The Future of Search: Voice Search

Last month Google released a study done by Northstar Research which showed some interesting trends in voice recognition technology or voice search as it’s called. In particular, the study focused on adults and teens and how the two groups utilized voice search. Honestly, I had no idea that teens and adults alike incorporated voice search when in the bathroom, nor did I really want to know that aspect. Still, the study showed some great insight into the use and growth of the technology. The finding perhaps most important was that teens feel much more comfortable using speech recognition when searching the web. A whopping 55% of teens age 13-18 said they used voice search on a daily basis. Why is this relevant? It means the likelihood of voice search disappearing in the near future is slim to none. On the contrary, as the younger generation ages and come into its own, voice search will only continue to grow and evolve. Nonetheless, adults too are growing more comfortable with voice search. For example, adults said they used voice search 23% of the time while cooking and even better, 36% of the time when watching television.

So what does all of this mean for the future of SEO? First and foremost, the nature of voice search alone impacts how SEOs should consider optimizing their websites. Since people are more inclined to use natural speech patterns when talking into their devices, longer-tail queries become increasingly more relevant for the search engines in the future. Matt Cutts addressed this in one of his weekly videos before taking off on his hiatus from Google. As Cutts explains, desktop queries traditionally concentrate on head terms separated by commas, whereas voice recognition search technology allows users to search as they would normally speak. Another aspect that most marketers have already recognized but which needs to be emphasized again is the importance of optimizing your website for all devices. The fact that voice search has doubled since last year speaks volumes. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile or tablets, then odds are those using voice recognition software in their online search endeavors either won’t find your site or if they do will bounce faster than you can say ‘fail’. Lastly, voice search accounts for personalized web results.  Users want customized, relevant results that apply to their location and personal preferences. This re-emphasizes the importance of semantic search as well as optimization for local search.

Do you use voice search? What are your experiences with voice search and speech recognition technology?