An effective SEO strategy has many components. However, including the right keywords in a website’s content is one of the more significant. Website owners who want people to find their pages need to ensure they use words and phrases people might type into Google when performing relevant searches.
That said, the importance and nature of this common element of SEO strategies may change in the near future. The rise of voice search is going to impact the way people look for sites online. Thus, it’s going to change the way website owners help them find their specific sites. It’s crucial for everyone from bloggers to retail app developers to be familiar with the implications.
This guide will clarify the topic, helping you better understand the ways voice search may affect SEO.
Voice Search: A Rising Trend
It’s important to note that those who claim voice search will become more common in the near future aren’t making claims without evidence. Research indicates as much as 50% of all online searches may be conducted through voice search by the end of 2020.
However, the way people perform voice search is different from traditional online searches, and not simply because one involves talking and one involves typing. When an internet user performs a traditional online search, they want the search engine to provide them with links.
That’s not necessarily the case with voice search. When people perform voice searches, they want search engines to give them direct answers to their questions.
That means it’s going to become increasingly important for website owners to focus less on using specific keywords that correspond with a user’s search, and instead focus on providing content that matches what a user might intend with a given query via natural language.
For example, scientist and SEO expert Tom Anthony provided some voice search queries his young daughter performed. Examples included such queries as “i would like to look at pretty shoes that you can buy that are size 10 for kids.” That’s obviously more conversational than traditional searches. Thus, website content must be more conversational, matching a user’s intent instead of matching specific words.
That means it will also become more important for businesses and organizations to partner with experts who understand how to leverage such innovations as natural language processing when developing their websites and apps. If voice search is on the rise, they need to develop apps users can successfully navigate with their voices. For instance, if a retailer was designing an app that might allow users to search for products through voice search, they should partner with retail app design specialists familiar with NLP.
Just remember that SEO best practices have been changing since the dawn of the internet. The fact that voice search is becoming more popular doesn’t mean SEO will no longer be effective. This is just another development to adapt to.
