Voice search is becoming much more popular with online search. Do any of these sound familiar: “Hey Siri”, “Hey Google”, or “Hey Alexa”? These are probably some of the most commonly used voice commands to start a search.

What is Voice Search?

Voice search is primarily used in smart phones and is activated by simply saying “Hey” followed by the voice assistant’s name. For example, Google uses “Google,” Amazon uses “Alexa,” Apple uses “Siri,” and Microsoft uses “Cortona.” Computers are even now integrating voice assistants on its applications like Microsoft Windows’ Cortona on its desktop. Some voice commands are set up to only work with your unique voice, while others are not. Most iPhones are set up to its specific owner’s voice and doesn’t work if someone else says, “Hey Siri.” But some Google Home products work if anyone says, “Hey Google, what’s the weather today?” When you voice search, whatever the question is, the voice assistant will provide the best answer possible.

How Will Voice Search Change SEO?

The way we talk compared to the way we type is very different. For instance, if you were looking for a painting company to paint your house, you might search online and type, “house painter Sonoma County” or “painter near me.” It’s short and to the point. Whereas, if we were to have our iPhone nearby and say, “Hey Siri, who’s the best house painter in Sonoma County?” Much longer tailed question. When we type, we tend to exclude filler words like who, the, in.

So, how does this affect an SEO campaign? Well, if you’re only targeting a phrase like, “painter Sonoma County,” you will probably rank on that phrase in Google, but may be not the phrase, “best house painter in Sonoma County,” because that search would show different results. It’s important to have a good balance of different phrases to come up in both a voice or typed search.

Take Action for Voice Search

Our WSI team is poised and ready for voice search! As an experienced digital marketing agency, we stay on the forefront of what’s changing online and continually reassess our digital marketing strategies to ensure our clients’ success no matter what changes come along. Whether you’re doing SEO or not for your business, implementing a strategy for voice search needs to be on the agenda. Don’t you want to be there when your ideal customer or client is looking for you? That’s what we do – we help businesses get found online at the right place, at the right time, by the right people.

We’re a local agency located in Santa Rosa, CA in the Sonoma County region and work with business throughout the United States. Call us for a complimentary 30-minute consultation to see how we can help in your online marketing efforts. We’re a full-service digital marketing company and provide services such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), Google Display and Retargeting, Facebook Display and Retargeting, social media marketing and management, and web design. Call one of our marketing gurus at 707-843-3714 to find out which digital marketing campaign works best for your business. If you’re more of an email person, fill out our form and we’ll contact you.