Internet of Voice in Marketing – 10 Tips to Follow

The evolution of the Internet is incredible. Initially, it started as a giant web, connecting personal computers across the globe and making information available at a single click.

Since then, the number of computers connected to the Internet has grown exponentially, and the number of users has soared from a handful to 4.54 billion.

After that, the emergence of social networks happened, which connected people with each other irrespective of location, time, and other demographics.

The craze of social media has grown so much that with each passing year, the number of users is only increasing. In 2020 there are approximately 3.8 billion social media users.

The Internet of Voice is the third and the most impactful revolution of the Internet. Led by voice, this technology is one of the biggest developments that is influencing the world of digital marketing.

Today there is widespread adoption of this voice search technology. It has become an indispensable part of our day-to-day life. 

“Hey Google, turn off the lights”

“Alexa, which is the hottest planet”

“Siri set the alarm for 6:00 AM”

Smart speakers and virtual assistants are seeing unprecedented growth, changing the way we search for information online and carry out our day to day chores. 

The major reason for the popularity of this technology is, it has made searching more convenient than ever before. People find it easier and faster to use voice search instead of typing. 

At the moment, there are already more than 4 billion devices in use across the globe, and 50% of searches are getting conducted through voice. Whereas screenless browsing has also increased by 30%.

Search results play a significant role in digital marketing. Therefore, businesses that want to stay visible to customers should definitely need to find a way of incorporating voice technology into their digital marketing strategies. 

Also Read: Voice Commerce the New Face of eCommerce With Voice Recognition

Tips for using Internet of Voice in marketing

1) Optimize your keyword strategy

Voice search has reduced the prominence of short keywords. Now, it is not used in the same way as normal typing used in the search engine. There is a difference in speech we use for speaking and writing. 

Long Tail keywords work wonders when it comes to voice searches. Because people actually speak instead of typing, so they follow a more natural speech pattern. It’s more like having a conversation with Alexa, Google Home, Siri, or any other voice-assisted device. 

For example, if anyone wants to search the recipe of noodles on Google, then he/she would rather type “How to make a chocolate cake” instead of “Chocolate cake recipe”. 

Voice searches are more in the question form, and long-tail keywords are of 3-5 words, which helps us target keywords that are more like real speech. 

Therefore, to utilize the voice search in your marketing campaigns, try to think like a customer. What question they can ask to search for the products or services your business is offering. 

This way, you can serve your readers in a better way and increase your chances of capturing space in the featured snippet. 

2) Make your website loads quickly

This tip is quite common yet very important and useful.

Google is the king of search engines, and it favours fast responding sites that load quickly. So, make sure,

• Your sites are responsive and compatible with all devices 
• Proper caching to improve the speed
• Your website loading time is very less
• Images are optimized, and files are compressed 

Because all these factors are responsible for the loading speed of any site. And people often use voice search to get quick results. So, Google gives more importance to the page speed when it comes to voice search. 

Also Read: The Technologies That Will Change Marketing This Year

3) Create scannable content

Content creation is extremely helpful in voice search optimization. Quality content helps to drive traffic to your website. People who search on the Internet, especially through mobile, mostly look for a specific answer.

So, instead of drafting content with long paragraphs, make it concise, readable, and scannable. Also, make sure that the website does not have any pop-ups or unnecessary ads that could hinder users from getting what they are looking for. 

Break down your content into short paragraphs, simple sentences, and bold headers. This way, your content will get more searches, and eventually, your page will rank. 

4) Focus on local searches 

Voice searches are more likely to be local searches. In fact, 22% of the voice search queries look for location-based content. For example, if you ask Siri, the best place to go for lunch, the results it will show you will be of the nearest restaurants and food corners only. 

If you are a local business, then tailor your content for local voice searches. Try to answer as many questions, and if possible, then 4W’s (What, When, Where, Why) are a must. This makes the basic information regarding your business accessible. 

5) Include featured block content 

If you are familiar with the featured snippets, then you might know that they capture position zero in the search engine. In general, digital marketing strategies aim to acquire that position because it is the place that provides maximum visibility.

An average voice search result consists of about 29 words. Though it is a well-known fact that brief answers perform better. But how to guarantee that Google will locate your content? 

The answer is very simple, create a featured snippet. Generally, it appears just below the paid ads in desktop search listings. And if you want your content to be there, then add a brief in 29 words about your main content above the draft. 

It is also recommended to use bullet points, lists, H-tags, and long-tail keywords in that content to make it more readable as well as eligible for the featured snippet. 

6) Get registered on Google business listing

In case you have not registered your business on Google My Business listing, then it’s time to do so. Make it easy for Google to crawl your website and know what it is all about. 

This is an excellent way to provide more details to users about your business, such as sitemap, industry, phone number, physical address, business hours, and more. You can also create mark-ups for multiple text cases to help Google understand what a particular text means.

Keeping the information up to date on Google My Business will increase the chances of your business, showing up at the top of the results page when relevant voice search is performed. 

Also Read: Expect Voice Search to Be the Latest Disruption

7) Give it a try 

The most effective and easiest way to understand how the voice search is impacting digital marketing strategy is to try your hands on it. By exploring things, yourself, you will learn a lot of things and can also check what kind of results your website is delivering.

Moreover, you will also get a chance to evaluate the questions that are likely to bring traffic to your website and their ranking among the top searches. This practice will help you settle for a strategy that will eventually work. 

8) Optimize for different speakers

There are so many smart voice-assisted devices of different companies available in the market. Each one of them comes with different features that add a unique experience to the users. Let’s have a look at a few devices, and know-how to optimize for them,

Siri

It is the first digital virtual assistant which pulls the information from Google search results. So, if you are focusing on this device, then you should aim for the featured snippet, and optimize for the local SEO 3-pack.

Google Home

All the series of google home devices fetches data from the featured snippet and local SEO-3 pack. If you want to target these leads, then make sure to register on the local listing and provide valuable information to your audience. 

Alexa

Alexa pulls data from Bing. So, all you need to do is, optimize your platform or content for the Bing places and try to get the zero position i.e. featured snippet. Optimizing for your yelp profile will also work great.

These are the tips for the three most popular voice assistants, and likewise, you can discover for others. It will help your business to get more conversions.

9) Go through the official user guides

Like you get guides regarding the usage of your new iOS, Android, or Windows smartphone to optimize the best experience. Similarly, all the major platforms do provide official guides to voice search. 

For example, Apple has an amazing guide for its users regarding the ways Siri can be used effectively to search for the information on the Internet or phone. Similarly, Google and Cortana also have guides.

However, you may feel that the information available on them is very generic. But it can be very helpful if you look at it with the perspective of voice search. So, try to gain as much knowledge as possible and use them while thinking of questions that people might use for voice search.

For reference, you can also refer to the third-party guides, like CNET, which provides the complete list of OK google commands. 

Also Read: The Rising Impact of Voice Search on the Next Generation SEO

10) Comprehend the ways people play with voice search

Sometimes people joke around with the voice-assisted device or ask silly questions out of curiosity to know what answers it will give.

It is very important to understand how users interact with these technologies so that they can alter the website/marketing content accordingly. 

Moreover, you can also challenge your creative side and add some humour to your ad copy for better results. 

Although, most of the answers you will read are likely to be insignificant to your business, others might give you some brilliant ideas. You never know!

Alexa, what does the data say!

Voice Recognition technology has completely taken over the world and is continuously evolving to provide a better experience to the users. But does it impact the digital marketing landscape? How to capitalize on voice search? Now, you know the answers to all these questions. 

There are many ways you can optimize voice search for Digital Marketing, and nowadays, it is very important to do so because of its ever-growing prominence.

But no matter what you end up doing, just ensure that your voice search ranking is strong as it will effectively grow your business.

If you are already implementing some strategy regarding voice search to your business, then let us know what is working for you in the comment section.