Why Businesses Should Use Voice Search Technology

Voice search technology is a speech recognition technology that lets users say terms out loud, rather than type them into search fields of a digital search engine. voice-optimized SEO has become a new trend in digital marketing nowadays. Modern businesses that embrace this technology can gain volumes of traffic through the strategic use of it. 

The history of inventions in voice technologies can go back to the era of Alexander Graham Bell who invented the Dictaphone.  In the 1950s a machine created by Bell Labs in America that could recognize speech but in the form of numerical digits. Gradually the technologies used in the voice recognition system improved and thus in 2008, the Google Voice Search app for iPhone was launched. One by one came Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Amazon's Alexa and all the tech giants started contributing to this market. 

Ever since its inception voice technology has continued to grow and become more popular among consumers. They are using it to search for products and services online. So it has become increasingly important for businesses of all shapes and sizes to include a voice search strategy in their overall digital marketing plan. Let us discuss the major reasons why such technology can be of immense use in business.

Reason 1: Increasing use of voice assistants for searching on the internet

Smartphones or other feature phones have become an indispensable part of our life. People are now searching on mobile more than they used to do a few years back on desktops and laptops.  The following statistics can reveal how searches are done and in what percentage on mobiles:

• According to a visual report by seotribunal.com in eCommerce: (source)
• 39% of the total global traffic came from search, out of which 35% is organic and 4% paid search 
• One out of three smartphone searches were made right before a store visit and 43% of consumers do online research while in the store 
• 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, and 50% of search queries are four words or longer  
• The 70-80% of search engine users are ignoring the paid ads and are only focusing on the organic results

According to Statista, an estimated 3.25 billion digital voice assistants were being used in devices around the world in 2019. Forecasts suggest that by 2023 the number of such assistants will reach around eight billion units – a number higher than the world’s population. Source: Statista

Number of digital voice assistants in use worldwide from 2019 to 2023 (in billions)* Source: Statista

Hence, it is clear that voice search technology will be adopted by consumers in the future and so businesses who want to remain visible to consumers in the coming years will have to find a way to incorporate voice technology into their digital marketing strategies.

Reason 2: A voice strategy improves the consumer experience

You can create a unique and optimized customer experience to foster relationships and build brand loyalty by adopting this new technology. It is because: 

• Both digital voice assistants can differentiate between voices and provide valuable insights about users. Hence, businesses can use more personalized messages and content to improve customer experience. 
• Voice technology makes interactions with brands more natural and seamless thereby encouraging customer retention and loyalty.
• Voice search interactions make life convenient as it takes less time than normal text-based interaction.
• This technology is convenient to use for aged persons and those who have lost the ability to move or type text on mobile.
• Let us consider the brand Purina that successfully leveraged voice search technology to enhance the customer experience.

Case of Purina: Purina is a pet brand and a subsidiary of Nestlé. Acquia Labs launched a voice-enabled search on the Purina.com website in collaboration with Nestlé Purina North America. It was named Ask Purina, an Alexa skills app that helped dog owners or enthusiasts find dog breed information. For example, when a user asks, “Tell me about dogs that are hypoallergenic” he hears a list of dogs that fit the bill. Dog lovers could now instantly find the specific food that's right for their dog's needs. Thus Purina got involved in people's lives just when they are deciding over which dog breed to adopt as their best companion for life forever and thus solidified itself as the de facto provider of pet food and supplies. People started using products from the brand Purina more than any other brand.

Reason 3: Voice technology is changing the face of SEO

The introduction of voice search technology by several early adopters has forced digital marketers to incorporate it into digital marketing strategies. It is because people interact with search queries differently when they're posed vocally rather than textually. Vocal search queries tend to be longer, containing more words and phrases. Such queries also tend to be more like asking questions. Businesses should now use relevant question keyword phrases on their website and other online content that reflect what prospects might be asking. 

Moreover, with voice searches, users are presented with some top search results rather than a full page of SERPs. For example, Google Assistant specifically focuses on featured snippets when providing answers to users. This means businesses will have to incorporate these best practices into their SEO campaigns as well.

Reason 4: Your competitors may have an edge over you 

If your competitors have a voice strategy and you don’t, then there's a good chance they’ll be found more often thanks to their competitive SEO strategy and ability to adapt to new technologies. This technology is still new to many and hence those who adopt it early can give you an edge over your competitors who haven't been able to do so. 

Conclusion: Voice technology has not been fully explored yet. If businesses could successfully use voice-optimized SEO then their online business can gain an increase in traffic if their content appears as the top result or featured snippet that gets used for voice answers.