An increasing trend in the mobile world is voice searches. In 2016, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced during the Google I/O keynote that about 20% of queries were voice searches, and since then, that number has increased, especially with the development of digital personal assistants like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and others. The number of people using voice search is growing, from 11% more than 3 years ago to 60% in 2016. With it, the way we query for info and the information we’re given is changing.
Natural language searching is becoming more prominent with the increase in voice searching. Search engines are moving away from keyword-based searching to increase its speed and effectiveness. Search engines are improving their abilities to interpret complex questions and the trend toward natural language is assisting with that.
Mobile voice searching is making huge advancements with the incorporation of natural language search. Mobile devices and digital personal assistants make is possible to complete tasks like shopping, ordering a pizza, requesting an Uber ride, finding nearby locations, and more, just with our voice. We can ask our devices questions about the news, the weather, restaurants—as if we were asking our friend.
Most search queries are now coming from mobile devices. “Near me” and “how to” inquiries are increasing among users, especially with voice searching, making location and urgency important aspects of the search.
This change in searching and finding information is making it more important to increase SEO and become the top spot. With voice searching and virtual assistants who have their own preferred services, the number one spot in searches is the only relevant position. Users will be scrolling through the options less and less as they find what they want or need right away.
It’s important to maintain a mobile-friendly website, with natural language and answers to questions customers may be searching for. Reviews, Google My Business, photos, and schema markup may be helpful to spend time with as it’ll help with local searches. Schema markup is like a virtual business card. It helps describe what the content of your website means to search engines and makes the information more accessible to users. You can visit schema.org to see a list of the most common schema markups.
The advancement of digital assistants will increase as time goes on. Mobile searching will continue to develop and digital assistants will become more accurate. It’s essential to continue to maintain and update your website and business as technology changes.
Not sure where to begin? Start today by ensuring your website is mobile-friendly.
