How to Write Content For Voice Search

Digital content management has had to adapt to many technological advances in recent years, and voice-driven capabilities are looking to be the driver of the next big revolution.  The quality and accuracy of voice technology has increased by leaps and bounds in the last several years, enough so that developers are starting to explore the possibilities of what new and exciting functionality it can provide.

Studies have estimated that as many as 67 million voice-assisted devices will be in circulation in the United States as of 2019, and as such, development needs to adjust to reflect the wide availability of the technology.  To that end, let's look at some of the best ways to get your content to take advantage of the advances in voice search technology, and maintain your place at the head of the class.

Create content that returns voice responses.

Technologies like Alexa and Siri have caught on for a reason: it's far more convenient to ask a question verbally and get a verbal answer than it is to type your query and sit there reading the response.  Busy lives need every convenience they can get, and the less time you make your customer sit in front of a screen, the better.

Design with an eye on mobile search.

Remember that we're living in a mobile world and design your voice search content with the mindset that there's a fair chance your customer won't be at home when they use it.  Focus on keywords that relate to activities and other points of interest people will have while they are out and about.

Don't design with a marketing mindset.

As tempting as it is to design your voice-centric content to drive sales, making that the primary focus of your design is an excellent way to lose people.  Nobody speaks into their devices looking for marketing content, so try and design around words that provide them the value that will make them search out ways to spend more money instead of shoveling it down their throat.

Don't overdo it with buzzwords.

Buzzwords come in a variety of forms: the hip words the kids are using, terms that sound great in marketing copy, technical terms the smart folks use, and so on.  The one thing they all have in common is that most people aren't going to use them in actual voice searches, so try and keep the focus on more natural language that is trying to outthink yourself.

Remember that people talk differently than they write.

Traditional search technology has long been based on typed strings of words that, more often than not, don't resemble how people actually speak.  Nobody walks into a store and says "Samsung Galaxy Tab 32GB cheap deals" to the guy behind the counter, so remember that they will be speaking a human language when doing voice searches.

Conclusion

While it's tempting to try and apply the same laws to voice search as you would to traditional text searches, remember the tips above and use them to design what your customers do need as part of a content marketing plan while avoiding the mistakes that will make them reject your flavor of voice search.

This is a collaborative post. All views and text are mine.