Getting Found Through “VEO” and Virtual AssistantsCherith Meeks, Soleo CommunicationsManpreet Singh, TalkLocal

Voice Search Continues to Grow

The use of voice search is skyrocketing.• By 2020, 30% of searches will be done without a screen 1

• 40% of adults now use voice search once per day 2

It’s redefining the way people search for local.• Mobile voice-related searches are 3X more likely to be local-

based than text 3

• Nearly 50% of people are now using voice search when researching products 4

1 MediaPros; 2 comscore; 3 Search Engine Watch; 4 Social Media Today

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Consumer Searching Habits Continue to Adapt

Consumers are adapting to voice search from traditional text search.• A text query is fewer than three words on average

• Voice queries are often much longer and more detailed

• These longer queries provide richer intent

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Sample Search Categories for Voice Search

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Consumers use voice search for things they need in that moment.

RestaurantsCoffee & Cafes

Delis

General Contractors

Beauty SalonsGroceries

Bars

Gas Stations

Pet Supplies

Banks & ATMs

Icons from Flaticon.com

The Value of Understanding Natural Language

Natural Language Processing underpins the work of conversational search.• It is important for search devices to leverage natural language

processing to support voice search.

For example, consider these two searches:“I need my lawn mowed” and “I need my lawn mower fixed”

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“I need my lawn mowed”

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A search engine should understand the user’s need (lawn mowing) and location and return relevant results.

“I need my lawn mower fixed”

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In this case, the search engine should understand the difference between lawn mowing and lawn equipment.

Businesses Must Evolve Too

Businesses will need to optimize for what they offer rather than simply who they are.

In the past, a roofer in San Diego, CA simply had to ensure that they would show up in searches within the business categories of “General Contracting”, “Contracting – Roofing”, “Roofing”, and similar categories.

But that doesn’t consider how users search by voice:“I need some shingles replaced”

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Voice Search and Associated TermsBusinesses must ensure they are aligned with their product and service offerings:

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“I need some shingles replaced.”Contractor

Replacement

RoofingService

Asphalt

Roof

Shingles

Repair

Residential

Solar Panels

EfficiencyEnergy

Installation

Slate

Maintenance

Rebates

Commercial

What Does This Mean for SMBs?

Traditional SEO and SEM are changing too.

• Be found on more search ecosystems– Get listed in local directories

• Make sure local directories know what you do, not just who you are

• Make sure you choose partners who are equipped for conversational search

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Respond to Voice Commands ….like Fidoby: Manpreet Singh Co-Founder

Lessons from Mobilegeddon

ENGE , ERIC. (2015 , Jun 3) Mobilegeddon: Nearly 50% of Non-Mobile Friendly URLs Dropped in Rank. https://www.stonetemple.com/mobilegeddon-may-have-been-bigger-than-we-thought/

NonMobile Friendly URLS Mobile Friendly URLS

Bad dog. Good dog!

Source: Thrive Analytics. (2016, June 6) Adoption of Voice Search Continues to Gain Traction. http://www.thriveanalytics.com/blog/?p=709

What Makes Voice Search Different?

Tighter Competition

“If you’re not first, you’re last.”

The Ricky Bobby Law of Ranking is now in effect thanks to…

• Voice based interfaces• Direct answers• Google rich answers• Action buttons

More Expressive Search

Impact on the Search Landscape

Tabeling, Jason . (2014, Dec 1) How Will Voice Search Impact a Search Marketer’s World? https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2383498/how-will-voice-search-impact-a-search-marketers-world

Best practices

Come up with Who/What/Where/When/Why/How questions regarding your offerings

Create content with a conversational tone responding to common answers

Factor in the intent indicators in your different responses and when building campaigns around answers

Find out which mobile voice commands are best for your business

Update your site with schema.org/structured data markup Remember to test your structure data. Google’s is here

https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/u/0/

Structured Data…

Voice Answers

Structured data Rich Snippets

Direct Answers

Extensions

• On the go voice search users will be more responsive to quick call to action offers in search results. They don’t have time read your website.

• Types of extensions: – Location Extensions.– Call Extensions. – Dynamic Search Ads: With help from structured data markup, a ad

partner like Google can actually crawl a website and promote the aspects of the site that are relevant to the searcher based on indicated intent.

New Gatekeepers

• Voice technology creates the need for new digital gatekeepers

– Virtual assistants (i.e.HelloAlfred)– On-demand and referral companies (i.e.

AskAlexa and HomeAdvisor)

• Access through these gate keepers only makes the normal digital strategy more important