How Marketing Will Overcome Voice Search Challenges

Today, there is no need to talk about the benefits of Voice Search technology. It has already spread to many different spheres of life.

Source: neiphone.com

According to Google, one in every five searches made with the Google Android App in the United States is a voice search.

For example, in everyday life, people use Voice Search to order pizza, and children look for their favorite cartoons with the help of this technology.

In the world of business, enterprises use Voice Search to increase the customer experience and their profit gains.

In fact, time does not stand still, as technology is continually creating new challenges for all who want to successfully use it.

If an enterprise can adapt to these Voice Search challenges, it will be substantially ahead of those who do not.

In this article, we will take a closer look at Voice Search technology and discuss how it changes with time.

We will also discuss what challenges an enterprise can have in connection with the evolution of Voice Search and how to cope with them.

What Is Voice Search and Why It Is Important?

Voice Search is a technology that allows the user to use a voice command to search the Internet.

What is so special about it?

There are several points:

The technology is now very prevalent

According to a Mobile Voice survey, today, 55% of teens and 41% of adults use Voice Search more than once a day.

This allows us to say with confidence that the technology is appealing to customers of all generations and ages.

Thus, Voice Search opens up great prospects for its use in any business.

The technology technology has a powerful effect on business, and its impact is steadily increasing

It is interesting that the more companies take on Voice Search technology, the more it begins to change the rules of the game.

For example, many experts note that the technology radically changes the way in which SEO works.

Source: pexels.com

Some time ago Neil Patel, a marketing guru and entrepreneur, said that Voice Search would affect SEO..

Aleh Barysevich, Founder and CMO at Link-Assistant.Com, agrees with Neil, "Voice Search Will Forever Change SEO."

In particular, experts say that it's time to reduce the use of short tail keywords and focus on long tail keywords.

The thing is that content should be more conversational in order to be found through Voice Search, and short tail keywords make it less relevant.

As a result, the very essence of business begins to change under the influence of Voice Search.

The technology is constantly evolving

Statistics and opinions of experts make it clear that the technology is developing rapidly.

This means that we should expect even more of its influence on the world around us.

Two years ago the percentage of errors in the voice recognition of human speech was 20. Now, the percentage of errors has dropped to 5.1%.

It's amazing that this is equal to the human error rate.

Even compared to other types of search – i.e., Visual Search, Image Search or Video Search – Voice Search technology is surpassing them on the speed of its progress.

Source: pexels.com

According to Behshad Behzadi, Principal Engineer at Google Zurich, Voice Search is the fastest growing type of search.

Why Every Enterprise Should Be Ready to Meet Voice Search Challenges

Let's discuss why it is important for any enterprise to be able to handle Voice Search technology and how it develops and changes business.

Because Voice Search will allow a business to remain competitive and increase its customer retention rate

An enterprise that knows how to work with Voice Search and actively utilizes it will always be ahead of less prompt and innovative companies.

Many surveys confirm this idea.

The results of a Geomarketing study are particularly interesting: 42% of respondents said that voice-activated devices are "essential" to their lives.

So, if these people have a choice between an enterprise that allows customers to search for information via Voice Search and an enterprise that uses older technologies, it is obvious to whom they will turn.

The reason why Voice Search conquers the hearts of so many people is simple—it's very convenient.

2016 Internet Trends Report by Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers confirms that Voice Search improves the customer experience.

Therefore, we can conclude that an enterprise's ability to properly handle Voice Search technology is an invaluable competitive advantage.

Because Voice Search is a way to attract many new customers

The number of people who use Voice Search for searching is growing, and these people will naturally go to the company that offers the best customer experience.

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Google says that, as of a year ago, over 20% of searches on mobile apps and Android devices were performed via voice searches.

This number is steadily growing.

ComScore predicts that by 2020, a full 50% of all searches will be by voice.

Thus, an enterprise that is familiar with the voice search technology will continuously expand its customer base without much effort.

Which Voice Search Challenges Enterprises Must Overcome

Let's discuss the impacts of Voice Search and how modern enterprises should adapt to this technology.

1. Integration of structural data

The development of newer technology has led to the fact that business websites must undergo some changes.

In particular, Christi Olson, search evangelist, says that enterprise specialists should incorporate structured data (schema markup) into the backend of their website.

He believes that, "Structured data within your website becomes more important because it is one of the signals used to power the search results and the "cards" — or direct answers."

As a result, structured data and schema markup make search engines better understand and process website data.

This will allow the program to enhance its understanding of the information given on the website. As a result, the website will become more relevant.

2. Employment of new strategies for local Voice Search

This point is of particular importance for E-commerce enterprises or for those that want to be easily found on local requests.

Part of the change in local Voice Search appears to be due to the growing influence of Amazon and the spread of its Echo smart speakers.

Source: brunch.co.kr

Already in the first quarter of 2016, Amazon shipped almost one million Echos; this is twice as much as Apple's 50 million iPhone sales.

Echo search algorithms are based on so-called 'skills' (the equivalent of apps) so that Echo can process the data and give relevant results.

Wesley Young, the Local Search Association's Vice President of Public Affairs, explains, "For example, the Echo utilizes Yelp's database for local service providers, retail and restaurants, as well as reviews in ranking and formulating its responses."

Also, he says that as more skills are incorporated into Echo, it becomes more complex for any business to optimize its profile and stand out among all the various sources of information.

The number of 'skills' is continually growing – it already exceeds 1,000.

So, what happens if the enterprise website is not optimized for the 'skills' algorithm?

"The Echo defaults to Bing for any general search query that is not covered by a skill, but that search experience is also relatively poor in its current form," says Wesley Young.

3. Adapting to new customer approaches to phrase queries

Over time, the manner in which customers use Voice Search has changed and will continue to change.

For example, instead of pronouncing key phrases, now people prefer to say complete and long sentences.

Now it is up to enterprises to decide whether they want to stay relevant or continue to rely on the old search algorithms.

Jim Yu, founder and CEO of BrightEdge, believes that "When considering the rise of voice search, you cannot neglect to consider the shift in Google's algorithm. The search engine has moved away from helping consumers find an answer to your query to just providing you with the answer itself."

Moreover, experts admit that as customer requests become more conversational, they also become more nuanced.

Source: pexels.com

For example, an earlier user used to say "Cheap pizzeria near me," but now he would rather say "I want to eat tasty and cheap pizza in 15 minutes."

All these changes need to be taken into account.

"The rich answers provided by Google will play an important role in voice search. The ability of brands to optimize and get their sites featured in these answers will dictate their visibility for a growing number of users," concludes Jim Yu.

Conclusions

Enterprises need to adapt to Voice Search changes to move ahead of competitors instead of remaining behind in the pursuit of customers.

After all, customers will always choose a more progressive enterprise that understands their needs and increases the convenience of its customers with the help of new technologies.

Voice Search is a technology that allows the user to perform a voice command to search the Internet via a portable or stationary device.

The technology is now very prevalent. It has a powerful effect on business, and its impact is steadily increasing.

Voice Search is continuously evolving.

Enterprises should be ready to meet Voice Search challenges because it will allow them to remain competitive and increase their customer retention rate.

Do you use Voice Search technology in your company? If so, how do you handle new Voice Search challenges? Please, share your thoughts in the comments.

Author: Hassan Bawab

Hassan Bawab is the founder and CEO of Magic Logix, a Dallas, Texas based agency that provides a full spectrum of digital marketing and web development services for our worldwide clients from a variety of industries. After the successful launch of Magic Logix in 2004, Mr. Bawab's entrepreneurial ambition continued.… View full profile ›

Source: How Marketing Will Overcome Voice Search Challenges