Should Writers Care About Voice Search?

Do you feel like voice search is a fad, and people will eventually tire of their Alexas, Siris and Google Homes?

Admittedly, I’ll typically type a search query before saying it — even if Alexa and Siri are right there. Old habits die hard.

At the same time, I know this tide is quickly turning. Every day, more folks are turning to voice assistants to find the information they need. Heck, even my husband uses voice search (and he’s not an “early adopter” of technology.) :)

In fact, according to Google, 20% of mobile queries were via voice search — and that was in 2016. ComScore says voice search will make up 50% of queries by 2020.

So, what does voice search have to do with how you write content?

A lot.

First, let’s talk about what’s not going to work.

If you (or your company) is writing content like it’s 2011, you are going to get left in the dust.

I’ve talked about how “SEO articles” and posts that exact match the keyphrase every single time are bad for SEO and bad for readers.

Let’s face it — people expect more now.

Plus, here’s a surprising thing that may not work as well for some voice searches.

And that “thing” is longer, in-depth content pieces.

You know, the long-form content that’s all the rage right now.

Why? Because when someone asks a question like, “How do I hard boil an egg?” she’s not looking for the history of eggs, the many uses of eggs, and how eggs are stored around the world.

She just wants to know how to boil an egg. :)

I’m not saying stay away from long content. But, I am wondering how Google is going to handle question-focused content in the future — especially after reading this post that implies longer content isn’t always better. In fact, short copy is totally OK.

What will work? Being human.

Gone are the days when we felt like SEO writing was robotic, stiff and dull.

If that’s how you feel about your writing, you’re doing it wrong (which is probably a wonderful thing to read.) Yes, you still need SEO writing skills, but you can finally take back your natural voice.

Content written in a conversational tone — especially content that answers frequently asked questions — will do well in mobile search (again, check out the article I referenced above for more information.)

That means delete the corporate-speak and “talk” to your customers on your site like you’d speak to them on the phone.

But, wait. Isn’t it too early to strategize for voice search?

Well, yes. And no.

Let me explain.

For all of the stats saying “voice search is growing,” there are others that discuss how frustrated users are with voice search. You’ve probably experienced this yourself if you try to ask Alexa a question she’s not prepared to answer. If you’re like me, you end up swearing at Alexa and typing your question into good old Google.

In many cases, the technology isn’t quite there for voice search.

In fact, a 2017 study by Seer Interactive found that just 8 percent of users searched the internet daily via voice search.