How Voice Search (Siri & Google Now) is affecting Search Results & Search Engine Optimisation

Siri and Google Now; the voice assistants are changing the SEO results and digital analytics. Marketers, analysts, and brands have to revise their digital strategy and adapt to this shift. In places like Japan, Europe, and America, speech assistants have taken a strong root among millennials and generation Z digital marketers are improving their strategies to be leaders from the beginning of this revolution.

The Change

Speech assistants like Siri have been around for a long time but were inconsistent with their speech recognition and outputs.

The initial search algorithms were designed to understand commands like ‘French Bakery” or “flights from Dubai to London” which has now changed to voice commands like “where is the nearest French Bakeries” or “book me a flight to London”.

Search engines have to be optimized for inputs that relate to conversational queries like “who, what, where, why and how” rather than short queries.

According to a study from Northstar Research, 55 percent of teenagers are using voice search every day, and 56 percent of adults use it because it helps them feel more “tech-savvy.”

Rather than writing out what you have to say, Google Now and Siri to ask away. Why type when you can talk?

Other factors influencing SEO

SEO are designed to analyze long tail keywords which are extremely descriptive and gave clear idea what the user wants. But, with the development of voice assistants, SEO have to be re-designed to consider various factors like; word query, read the physical location of the user and previous behavior, in-app search to give an accurate result.

As we progress and tip toe to t he world of the digital realm, brands in Zimbabwe will have to implement a practical digital approach with an authenticity that drives increased sales.

Future-proof your site

As of 2016, Google does not penalize websites for not being optimized for voice search results, but websites that are adjusted to this at an early stage will win as they have already adapted and are the pioneers of the concept and know the tricks and techniques to win over the market and lead the competition.

With the evolution of Google’s Artificial Intelligence (AL) RankBrain, speech assistants don’t look like a big hurdle.