Google Voice Search is really starting to come to the forefront of the way mobile users search the internet. I wrote an article about the topic back in November 2014 here – How Will Voice Search or Okay Google Affect SEO In The Future. In the article we covered the importance of being mobile friendly, some of the crucial on-site factors you need to consider and also a Google Study of what Voice Search is being used for. The trend for using the facility has only grown and that is why Google have recently updated the Google App so that it is 300 milliseconds faster.
At first, 300 milliseconds may not sound like a big deal but when you are searching the internet most people want a response as soon as possible. The new update makes Voice Search feel "blazingly fast" and also improves voice accuracy.
This came after they announced on the Google Research Blog, that they had added fresh computational models that “are more accurate, robust to noise, and faster to respond to Voice Search queries models.” Although they have told us about the improvement in speed, they are unable to give a metric on how much the accuracy of the app has improved. All we know is the user experience for using Google Voice Search is now much better.
What Does This Mean For You?
First of all, an improvement in Voice Search technology means that even more people are going to use the App as a way to search on their mobile devices. Here is a quick statistic for you. There are now 83.1 million mobile handsets and data connections in the UK. It is estimated that 57% of UK adults use their mobile phone for internet access. Tablet ownership is 44% of UK households, and 14% of homes claim to have two or more tablets. (Source: http://www.mobilemastinfo.com/stats-and-facts/)
If you are a business owner what does this tell you? A lot of your customers are using mobile devices to find what they are looking for and the usage of Voice Search is only going to rise as well.
How Does This Affect Your Business?
The amount of people using mobile devices and Voice Search in particular doesn't affect your business directly, but it will if you aren't marketing correctly to them. If you put a website in front of one of these users that isn't mobile friendly then they are going to get frustrated with your site and leave. Meaning you miss out on a potential lead or customer. Read our blog article here for more on why you need to have a mobile friendly website: 5 Reasons You Need To Have A Mobile Friendly Website
However, just being mobile friendly isn't enough. You need to make sure your website is optimised in the correct way to ensure you appear in mobile search results. Simply because the way people search is changing.
Why Is The Way People Search Changing?
The simple answer to this is Voice Search. When a potential customer is looking for a solution to their problem or a particular product on the Internet they are going to speak in a conversational tone. This is going to mean their search query is more long tail and conversational than it ever has been. Due to this, Google released an algorithm called Hummingbird which is aimed at how your website answers a users question when they are searching. Find out more about the update here: 4 Easy Ways To Adapt Your Website To Google Hummingbird
Where Are You Going Wrong With Your Website?
Firstly, if your website is still not mobile friendly or responsive in 2015 that is something which needs to be fixed. Secondly, make sure you are blogging and answering important questions in your industry. Blogging will help your websites search presence improve, as you can use it to produce useful content that answers relevant questions on what potential customers or leads in your industry are searching for. If you aren't blogging and answering these questions then you won't show up! Find out more about blogging for businesses here: Benefits Of Blogging: 7 Reasons For Business Owners To Blog
When Should You Act?
You need to act now if you aren't doing any of the above. If your website isn't mobile friendly then get it made mobile friendly. If you aren't blogging, start blogging. This is the only way you are going to be able to take advantage of the way your customers are searching for you and continue to do so. If you don't, you will miss out, you will lose potential customers and your competitors will get the better of you. Is this what you want? Take action today and speak to one of our digital marketing experts. We can audit your website and marketing strategy to see where you are going wrong and help you fix it!
