Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have become part of daily life for many households in the UAE. With the growing popularity of smart home devices, connected cars, and wearable tech, voice search is quickly becoming one of the main ways people find information online. In fact, more than 80% of Google searches are now made using voice commands, showing just how much convenience and speed matter to today’s users.
Voice search is when someone uses spoken commands to search online instead of typing into a browser. For example, while driving in Dubai you might say, “Hey Google, where’s the nearest petrol station?” or while cooking at home, “Ok Google, how many grams are in one cup of rice?” You might even use it in conversation to settle a debate by asking, “Hey Siri, who owns the tallest building in the world?”
Voice search often provides faster and more relevant results than typing, making it especially useful for quick answers when you’re on the go.
Two of the key considerations when looking at voice search are around long-tail keywords and the way we ask questions vs the way in which we type. We’ve all become accustomed to typing in ‘search-engine-friendly’ queries to get the answers we need quicker, but this isn’t always aligned with how we ask questions when we speak. If you’re looking for a nearby seafood restaurant, you might type into Google ‘seafood restaurant near me’ or ‘seafood restaurant in Dubai’, but a voice search may be more along the lines of ‘which seafood restaurants are near me?’
Research has shown so far that voice searches are typically long-tail, and usually 5-8 words long, primarily using words such as how, best and what. So it’s important to answer questions with your content – in this blog, for example, we’ve asked and answered, ‘what is voice search?’ instead of using a subheading that just says ‘Voice Search’, and we’ve provided a concise answer to this question.
As with SEO, it all starts with research. While we may use Keyword Planner and other tools to do our keyword research, new tools are being created all the time to help us identify which questions people are asking online. A couple of simple methods for question research is to scour websites such as Quora and Reddit, to gauge how people ask questions relevant to your business.
It’s important to remember that, with voice search, only the first ranking answer will be used by Alexa/Siri/Google/Cortana, so it’s better to choose some niche questions to rank for, rather than trying to be all things to all people. Unfortunately, with voice search, second and third place doesn’t cut it, so it’s important to pick your battles.
Finally, remember the fundamentals of SEO. Site speed will be more important than ever, as voice assistants need to deliver instant results, and as our reliance on them increases. Keep optimising for local searches (that means claiming your Google My Business account and using it) as this will become even more important in the coming months and years with the rise of ‘near me’ searches. It will also make sure that your website copy answers questions in a clear and concise way – no one wants to hear Siri reciting War and Peace in response to a simple question.
We know this all sounds a bit overwhelming, especially if you’ve just got your head around the usual SEO techniques, but optimising for voice search will be the new normal. We’re always ahead of the SEO curve here at Verkeer, so be sure to send us a message and we can help you navigate the world of voice search going forward.