The beginnings of voice search date back to the 50s. That's when Bell Labs built the company. Audrey – the first machine to recognize the voice. This one could recognize numbers from zero to nine with accuracy of 90%. Given the computational capabilities of the computers of the time, this was quite an achievement. Ten years later in 1961, IBMu William C. engineer. Dresch created a voice recognition system called Shoebox. This one has already distinguished 16 words and ten digits in English. The machine was officially presented in 1962 at the Seattle Fair. It owes its name to the sizes it occupied – the size of a shoebox. These achievements have led to the development of the voice search that we are dealing with today.
And so fifty years later, In 2011, Siri – Apple voice assistant debuted, in 2012 released for Android Google Now, and in 2016 Google voice assistant. Although voice recognition technology is not a particular innovation, the concept of voice commerce, or voice shopping, is relatively new. Consumers are only starting to use voice commands regularly, others are still resisting testing the opportunities offered by conversational shopping. The fact is, however, that the interest in voice-controlled devices is growing dynamically. As more intelligent speakers appear in the market and algorithms are constantly improved, this trend will only gain momentum.
There are many benefits, among others: convenience, availability and speed of interaction. More than 40% of adults use voice search at least once a day. Most users ask the assistant to include music, find answers to questions about popular science, weather information, set alarms or read the most important information from the country and from the world. The assistants of the voice also accompany them when shopping. More often when selecting products and tracking the status of the consignment than when finalising the transaction. The subject of voice commerce, also called voice shopping, still roars. It is expected that In the next 3 years, the way you shop online will change a lot.
Switching voice search from niche to mainstream
When Siri debuted in 2011, on the wave of a great technological boom, voice search was treated more in terms of another novelty. The rapid development of mobile technologies and speech recognition has made Voice search It's starting to be an important part of search engine marketing.
- 60% of smartphone users at least once have used voice search over the last 12 months.
- Smartphones reign when it comes to voice queries, behind them are computers and laptops, tablets and intelligent speakers.
- Voice queries are longer than those entered in the search bar, usually consist of 3 to 5 words.
- 20% of voice queries are made up of 25 words.
- Globally mobile voice search is the most popular in Asian countries such as Indonesia (38%), China (36%) and India (34%).
- Voice search on mobile devices will be more common in local services.
- Currently 25% of queries on Android devices are voiced.
- 20% of searches on mobile devices are voice-based.
- The reason why users value voice search is multitasking. Most queries fall during other activities, such as driving, watching TV or cooking.
- The loading time of the page is an important factor for voice queries.
- HTTPS is one of the factors that affect high voice search results (more than 70% of the results have HTTPS protocol, compared with 50% of text search results).
- 39 applications supporting voice shopping are currently available on the market.
Natural interactions with assistants give them credibility, inspire confidence and have a personal character.
- The conversation with the device is like a man, often the words “Please” and “thank you” and “sorry” are used in the conversations.
- 52% of smart speakers will be happy to hear about promotions and offers, 48% will be happy to receive personalised advice or information, and 42% will learn about upcoming events nearby.
- 33% of voice assistant holders say they will make a voice purchase in the next 12 months.
- Today, voice shopping concerns low-value products.
- More than 65% of voice queries refer to local services (research of restaurants/ cafes, traffic, booking of space).
The youngest generations dictate trends, but voice search also finds recognition in the group older recipients. Small screens and keyboards are not particularly convenient devices for elderly, less sighted and with disabilities. Talks with assistants for these audiences will be a more convenient alternative, which can become the main way to use mobile devices. This is important because the Boomers generation actively uses online purchases. The biggest companies focus on developing voice technologies, because after the appearance of touchscreens, voice search is treated as another milestone that will significantly affect consumer behaviour.
- 55% of teenagers and 45% of adults use voice search at least once a day.
- Men tend to use voice assistants more frequently, including in public spaces.
- 61% of men and 50% of women use voice search on smartphones.
- Voice search is the most popular among the Z generation. More than 65% admit that they use voice assistants at least once a day, 45% of Millenials, 43% of the X generation, and to the surprise of some, 49% of Boomers.
- People 50 years of age who use voice search admit that they feel more confident using voice assistants because of a more human relationship with technology.
Globally, the sales of smart speakers are growing at a surprising rate.
- In 2019, a total of 146,9 million intelligent speakers were sold, 70% more than in 2018. Amazon's ancestors are ok. 28% of the market share, in second place is Google (ca. 25%), the third belongs to Chinese Baidu (less than 11%).
- It is estimated that by 2024 the market for smart speakers will be worth $30 billion globally.
- Echo Dot, Amazon's intelligent speaker, was in 2018 the best-selling product on the amazon.com platform.
- It is expected that in 2020, approx. 30% of Internet searches will come from voice queries.
- More than 50% of the intelligent speakers are in common spaces, such as living room or living room, 25% in the bedroom, and 22% in the kitchen.
- Voice assistants' popularity: (Google Home, Amazon Echo/Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Microsoft Cortana).
- Among the devices available on the market, the best listener is Siri/HomePod, able to understand 99,4% of the queries, mainly thanks to the noise reduction function, while the response rate is slightly over 50%.
- Google Home takes the first place when it comes to the correctness of the answers to the question, the accuracy is over 80%.
Why the growing popularity of voice search?
We speak faster than we write. Within a minute, we can say 125 to 170 words. At the same time, we can write about 40 words. In 2018, Virgin Trains in the UK introduced voice ticket sales via Alexa. The average ticket purchase time was reduced from 7 minutes to 2. The option to make the purchase faster and more convenient is always seen as a bow towards the customer.
The voice search is running smoothly. No matter how much user-friendly our application will be designed, or the website, and no matter how much attention will be focused on conversion, there are always distortions caused by the device's use. To “get” to a given page, or the application of the consumer must follow the following steps::
Only then is it possible to start using a carefully designed interface. When searching for voice this path shortens, the ability to call and control the application makes the user encounter fewer barriers. It makes him less frustrated, and his experience more friendly.
Longer queries and transition to conversation
The text phrases most often consist of two keywords, voice questions are much longer. 20% of voice queries are made up of 25 words, and on average, they are 4 words. Looking for a good pizza place in the area, we will enter “Italian pizza place” in the search engine. For voice search, this issue will sound different: “OK Google, find a good Italian pizza”. The way in which queries are formulated will be of great importance for the choice of keywords. In addition to traditional attention, attention to parameters such as number of searches, CPCs or seasonality, it will be necessary to take account of the conversational character. In other words, naturally sounding keywords will note large increases in rankings as voice search develops.
The second issue is the impact of voice search on the results received. Google is changing from a web search engine to a tool that gives ready-to-use solutions. The functionality introduced to the SERPs, such as graphics and recommended response fragments, contributed to a decrease in organic search clicks by 37%. The reason is simple: there is no need to go to the website to get information. The same technology, focused on giving ready answers, is used in voice search results. To find out how many calories a doughnut has, entering the query in the search engine, we will get 10 results. If we ask the assistant, we'll get a specific answer in seconds. This one will most likely be read from the first recommended passage.
The Future of Voice Commerce and Challenges
Understanding the intentions of the questioner with the machine learning
The development of artificial intelligence and machine learning has a huge impact on the speed of changes, our interactions with intelligent devices and search results on the Internet. The ideal example will be Google RankBrain which is part of the basic Google algorithm. It uses the ability to learn from input data to determine the best results for search engines queries.
Previously, Google used its basic algorithm to determine which results are to be displayed for the query. RankBrain changed the way they indexed. Currently, the query passes through an interpretation model that takes into account additional factors such as search location, personalization and keywords to determine adequate queries. Recognizing “real” search intent, Google provides more accurate results. The use of machine learning in RankBrain distinguishes it from other upgrades. To “learn” the RankBrain algorithm to show the best search results, Google first “services” data from different sources. . Then, based on the data provided, the algorithm calculates and learns to match different signals to different results. As a result, it orders them in the search engine ranking based on its calculations.
When RankBrain encounters a phrase he has never heard of before, he actually “guess” its meaning and intent of searching and then displays the corresponding answers. Thanks to the machine learning this ability to “think” makes RankBrain, good at handling unexpected queries. RankBrain's ability is a living example of how fast computers are able to implement human behavior on the network and better predict it. In the near future, even better understanding of voice queries is expected by Google algorithms and higher level of advanced responses.
Design of voice experiences
Voice User Interface (VUI) is a relatively new discipline in the world of UX, due to the growing popularity of voice assistants, rapidly developing. It is worth reading the basic rules governing voice design for its better understanding and consequently better matching its activities in the area of voice search.
When designing voice interfaces (voice user interface), six main aspects should be taken into account, which are based on the foundations of the conversation and serve to maintain dialogue, as well as helping designers to move in human-oriented interfaces.
Personality Voice User Interface
Each voice reflects the personality, whether its character has been taken into account at the design stage or not. Projects where VUI persona has been deprived of unique features, where the level of interaction is low, very machine-like, are rated boring, unfriendly and unhelpful. When they lack the element of human interaction, which is an extremely important factor in assessing the suitability and reliability of the assistant, are quickly rejected by users.
In 1975, a group of teachers was invited to participate in the study (Giles & Powesland). They were asked to evaluate eight fictional students on the basis of three elements: samples of written work, photographs and samples of recorded speech. The results were surprising – the positive impressions of the speech sample obscured the negative evaluation of written work as well as photography. In case of negative reception of the student's statements, positive assessments from the other two sources have been overshadowed.
Other studies have shown that we evaluate people in terms of kindness, integrity, reliability, intelligence, education level, punctuality, generosity, romanticity, being "privileged" and suitability for work based on how they speak. In short, speech has power!
You should not leave your VUI personality to chance. Already at an early stage of design, it is necessary to create a person – an ideal employee who will represent the brand. You have to ask yourself, ‘ What is he like? What should it sound like? And how should he behave? The character of this person will be the foundation, deciding on the success or failure of the project.
Maintenance of the conversation
There are many questions in daily conversations that require short answers “yes” or “no” but are actually asked for additional information. According to the principles of maintaining the conversation, the speaker provides the listener with sufficient information to achieve an interaction. In order for the interaction to be satisfactory, the conversation must be moved forward slowly. And here assistants must have social intelligence, if they are designed to identify simple answers, they must be taught, in the absence of a key word recognition, to respond accordingly. Most often in case of misdiagnosis, users need simple guidance, “I apologize, can you repeat the number of people?” instead of the machine “I apologize, I did not understand. Give now the number of people, it could be, for example, two." The key here for the assistant is the moment when he can continue the conversation by offering additional information and recognizing the relevant responses of users. What the industry calls a “discognition error” is actually the result of an impulse that constitutes an information input.
Materiality and materiality
Unlike the written word the language is inextricably linked to the passage of time. . The longer someone speaks, the more mental work the listener has to do. The human mind has its limitations and is able to process information until these do not become an excessive burden on short-term memory. Listening is considered to be a ‘passive’ skill, unlike speaking, which is referred to as more ‘active’ and ‘productive’. In fact, listening requires a lot of energy and focus. Therefore, it is important that VUI give the listener a break and allow him to switch roles, that is, to be a speaker. Unlike the graphic presentation the non-essential information provided by voice becomes particularly burdensome, therefore, involving users in listening to irrelevant information from the point of view of the listener is the main factor for which they will reject the help of voice assistants.
For example, the user is not interested in the number of the cruise, only the time and place of departure of the bus and the price of the ticket. It is important that the assistant provides information relevant to the user. Many VUI designers make this mistake, thus creating a negative user experience with an assistant. Research shows that if the VUI does not represent a significant advantage over alternative ways of performing the activity, users will not benefit from it. People are naturally lazy, technology to simplify and shorten daily activities If these conditions are not met, they will choose the last satisfactory way to achieve the desired effect. In summary: information should be short and factual, do not go into detail until requested by the user.
Context of the statements
A good conversation is a reference to previous interactions and awareness of the circumstances under which a person is found. Similarly with VUI projects, they should make the most of the user context. If specific information has been entrusted to the interface, the assistant should respond on the basis of what the user has been doing recently, what he already knows and what has been said earlier in the dialogue window. Contextial negligence effectively undermines the perception of an intelligent assistant. In this industry, much is said about personalization, artificial intelligence and data-based innovation. But these projects that follow the conversation and remain “conscious” of the user context will effectively increase the perception of human intelligence.
Focus on words
VUI must be aware of what has been said. This is crucial for determining how further messages should be organised. The absence of such “tracking” is a burden on the listener’s understanding process and creates discomfort. It's called End-Focus. In accordance with this principle of conversation, the users subconsciously expect some way of arranging information in the statement. “New” information should appear by default at the end of the sentence and be highlighted and “old” information precedes it. Example: “Make a reservation for Friday 16 March” “I apologize, Friday is 15.” Here Friday is “old” information and a new date, therefore it is placed at the end of the sentence.
Violation of the End-Focus principle causes excessive friction in the interaction. In view of the user's expectations of what structure information should have, UI will not only be more intuitive, but will also provide an additional benefit in confirming that VUI has heard and understood the recipient correctly. Here the golden rule will be to place “old” information before “new” for maximizing user satisfaction. This will make the conversational character of the speech between the assistant and the questioner.
Not commands, but intuitive speech
It's about eliminating all commands completely. If an assistant is forced to give instructions, this means that a mistake has been made somewhere. The VUI design should not contain a command known from the hotline, such as: “For more information, select 1”. Instead, the interface should ask a naturally sounding question “do you want to know more?”. At the time of the command, the designer should return to the draft VUI and replace it with the conversational character of the statements. With the emergence of chatbots, assistants and applications that revolutionize many aspects of our lives, designers and marketers get the opportunity to creatively show off and learn that conversation is key to success.
Constructive dialogue is a powerful means of communication. The expression of total ignorance would be the lack of matching the interaction with common rules. The first step in building technical awareness is understanding what conversation really is.
Challenges facing the implementation of voice search to the world of e-commerce
Most Important challenges, which will be faced by designers and specialists involved in implementing the voice commerce strategy, to ensure that it runs smoothly and without disruption, are:
- Language restrictions
Each timbre and tone of the voice is unique, artificial intelligence must be able to recognize accents and ways of intonation. The challenge of constantly improving language functions is faced by developers. English is now the best-known language in the world of technology, and assistants are available in more and more countries. This requires continuous work on improving the language skills of assistants in foreign languages to keep up with demand.
- Human interactions and empathy
In addition to language barriers, another challenge is to design “human” interactions, i.e. as natural and intuitive as possible. The solution to this problem will have a huge impact on consumer confidence in technology and will affect the use of voice search on a global scale. This is where it is important to know and properly implement the rules of Voice User Interface.
- Low level of reliable information
In the market, information on voice assistants' capabilities is still not yet well known to most consumers. Many of them do not use assistants or buy them because they live in the belief that their level of capability is negligible. Consumers have no knowledge of what a voice assistant can do, how to use it and whether there is a risk associated with using it.
- Lack of trust
Consumers who shop using a voice assistant admit that they most often use them for reordering the same basket. Currently, voice commerce concerns the purchase of low value products and quickly marketable products, as they do not trust technology to handle larger and more complex orders.
- Privacy issues
The provisions on the processing of personal data, such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which entered into force in May 2018, are becoming similar in their form worldwide. They lead to discussions on data protection online, and this translates into more consumers aware of the need to protect online data.
This applies to both the B2C and B2B sectors, which must ensure privacy in their homes and on the Internet. The introduction of voice commerce will have to develop a solution that uses only the information necessary to carry out a secure purchasing process. It is for entrepreneurs to be responsible for the correct information process for consumers and to ensure safety when purchasing voice.
Future Voice commerce
When the barriers are overcome, the potential of voice commerce will change consumer habits. According to Google data, 20% of searches come from voice queries. . Due to the better developed understanding of English by artificial intelligence in the United States, this figure is now 42,7%. In 2020, the percentage of voice queries is expected to reach half, and voice purchases will concern not only online queries, but also fixed purchases.
Example:
The Mars Agency in the United States tested a voice assistant called SmartAisle in stores BevMo!. The assistant helps customers make the decision which whisky to choose. How does it work? Supported by Amazon Echo – SmartAisle – it is installed on a illuminated whisky bookcase. Customers can ask for help with the choice of the beverage. SmartAisle is able to provide information about selected types of whisky and leads the customer through the decision-making process. Each bottle on the bookcase is highlighted, as the conversation progresses, the assistant begins to narrow down the choice, lights under excluded whisky are extinguished. As a result of the conversation, the customer is left with one bottle of whisky illuminated on the shelf. Bree Glaeser, Director of Law and Justice Innovations in The Mars Agency, he said, "People don't always want to go with the reputation of the seller, they seek information based on facts, not necessarily individual preferences." SmartAisle not only engages customers in the store, but turns buyers into buyers. The stores where the voice assistant was implemented saw an increase in sales and met with a positive reception among consumers.
Chances for B2B
Voice commerce is a big piece of cake for B2B companies. The need to continuously improve purchasing paths and create the best possible consumer experience to maintain customers and outrun competition. Pioneers implementing new technologies, such as voice commerce, will be able to provide their partners with innovative, simple and memorable online and offline experiences.
Voice commerce in Poland
The Polish version of Google Assistant debuted in early 2019. Google has the largest language library of its assistant and is the only one that supports in Polish. Recent analysis of Salesforce says that currently 9% of purchases are made using new sales and technology channels. This is called ‘shopping at the edge’, i.e. shopping outside the lost channels, with the support of social media, communicators and voice assistants among others.
According to report UKE 93% of the population use mobile phone in Poland.9% have a landline phone. 72,7% of respondents use the Internet, 90,7% of respondents connect via mobile networks. 66,7% of Poles have a fixed Internet, and 22,7% use a mobile network on devices other than smartphones. 75% of Poles have a smartphone and 24,3% have a traditional mobile phone. 90,7% of Poles use the Internet on their phone. . Smartphones and mobile Internet dominate our lives, they are the first tool to search for information, including local ones, use social media, or compare offers and shop.
In a study conducted by Reichelt Elektronik 1000 respondents were asked if and how they use voice assistants. 87% of respondents admitted that they had used a voice assistant via smartphone, 4% interact with a voice assistant via speaker, and 9% use both solutions. On the Polish market, the Google Assistant rules, 42% of the respondents trust his voice assistant. 7% use Siri services, and approx. 1% of Alexa.
The most frequently studied ones use assistants to search online as many as 74%, 49% play music with assistant help, 54% use them for reading messages, 31% of respondents commission the assistant to arrange organizational matters, 19% admit that he was shopping for food or goods. 12% of the respondents control household appliances, and only 5% open the front door with an assistant.
Interestingly, 44% of respondents do not consider buying an intelligent speaker, 65% stating that they do not need it. Half of the respondents expressed concerns about security, 42% fear, theft or misuse of data, as well as how the data will be stored, 30% fear being eavesdropped, and 38% risk of hacking. In addition, as many as 38% of respondents consider it a problem to accidentally activate the assistant by incorrectly understood command (including children's).
Voice commerce in the Polish market
Google's voice assistant will strive to provide full online shopping service. The first Google partners in implementing voice commerce in Poland were Pyszne.pl and Flixbus.
A package of tools created and made available by Google applies throughout the purchasing process. Each Google Assistant user can use a voice command defined by the company to interact with the brand. Detailed transaction course in case of ♪ Delicious. ♪ for voice support, requires prior manual configuration in the application. Interaction with Google Assistant will allow you to select one of the pre-defined sets and will end with a payment order on delivery. Pyszne.pl emphasizes that the service will be developed based on users' comments.
Flixbus but decided to provide comprehensive voice support for searching and booking. Also support VISA or Mastercard payments linked to Google Pay services. The transaction is to be authorized with a fingerprint or password (depending on the user's preferences). The assistant can check available journeys, booking status and get answers to the most frequently asked questions. The service is available in four languages: English, Polish, French and German.
For both delicious.pl and Flixbus, Poland is the first country to introduce voice order support with Google Assistant. This option is to be made available in other countries over time. Previously, Google announced a similar collaboration with the American Walmart trading network.
September 2019 Frisco.pl introduced the possibility to shop with Google Assistant. In response to the forecasts of a 10-fold increase in voice purchases over the next 3 years, the company has already decided to implement a new customer contact channel. In the first place, voice purchases were launched for customers already having a shopping history. Both through the app and from the computer level, it is possible to book the delivery date. When you open an earlier basket, the assistant will read its contents. You can modify it: add, delete or change the number of products. If additional goods are selected, the assistant will present the current promotions to the customer. After completing the order, the assistant will read the shopping list and the user will finalize the order by accepting it. In addition, the assistant will be able to answer the 20 most frequently asked questions. If the problem is not identified, the user will be redirected to the store website where he can contact the customer service department.
Another implementing voice search is the Polish shoe giant CCC, which will be the first entity in Poland from the fashion sector, will launch the CCC Voice Assistant service for customers in Google. " Talk to CCC” – enough to run an assistant. A virtual advisor will help customers search the products on the basis of selected filters (e.g. category, brand, color, price or special features), will indicate the nearest CCC store and provide information about current promotions in the CCC Club. New functionalities are to be added on an ongoing basis, and the whole service is consistently developed. At this stage of the project, it is not possible to directly purchase via voice commands. In the plans of the company is not only full support of the online purchasing process, but also the ability to check the availability of specific models in the selected stationary store. Although the Polish market is at an early stage of development in the area of voice shopping, the CCC invests in artificial intelligence. The company believes that solutions such as voice search will be crucial in building customer relations and will provide better purchasing experience.
The popularity of voice search can make even if we do not reach the Internet at 30% of the expected enthusiasm level in the near future, it will continue to grow. Online retailers should not yet treat voice purchases in terms of a huge revolution. However, it is worth taking into account their presence on the market now and treating them as a new channel, which will be a new source of revenue. Translating to numbers: about 34 million Poles use smartphones every day, of which about 24 million admitted that they searched the network using a voice assistant. Given the pace of the development of artificial intelligence, Google algorithms and the popularity of his assistant, it is worth optimizing your services for voice search. What seemed to be a distant future is actually happening to us in everyday life.
Voice Search Optimization
Voice search has become a new source of network traffic. The SEO industry must be prepared to change the way content is consumed on the Internet in order to achieve specific objectives. The technology is at a satisfactory level for internet users and voice search will become popular. Voice purchases are expected to take over 37% of online purchases over the next three years and up to 45% of traditional purchases. The largest companies such as ASOS, Walmart, or pioneers on the Polish market (Flixbus, delicious.pl, CCC) are already implementing voice purchasing strategies, despite their relatively low popularity. Here they are based on the experience of popularity of mobile applications. When technological and functional barriers are broken, consumers will benefit from these solutions.
For e-commerce you can implement already now several actions, voice search friendly.
Keyword selection
The modification of the content for voice queries is the first element that can be implemented now. Please remember two fundamental issues: people who search for the product in voice, do not see the product and their queries are significantly different from the search engines in the search bar. The language of voice queries is natural, the key is to complete product descriptions and names to support voice search. Key words should be searched for in the “long tail” and possible questions on the subject of a subpage. Once the selected list of questions will repeat for a given product category. On the other hand, many questions will apply to a given product, not necessarily a brand, hence a precise analysis should be made of the category rather than the type. A free answerthepublic.com tool will be useful for developing relevant queries, whether the paid question generator function in Ahrefs is needed.
Preparation of a complete Q&A and FAQ list
The content value will play a major role in the search results, optimization will focus on answers to specific questions. The dedicated voice search section will require specific answers to questions asked by users, e.g. how much something costs, where it is located or what it consists of. For e-commerce, whether to specify for v-commerce, the product descriptions should be enriched with a Q&A section, which will be partly responsible for customer service. Questions to be answered by the seller at the stationary store must be transferred to the e-shop.
In addition to Q&A elements of categories and products, the store should implement the developed FAQ section. Indeed, the FAQ is considered the best solution for voice search queries. Optimization requires creating a separate FAQ sub-page. In this way each will receive a unique title containing a specific query. On the other hand, the average length of response given by the voice assistant, which is an average of 29 words, should be taken into account. The responses designed for voice search should contain 30 words or less and be specific. This will also enable them to find themselves in search results as featured snappets.
Time to load pages
The future of voice purchases and new technologies will mostly concern mobiles. The loading time of the page and its matching to the search on mobile devices will be a factor with a position in the search results. With the entry into force of the Mobile-First Index Google has determined the direction of development of the entire industry. The results of voice searches are presented more quickly compared to the results presented on the website. The time for voice search is 0,54 seconds, and for the page is an average of 2,1 seconds. Hence, it is important that the page is well optimized for charging time. A fast-loading page will positively affect positioning in voice search results.
Mobile friendly website
In addition to loading time, several other rules governing the world of mobile should be implemented. The page must be responsive, which means automatically adjust to the screen resolution of the device on which we are viewing it. It cannot contain content created in Flash – these are not supported on mobile devices. Nor can it have too many elements placed close to each other, small fonts and unmatched photos.
Addressing the issues related to the site's operation on mobile devices is a key factor in occupying high positions in the search results, and this also applies to voice search results.
Safety certificate
As of 2014, Google algorithms have included HTTPS as a ransom factor, results with the implemented encryption protocol are presented by voice assistants much more often than results from text queries, 71% vs. 50%.
Online and local SEO reviews
Review sites have an impact on the rating in the ranking of the pages. It is worth taking care to present your content on websites like Trip Advisor, Google My Business, or Yelp. Online review sites can play an important role in voice search results soon. This should take into account the fact that most voice queries concern products and services in the immediate vicinity, so it is worth optimizing the content for queries “ nearby”.
Structural data
The correct identification of structural data improves the search result and affects the clickability. In order to make it easier for robots to identify the individual elements of the page, it is recommended to identify as many elements as possible for each category of subpages that will include answers to questions asked by voice search.
VSE Analysts
The currently read results from voice queries do not leave analytical data and do not generate new sessions on the site. The results of voice search do not produce traffic on the site directly, but affect brand recognition and its reliability. This in turn has a direct effect on the increase in organic visibility and the increase in traffic on the page from two sources: organic and direct.
Sponsored content
With the growing popularity of voice search, you should count on the appearance of content sponsored in the results provided by the assistant. The question remains how the question of how to mark sponsored voice search results will be implemented by Google. While searching for a nearby restaurant, reading several locations by the assistant will not make much sense, it is here that advertisements may appear that push the organic search results to further positions.
How to prepare a website that is friendly to voice search?
Summary
Voice search technology is the future – simple and convenient to use. Looking at the first statistics that appear on the market, it cannot be denied that it will change the way content is currently consumed in the network over the next few years. Although Poles are not quite convinced to buy a voice assistant, they are happy to use voice searches on mobile phones. The youngest and most digitised consumers in their behaviour are not significantly different from those of the West. Their behaviour will determine the trends that suppliers of goods and services will have to submit to in order to exist and to be competitive on the network. In addition, there are also expectations of voice search and shopping among the remaining age groups.
Be aware that, whether a strategy for voice search is implemented or not, network traffic will be redesigned. This is due to changes in consumer behaviour. People are naturally lazy, our brains are looking for shortcuts, so we watch video without a voice, or we look for information in recommended sections in search results, without having to go to the website. It's confirmed in numbers. The drop in organic inputs after the implementation of the featured snippets is 37%. 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. Voice search now accounts for 20% of the traffic on the network and will grow, according to some even exponentially. The convenience of voice search will make the voice commerce in the coming years a good destination in Poland. Brands that use advanced solutions offered by artificial intelligence will in the future provide a better position on the market. Now it is worth to lean on the subject.
New solutions are accompanied by serious concerns about security and privacy. Consumer awareness is increasing. This will undoubtedly be a challenge for voice-controlled service providers. The transparency of the rules on the use, collection, storage and processing of data will be one of the barriers that the industry will have to face. When it is broken on the e-commerce market, as well as in the online marketing world, there will be significant changes.
The information contained here is the beginning of the recommendation, as VSO slowly begins to take its place in SEO strategies. Any strategy that takes account of voice search should, in fact, be based on the specificity of the industry. For some it will be optimal to create a FAQ that will complement queries, for others the key to success may be to optimize the loading time of the page and to match its operation under the mobile.
