Voice search is starting to become an important element in digital marketing, with enough users to show that it's past the early adopter phase.

According to Alphametic, one in every six people in America now owns a smart speaker. 40% of adults use voice search at least once in a day, with 20% of all mobile queries happening through voice search.

In 2017, voice commerce was worth $1.8 billion in US retail sales. As Amazon has its own line of smart speakers, and because it holds most of the eCommerce market share, you can understand how huge this is growing to be.

Lastly, it's also estimated that 50% of the searches made by 2020 will be through voice.

These statistics suggest that voice search will become relevant in the future. So, how can your eCommerce store take advantage of this?

In this post, we will talk about the basics of voice search, who it will be useful for, and tips to optimize your business website so you can rank on top for voice queries.

What is voice search?

Simply put, voice search is searching the internet for answers by speaking to a smart speaker or mobile device, rather than typing in your queries into a search engine.

Popular examples of smart speakers include Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Amazon Echo. Through these digital assistants, you can easily make purchases with specific voice commands.

While the majority of voice searches are currently done on through smart assistants or mobile phones, there's even greater potential / reach as you can also access voice search via desktop.

For example, if you want to use Google voice search on desktop, all you need to do is click on the symbol of the microphone on the Google page in Chrome or any browser that you are using.

How can eCommerce stores prepare for voice search?

There are a few things you can do SEO-wise and on your website to increase your chances of getting discovered via voice search.

SEO improvements

One of your goals should be to start ranking for long-tail keywords. For those who are new to SEO, long-tail keywords are not single words but small phrases in easy English that can be an answer to the voice search query. These long-tails can be found in website content such as a blog.

It also helps to think about your audience and what queries or questions they would ask. As voice search tends to have more complete sentences and questions , thinking about the language your audience speaks can also help you dominate voice search.

While it's good to be number 1, it's actually better to be in Google's "zero position", or rich snippets. Being in the zero position is very important for voice search because it is the first answer the smart speaker will read aloud.

These snippets are actually structured data markups added to the existing HTML code of your website so that Google will understand better the content of your website. This improves your position in search results, especially voice search.

Website improvements

  • Structure your website content in a way that would make the user experience with your website fast and easy. Google will also be adding voice search metrics to its analytics, which can give you additional insights to how you can improve.
  • If you haven't already, create an FAQ section on your website. The information provided here can be in a more conversational tone, possibly helping you rank higher in voice search.

Conclusion

With smart speakers being increasingly accepted in American households, ranking high in voice search will become a priority for many businesses.

Although voice search and its impact on eCommerce is rather new and in its initial stages, the numbers show it's well on its way to holding its ground and progressing. More and more people are following the trend of voice search to not just to get information, but for finding products and making purchases.

By preparing your eCommerce store for voice search now, you can get ahead of your competition before it gets too competitive.