According to SEMRush, in 2013, a survey conducted by Intelligence Voice stated that 84.4% of users surveyed did not use voice search. However, in 2015, according to a study published by Mindmeld, the tables were turned and 60.6% of respondents had already started using it in the last year.
Source: SEMRush
Google Trends also shows that voice searches are purchase employment data growing at a rapid pace, +35% since 2008. We are at the beginning of the change, for sure, but voice search consumption on Google already accounts for 20% of the total and it is estimated that in 2020 it could reach - and even exceed - 50%. Therefore, it is not surprising that, if we take into account this trend and the fact that Google prioritizes what improves the user experience, SEO will be directly affected in the coming months/years.
But here comes the fundamental question: how will voice searches affect SEO?
Before we dive into the how, it is necessary to know why voice searches are changing the digital marketing landscape:
65% of young people between 25 and 49 years old talk to their devices that allow voice search at least once a day.
61% of 25-64 year olds say they will rely more on these types of searches in the future. The 18-24 year old demographic mirrors this trend, with 57% saying they will increase their voice device usage in the coming years.
71% of smartphone users say they will perform more voice searches in the future,
53% of consumers use a smart speaker at least once a month to find information about some type of business. 40% of consumers also search for businesses using their smartphones, tablets and laptops.
In this sense, voice searches are a very important factor that must be closely followed and about which we are sure there is still much to say and learn. But, in the same way that they are a real challenge for SEO, they are also, of course, a great opportunity to be faster than the rest and achieve the top positions.
The first factor to take into account is that most voice searches are focused on helping the user with everyday tasks (knowing the weather, finding a restaurant, where to buy a product)… Searches that are closely related to a direct and quick response that always provides a solution. In this sense, the search intent is increasingly relevant in the results that Google returns after a search and, therefore, is a key factor for SEO. Whereas before it was enough to give signals through keywords, now it also needs to provide signals that respond to the search intention that the user has at that moment. In fact, since 2015, Google goes beyond the typical keywords, analyzes the semantics and tries to understand what relationship there is between these words and what search intention they reflect (know, go, buy or do).
Another difference between voice searches is that more words are used in the search than those used for keywords. This fact represents a significant change in how users behave online, since what they are looking for is much more specific. In fact, experts are already talking about much longer searches than we are used to. Therefore, if we want to be the first to adapt to this trend and reach the top positions, we must be able to adapt to this new style of searches and work with texts that include long tails, since they are much more specific terms and, therefore, will adapt much better to searches carried out by voice.
