When voice search began to rear its head in the technology world, marketing experts estimated that it would account for more than half of all internet searches by 2020. Though this never came to fruition, Alibaba still shipped over 3 million Tmall Genie Speakers (their own voice assistant device) in 2018, maintaining their 50% share in the Chinese voice assistant market.

With that in mind, there is still an opportunity available for e-commerce brands to seize. About 52% of homes in the UK have a voice assistant device. Voice assistants help consumers save time, remove the need to fiddle with a screen, and provide convenience — after all, it’s easier to just shout a few words and get what you want.

So, aside from using voice commands to get access to music, podcasts or recipes, how can e-commerce retailers use developing voice search technology? This article will look at how virtual assistants benefit online sellers and how e-tailers can gain a competitive advantage using voice search.

What is voice search and why is it important for e-commerce businesses?

Voice search allows users a ‘hands-free’ quality that is not only convenient but faster for them to find the services or products they are looking for. The ‘screenless’ aspect means that searches can be carried out while doing other things, and the algorithms behind the technology attempt to understand the intent as well as the query so that the user’s needs can be met.

Due to the convenience, voice search is very much an ‘in the moment’ type of search. Imagine a person smashes a vase in their kitchen. While they are cleaning up broken glass, they are able to call someone, put a timer on, and maybe even purchase a new vase (so no one notices it was ever gone!) while they have their hands full.

The opportunity for e-commerce, therefore, lies in those ‘pain point’ moments. A ‘need’ (an ad-hoc or impromptu purchase) can be fulfilled immediately by the voice assistant, which matches the voice query with the most accurate result (such as a product listing).

What makes voice searches different from manual searches?

Natural language

When typing a query into a search engine, many users may still use three or four keywords to find what they are looking for. A voice search is more likely to be conversational and use natural language, as a person would in real life.

For example, instead of typing ‘Best Jeep deals’ to find a car dealership, they might ask a voice assistant ‘Where are the best deals for Jeeps near London?’.

Google’s own activity backs this up because both the Hummingbird and BERT algorithm updates were all about using natural language and understanding search context.

Questions

When using natural language to search a query, it’s more likely to be structured as a question — as in the above example — instead of a few choice keywords. So, most voice searches will begin with:

• Who
• What
• When
• Why
• Where
• How

Long-tail keywords

When planning an SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy, you may have come across long-tail keywords. These are longer phrases that searchers use, and they usually have more purchase intent than a shorter more generic keyword.

For example, ‘small tent’ would bring up a variety of tent options for the searcher, but not to a desired specification. A long-tail keyword in this realm would be more like ‘best one-person tent for hiking’. The long-tail searcher is further down the sales funnel, so they’re closer to purchasing, as indicated by the specificity of the search.

Voice searches are more likely to be detailed in this way, showing intent to purchase. Writing voice search-optimised content gives you an opportunity to showcase specific products for specific audiences.

How can you optimise for e-commerce voice search?

The technology for voice search already exists but as the algorithms and available data develop, e-commerce businesses will need to ensure they take steps to optimise their website and product listings so they are not left behind by competitors.

Here are a few ways you can begin to adapt your content for voice searches.

1. Aim for Google position 0

Your SEO strategy has to be top-notch to be high ranking and therefore available for a voice assistant to use as the answer to a query.

First of all, a website must have fantastic page speed in order to be high ranking — and it must also be mobile compatible. The voice assistant can’t access a business's content to use as an answer if its web pages or listings load slowly or don’t work on a mobile device.

Position 0 refers to the featured snippets that appear on Google search results, above the other available website information. So, to secure that featured snippet and become the answer to a search query, a business should use digital content — structured in the right way — to provide direct answers to questions.

The Google Assistant and Siri are some of the biggest players in the voice search game — but don’t forget that Cortana (Microsoft) and Alexa (Amazon) both use Bing for their answers. Businesses should also research how to create content for Baidu (China’s biggest search engine) and Taobao, the Chinese e-commerce marketplace with its own voice assistant technology to simplify shopping.

2. Use a semantic strategy to find keywords

Semantic SEO is based more around content topics than short keywords, but as we’ve established, building product pages that answer long-tail queries may be a more lucrative approach for e-commerce businesses.

For maximum impact, identify long-tail phrases (including those all-important ‘question’ structures mentioned above) that match up with available products. Then, optimise product listings for these phrases, using bullet points that are more conversational — yet concise — to capture any potential searchers.

3. Use natural language

It should be clear by now that using natural language is key to being successful with voice search. When it comes to e-commerce site pages and product listings, it’s important to use colloquial words and phrases because consumers may vocalise the same query in different ways.

For example, when searching for shoes, many UK searches will use the phrase ‘trainers’, but Australian consumers might say ‘runners’ instead. When selling nationally or internationally, businesses will need to take this type of regional lingo into consideration.

If you’re interested in learning more about the solutions offered by WorldFirst, our team of relationship managers are on hand to provide you with the information you need.