The Voice Search Revolution – Position 0 is the new “page 1”

Reading time: 6 minutes
Elle Schoenmakers

Last week, the second edition of the Congress of Digital Communication was held. A lot of attention was paid to social media, and hardly no attention was given to voice search on these progressive events. That was not entirely unexpected for me because this is at every congress, every communication conference and every marketing fair in Europe where I have been. Voice search is still an underexposed topic in the dynamic, fast-paced world of online marketing.
This is actually quite unjustified:
* because the use of smartphones, tablets and digital watches has never been as high as it is now.
* because there are more and more applications in which voice plays an important role.
* because a new generation arrives that does more with voice and chooses for convenience (we are spoiled in the high-tech possibilities to make life easier, because talking (which goes well with multitasking) is preferred by typing).
* Simply because voice explodes. I see that users go beyond the keyboard and touchscreens. More and more people (in 2017 this was 20% of all searches) are asking their digital assistants what the weather is like in London, where you can get the best deal for a bright summer dress or where the nearest pizza place is located. By 2020, it is expected that more than 50% of all search results will be voice-based.

Even if speech does not completely replace the text in the future, this trend is already too big to be ignored. That is why my colleague Mike Jansen gives attention to this topic at Congress of Digital Communications. Because one thing is certain, voice search is going to change the game of search engine marketing.

Google Home: “Can you give me some statistics about Voice Search?”


Google Home: “Where do we start with optimise voice for SEO?”

  • Local is key.
Voice is based on local searches because the most common situation to widely use voice search is when people are on the move. The popular voice commands that are given contain words such as nearby, closest etc. Now at Leads International – Think global, act local – we know how important localization is. This is the key for success abroad and this is also how voice works, it all starts with local.
Improve your local SEO presence. Keep local information about your business up to date. If you have a restaurant, for example, make sure that you are on websites such as Trip Advisor, Yelp and Foursquare, these are important sites where Google is gathering its data.

 

  • Reviews are becoming more important.
Questions that are asked often relate to a value judgement.
What is the best airfryer?
Where can I get the best sushi?
In order to give a good answer to this question, we look at the quality but equally important is the quantity of the reviews.
Get started collecting a lot of good reviews about your brand, product or service. After all, the Google Assistant only shows one result. Make sure it’s yours.
  • Implement featured snippets.
Where SIRI uses the algorithm of BING, Google Assistant and Google Home use of course the algorithm of Google. When you are working on SEO you want to be at position 1, but since the voice commands there is a better free spot within Google where you would like to be, namely position 0 (the highlighted search results at the top). Position 0 is also called the featured snippets. This search result will give you a direct answer to your question. So when it comes to voice search, it’s essential that search engines know what your content is about, so that Google can display your content at position 0 for relevant questions for your company.
In order to obtain that coveted position 0, there are three steps that have to be in order:
1) You have to process the questions of the visitors in the text (there are tools to find out which questions can be interesting).
2) You must have a detailed answer to this question and
3) the structure must be in order.
This is a really good start, but no guarantee to get a position 0. We are of course dealing with 2 unpredictable players: Google and your competition.

Featured snippets for voice search

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Use full sentences.
A big difference in text versus speech in the world of search engines is keywords versus sentences. Longtail searches will therefore increase. In voice searches, users ask more questions that start with question words such as:
What (is the advantage of an e-bike)?
(Search query: e-bike advantage)
Why (would I buy an e-bike)?
(Search: why e-bike)
Where (can I buy an e-bike in Breda)?
(Search query: e-bike breda)

* Customize your keyword research to include longtail keywords and questionwords. It is important to think carefully about what questions people may have about your company, the products / services or your brand. An ideal tool to find out which question phrases your (potential) customers are dealing with is the data visualisation tool: Answer The Public.
* The texts must also be optimized for these demanding sentences and not just for a number of keywords. Sentences that people use when they speak, and not when they formulate a sentence in writing. To integrate the questions, a FAQ (Frequenty Asked Questins) is a very good start. Such a FAQ has the same detailed and complete structure as the voice searches. This will make you a lot more relevant for these voice commands.

Answer the Public: Voice Search

  • Go testing!
The possibilities within voice are endless. Voice search is becoming increasingly mature. Voice search learns explosively through ‘machine learning‘ and the answers are becoming more concrete and precise.
Get a feeling with this digital voice search platform. Test it out for yourself, besides Apple (SIRI) other major providers are also working hard on this, Facebook, Amazon (Echo), Samsung (Bixby). Test various applications, purchase a Google Home Mini to see which answers you get back, what are the websites.
  • Increase website popularity.
    One thing that doesn’t change, is the importance of having a website with authority. With voice, only 1 answer is returning and from all websites on the world wide web websites with authority that frequently occupy high positions in the search engines are preferred.

 

Google Home: “Who can help me with the first steps to prepare me for the future of search?”

It’s new, it’s still unfamiliar, so it’s understandable that it’s still exploring. But now is the time to integrate voice search into your marketing strategy, as the competition in this is still pretty low. Do you want to prepare better for the future of search? We can help you with this. Stay tuned, subscribe to our newsletter for the latest developments. We are always on the lookout for new and smarter ways to integrate voice search optimally into your marketing strategy.

Elle Schoenmakers

Elle, Head of International Marketing at Leads International. - She graduated in 2008 from Tilburg University (Digital Media) and is Registered Digital Marketeer (2013). Already more then twelve years active in the dynamic world of online marketing. Elle's specialty is online marketing across boundaries. She is a lot in contact with international marketing specialists all over the globe and with companies who would like to expand their businesses abroad. She combines this perfectly with her passion for travelling, exploring the world and getting inspired by all those different cultures.