If you\u2019re not already using voice search, you\u2019ve definitely seen the commercials on TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each day, more people are using voice search-equipped smartphone apps and digital assistants (like Amazon\u2019s Alexa, Apple\u2019s Siri, Microsoft\u2019s Cortana and Google Assistant) to handle simple tasks, get answers to questions and more \u2014 at home, on the road or wherever they happen to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The convenience of being able to use your voice, rather than your fingertips, means that voice search is on the rise. According to Google, 20% of all searches on mobile devices are now made using voice search and experts predict that 50% of all searches will use voice search by 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the digital marketing world, of course, this fast-growing phenomenon means that marketers must develop new ways to tailor their SEO strategies to optimize for voice search. Here\u2019s a closer look at some of the ways that voice search will shape the future of SEO and some best practices on how to go about optimizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Use of Long Tail Keywords & Searcher Intent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If I were to do a text search for \u201cbest laptops for college students,\u201d you would have no idea whether I wanted to research or purchase one, my price range or what kind of laptop I was looking for. But if I were to perform a voice search and say, \u201cwhat are the best-priced laptops for college students?\u201d this might bring up results for top 10 lists, reviews, forums, stores recommending specific brands for college students, etc. Because speaking a longer, more specific search query is easier than typing one, voice search will often give more context about searcher intent, meaning search engines can deliver more specific, relevant results in response to a query. This also means it\u2019s a good idea to research relevant long tail keywords and integrate them into your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Recognizing Natural Speech Patterns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you think about it, most people don\u2019t type an email or text message the same way they might speak to you face to face. Example: You might text message a friend saying, \u201cgrab a drink after work?\u201d But if you were to ask the same question in person you\u2019d be more likely to say, \u201chey, do you want to grab a drink after work tonight?\u201d Your natural speech pattern contains more context about your question than if you were to type or text it to someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the term \u201cnatural language\u201d is used to describe queries made using voice search and longer tail keywords. Because of the discrepancy between what people are likely to type versus what they are likely to say, it is increasingly important for SEOs to understand how the nuances of natural speech patterns affect search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Impact on Local SEO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Moz, voice searches are three times more likely to be local-based than text search because most smartphones today search for local listing results. A smartphone knows your location, the weather outside, or whether there\u2019s traffic ahead on the highway. All of these factors help to narrow down your search results for better and more accurate results. Examples of such searches could be \u201cwhere is the nearest fast food, gas station, department store, etc., near me.\u201d Most local searches are geared around \u201cWhere?\u201d, \u201cWhat?\u201d and \u201cHow?\u201d phrases like the examples above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean for your local business? You should restrategize your approach to local SEO to make sure you are picking up on voice searcher intent for keyword groupings around your business or industry. Simply put, structure your keywords around the 5 Ws (Who, What, Where, When and Why).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, since much of voice search is occurring on mobile devices, it\u2019s more important than ever to make sure your mobile experience is as user-friendly \u2014 and as speedy \u2014 as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking Ahead \u2014 2019 and Beyond<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, one thing\u00a0is for certain: People are adapting rapidly to the fact that voice search is destined to become more of a factor in our everyday lives. As with the release of the iPhone back in 2007 and the subsequent explosion of smartphone technology, voice search is the wave of the future\u00a0\u2014 and the present. This means that businesses (and the\u00a0digital marketing strategists\u00a0who work with them) must be ready to tackle this new search optimization challenge to stay ahead of the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: https:\/\/vtldesign.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re not already using voice search, you\u2019ve definitely seen the commercials on TV. Each day, more people are using voice search-equipped smartphone apps and digital assistants (like Amazon\u2019s Alexa, Apple\u2019s Siri, Microsoft\u2019s Cortana and Google Assistant) to handle simple tasks, get answers to questions and more \u2014 at home, on the road or wherever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[22,36,41],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-search-optimization","tag-alexa","tag-search","tag-voice"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rank-push.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}