be found on all portals. This means in detail:

• Siri
  • Search: Google
  • Business entry: Apple maps
  • Reviews: Yelp
• Alexa
  • Search: Bing
  • Business entry: Yelp and Yext
  • Reviews: Yelp
• Google Assistant
  • Search: Google
  • Business entry: Google My Business
  • Reviews: Google My Business
• Cortana
  • Search: Bing
  • Business entry: Bing
  • Reviews: Yelp

How you reach more visibility in search engines in six steps and how you write SEO texts you can find out in our blog articles.

How can you use Google Voice Search for your online marketing?

Voice Search offers new possibilities to market products, convey messages, and do good storytelling. With spoken content you reach the user on a completely different, more personal level than images can do for example. The direct contact opens up a whole new approach to direct communication with the customers.

It's therefore even more important to develop a strong audio identity for your product. What does the brand talk like and with what voice? What tonality fits it? Brands that can answer these questions will keep the conversation going in Voice Search.

Before implementing Voice Search, it's important that you answer central questions in advance: What need do the users have? What questions will the users ask and what information do they want? The definition of a well-thought-out Voice Search strategy is key to offering customers real added value.

Based on this strategy, new content can be created that particularly offers a lot of potential in the e-commerce sector. Consumer behavior has also changed due to digital voice assistants. Here you could look at the placement of Voice Ads, Voice Messages or Notifications to advertise for new products or services.

For companies, Voice Search is therefore another opportunity to create touchpoints and to implement a very good customer journey for the customers.

Do you need more input for your content marketing measures? You can find a selection of information and content marketing tools on OMR Reviews.

Which tools are useful for optimizing Google-Voice-Search?

Whether typed or spoken search queries – the approach to optimally search engine-optimized websites is the same. Therefore, suitable SEO tools such as Sistrix, Semrush

Since Voice Search is optimized more for Longtail Keywords, AnswerThePublic plays a major role. Also voice assistant based analysis tools like Google Actions or the Yext Search Experience Cloud can be helpful to recognize new Voice Search trends. Additionally, the Google Search Console gives you information about which search queries the users found your website through. There is also potential here to find Longtail Keywords.

Conclusion to Voice Search

Digital voice assistants are irreplaceable in our daily life. Consistent implementation of Voice Search is the prerequisite for successful Voice Marketing. Once voice-based structures have been created, sustainable monitoring is important, i.e. continuously testing and optimizing contents (also called content audit). Only this way can you compete with your competition in the long run.

Learn more about Voice Search

Do you want to learn more about Voice Search? Then check out our continuing education opportunities on the topic:

• OMR YouTube-Report
• OMR SEO-Academy