Once thought of as a joke, voice-activated searches grew at a staggering rate in recent months. The increased rate surprised even the experts, but the rise is a sign that voice searches cannot be overlooked when it comes to Houston web design and SEO strategies.
What is Behind the Popularity of Voice Search?
When voice assistants first came out, users loved the technology, but the results were a hit and miss affair. Few responses actually made sense. But, as artificial intelligence (AI) technology became more sophisticated, accuracy improved. In fact, according to a Google report, voice recognition response accuracy grew to 95 percent by 2017.
With increased accuracy came a variety of consumer voice-activated technologies from major players in the industry, including Amazon Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Assistant. Modern mobile devices with built-in voice activation also added to the numbers.
What Voice Search Means for SEO
Although a command, such as “Call Work” is the primary way people use voice recognition now, voice search is becoming increasingly common. What does the swell in voice searches mean for your Houston social media marketing plan?
A recent survey found that asking for directions was one of the most common voice activated requests made by both teens and adults. Store hours and location-specific information placed high on the list as well.
The study also indicated an increase in voice recognition searches for business-related inquiries, such as sales and deals, customer support and upcoming events. Clearly, optimizing for voice search has to become a primary component in your Houston website design and SEO plan.
What Makes Voice Search Different?
Google continues to refine text search algorithms to reduce non-relevant results and filter out spam. Guidelines and penalties are in place to further streamline and present the most accurate results possible. Voice search is still a new technology. The same refined processes do not yet exist.
People use voice search differently than text. Voice search users tend to use short question and phrase inquiries instead of the typical typed text phrase. Optimizing for voice search requires a different approach.
Why the Time for Voice Search Optimization Is Now
Many experts believe voice search will overtake text at some point. Time will tell, but an increasing number of busy people use voice search already. Voice-activated technologies come standard on most mobile phones and voice assistant sales have already surpassed the 420 million mark. Any legitimate Houston web design and SEO plan has to include strategies for optimizing for voice search.
How to Get Started
Incorporating a successful voice search optimization strategy involves research and industry awareness in a rapidly changing environment. If you need help coming up with a plan to incorporate voice search optimization into your current SEO efforts, give the Houston web design and SEO marketing professionals at Bizopia a call at 832-327-3230.