Differences you need to know between Text Search and Voice Search

The voice-based search industry is brewing a silent, yet powerful storm. Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices seem to be a clear winner closely followed by Google that is selling Google Home products like hot cakes. The battle is not over yet with Apple’s Siri joining the bandwagon. This blog intends to identify the differences between Text Search and Voice search and how the later would impact digital marketing this year. More importantly, are you bracing yourself to the challenges posed by Voice-based search marketing? Read on

Search queries may differ:

One primary difference between text-based search query and voice-based query is how the query is actually framed. For example, a typical medical assistance related query that is voice-based will be “Siri, where can I find laboratories for testing Diabetes mellitus, whereas text-based search would be short-phrased like ‘diabetes specialist’.

However, the difference in length between the voice-based and text-based query terms isn’t everything. When people use voice-based devices, they may often expect a single answer in response. This means that voice assistants are being optimized ever more than before to select and retrieve the best answer for a particular search query on their own without returning a list of sites for the user to choose from. Never has been there so much emphasis on long-tail keywords than today’s search engine process.

Location, Location, Location…

There has been a lot of talk of late about local search queries on SERP. Voice-search is predominantly location-based. As they become better and better in returning a single result for queries, you bet, they can offer the best answer for a query something like ‘What is a good hotel around here’. This, in most cases, will fetch a location-based search of hotels than search results of that exact keywords phrase used.

Similarly, user queries through a voice assistant like “call a plumber near me”, will exact the services of a plumber within a particular area. There is compelling data that shows close to 35% of users preferring to book medical appointments through voice-based search process over mobile or web. This is why it is important to list your website on local listing platforms such as Google My Business, Yelp or generate Local Business schema markup so that no stone is left unturned when it comes to winning the local voice-based search game.

The rise of Mobile first:

If popularity of Voice Assistants is one thing, the dominance of mobile in voice- based search marketing is another thing. Similar to voice searches, mobile generates a high volume of localised search queries. Even if your business is optimized for location-based searches, it can still fall short of on mobile-based devices.

Voice Assistants including Google Home or Amazon Echo, unlike mobile devices, do not come with a screen, which means that mobile devices return a list of search results on SERP which smart speakers can’t. But if your site is affected by slow site speed, it still isn’t good enough even if it enjoys top rankings on SERP.

The trick is to optimize your site for long-tail keyword search, serving both mobile as well as digital assistant users. Ensure your website is both mobile and voice device optimized so that you are a notch ahead of your competitors online.