The first word in ‘SEO’ is ‘search’. Indeed, search engine optimization exists specifically because people use sites like Google and Bing to search for things online. Every SEO agency knows and thrives on that principle. But SEO is constantly changing. These days, voice search is one of the hottest trends an SEO agency needs to account for.
Has your SEO agency talked to you about voice search? Searching for something with your voice may not sound all that different from entering words with a keyboard, but it really is. Step back and think about how you speak as opposed to how you type. It makes an enormous difference in online searches.
Voice Search Continues to Grow
Before getting into the details of how an SEO agency should approach voice search, let’s look at a few key statistics describing just how popular it is. Here is the first one: 58.6% of U.S. consumers have tried voice search at least once. That means more than half your audience is at least familiar with the concept.
Let’s continue:
- 21% of consumers use voice search regularly.
- 27% of the online population conduct voice searches on their phones.
- An estimated 75% of U.S. households are expected to own a smart speaker by 2025.
Now, let’s put all three statistics together. More than one out of every five consumers already use voice search regularly. More often than not, voice search is conducted using a smart speaker or phone. Both smartphone and smart speaker use is expected to continue growing for the foreseeable future, and voice search should continue growing with them.
What It Means to Your SEO Agency
An SEO agency’s number one priority is to make sure its client’s websites perform well on internet searches. They want client sites to show up on that coveted first page of search results in order to maximize reach. Here is the deal: an SEO agency hoping to keep up with the way people search now needs to account for voice search.
What makes voice search so different? The words and phrases people use. A person searching the old way uses a physical or virtual keyboard to type words into a search box. Generally speaking, that means entering 1-3 words at most. But when people search with their voices, they actually speak complete sentences. They often ask questions.
An SEO agency hoping to optimize for voice search needs to account for the way people speak as opposed to how they type. Therefore, optimizing for voice search means:
- Targeting longtail keywords and questions.
- Focusing content on answering questions or solving problems.
- Using conversational language when creating content.
- Prioritizing mobile friendliness.
- Keeping content fresh and relevant.
Optimizing for voice search is sometimes described as setting up a website and its content as a tool for having a conversation with visitors. It is about meeting visitors where they are, with content they want to consume, in language they understand.
Keyword Research Is Even More Important
Optimizing for voice search places an even greater emphasis on keyword research. Now that the SEO agency is working with longtail keywords and full-sentence questions, researching the best keywords is a more nuanced endeavor. It takes a bit more skill and intuition to select the right keywords and phrases.
Let us close with one last statistic: 56% of smartphone users trust voice search to find brands and businesses. That one statistic clearly explains why SEO agencies should be putting a heavy emphasis on voice search in 2024. How about your agency? Have your SEO people talked to you about voice search yet?
