Many of us use search engines to find answers to questions, shop, find reviews, or do research.
Search engines like Google try to match results that best answer your question or query. The goal for content creators is to get you to click on their website, video, or other content on the search results page.
A report by SparkToro and Similar Web found that many are not clicking through to other web pages after searching on Google.
According to the report, last year 64.82% of searches on Google (desktop and mobile combined) ended without someone clicking to another page. The number is likely higher due to “undercounting some mobile and nearly all voice searches…thus it’s probable that more than two-thirds are ‘zero-click searches.'”
The way we are searching is changing
We have more options than ever to search and learn information online. If we want we can grab our mobile device, ask our smart speaker a question, or log on to our computer and search in a more traditional way.
Barring the accuracy of the information, we do not even have to use a search engine and can search on social media, Wikipedia, or any other similar website.
Regardless of the way we search, the how is a predictor of where things are going in terms of search.
According to eMarketer, in 2019, nearly one-third of the United States population is using voice search features. This is only expected to increase as more and more people use voice features and smart speakers.
When using voice searches, many of us are not looking at a screen or device to get information. If you are conducting a voice search on your smart speaker, the expectation is that you will get the answer in audio form and not have to go and look at a screen. This will ultimately result in fewer people visiting websites.
Maximize your site for voice search
All is not lost in terms of getting exposure in search results. First, we need to establish a new set of goals and expectations. For example, if someone is looking for the hours of a store, asks their smart speaker or smartphone, and gets the answer that should be viewed as a success even if they never visited the store’s website.
The goal of any content creator should be reducing the number of clicks or friction someone has to get the information they need. It should not take someone having to search for the answer on Google, click your website and scroll down to the bottom of a page, or have to click to another page to get the answer to a question. People want their questions answered quickly and accurately.
With the shift toward more mobile and voice-based search continuing to rise, we must tailor our content to be more conversational. This is a good thing and your content should be audited to make it more conversational, have less jargon, and use simple sentences.
A good trick is to listen to how broadcast newscasts are structured. Most news stories are written for a fifth-grade reading level because it is easier to understand when listening. Sentences are often basic, short, and fragmented because that is how we speak. Complex sentences increase cognitive load, taking longer for you to understand, and potentially lose focus and comprehension of the entire story.
This article would be hard for someone listening to it to understand because of the complexity of the information and longer sentences.
Focusing on optimizing your content for voice-based searches is a win-win for your content.
Focus on niche-based content in your industry
Some industries are extremely saturated and will become challenging to stand out on Google.
As with any content marketing strategy, find out where you can shine in your industry and create more specific and niche-based content.
Using the store hours example from above, that is a very specific question someone is seeking. The answer should also be very specific and easy for Google or other search engines to locate as most voice-based search results are pulling information from these sources.
Find opportunities on your website to provide easy-to-find answers to the most common questions surrounding your business. Combine that with common questions you think your target audience will ask about your business to create opportunities to be featured in voice-based search results.
Joe Gullo