More people are using smartphones to access information, and more states are mandating hands-free devices while driving. So it’s no wonder that voice-recognition tools such as iPhone’s Siri and Android’s Vlingo, and mobile apps for Google and Bing are increasing in popularity.
For desktop users, computer voice control is old hat to gamers and the disabled. Among the general population, however, use of voice-activation software such as Dragon is also becoming more prevalent. And the latest version of Google Chrome allows for voice search.
SEO professionals need to take a hands-on approach to this new trend of hands-free search. Will speaking instead of typing alter people’s search habits? And do these voice-recognition applications deliver different search results than the standard search engines?
Siri relies heavily on Bing and Wolfram Alpha for its search results, also pulling in data from Google Maps for location and from Yelp for reviews. Vlingo has partnered with Yahoo! for its results.
If you want to get serious about SEO for Siri, keep in mind that Siri often ignores traditional search results. What this means is that your vocal SEO strategy must include location-based content and customer reviews. Pay per click?
Fuhgeddaboutit. Siri totally ignores PPC, so if your strategy is PPC heavy, lighten up. Siri also pulls results from social networks, so maintain a decent following or be left behind.
Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, recently discussed voice search at Pubcon in Las Vegas. His comments are summed up in an article on Searchenginewatch.com. He said that while voice search is changing the types of search queries people use, it can be refined without repeating previous parts of the user’s search queries. That’s because it knows the user is still searching the same topic, drilling down to more specifics.
What about Google Glass, you ask? Voice search on Glass now functions more like the conversational search on Chrome.
Bing’s own voice search is constantly evolving. In a Search Engine Land article, SEO expert Danny Sullivan talks with Microsoft’s Gurdeep Singh Pall, Vice President for the Information Platform & Experience, about voice search. “The more people use their voice to search,” said Pall, “the more we’re learning. People talk naturally when they do voice search. It’s not like the search box where you type short keywords. … The challenge of learning voice search is that we have to retrain systems. You can carry over into multiple responses — a dialog with the search engine. It’s an ongoing interaction.”
This implies that longer keyword phrases, reflecting a verbal conversation, may be more important for vocal SEO. Keywords are taking a hit in traditional search, too. For vocal SEO, long-tail keywords will be key.
The days of simply optimizing for Google are over when it comes to vocal SEO. Yahoo! and Bing must be taken into consideration, too.
For users, voice search benefits spelling-challenged individuals, as you don’t need to know how to spell your query. For businesses, voice search increases opportunities for multilingual companies, as technology encompasses numerous languages.
While doomsday predictions say voice-generated searches will bring an end to search engine optimization, I think this is a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, we need to keep our eyes – and ears – open to this up-and-coming trend in search.
Image:Hubspot
