Harnessing the Power of Voice search:
By: Sharv G
Tags: Search, Voice Assistant, Application, Answers, Voice Search

It is the use of speech recognition to allow a user to search terms through voice command. It was designed to be a software application initially but has now become a tool used in smartphones and web-based applications. Voice recognition was developed several years ago and is currently available on PCs and mobile devices but many people do not use it because of the notion that machines do not have the capability of understanding something as fluid as language.

When we speak, we generate packets of sound known as ‘phones’. For example, when you say the word house, your mind responds to the h,o,u,s,e phones and paints a picture of a house in your head. This is our speech recognition mechanism which is employed in modern-day devices to recognize words and commands.

Why is it important?

Google has stated that voice search or speech recognition is the most growing kind of search in the world at the moment and has massive investments in it. We are in many ways reliant on voice search and now, many website makers have shifted their focus on it. Siri, Cortana, Alexa, Google Now are the most used mediums of voice searches today and have investments of millions of dollars to develop these digital assistants. The amount of time, money, and research which is being put into this field is because of its importance in today’s world.

Voice search improves day after day as more people use it and improve the algorithm and today, companies have reduced the error rate to a level where it has become easier and friendlier to use.

How it affects search results:

With the use of voice search, website makers can easily provide the answers that users need and increase traffic on their websites. This is very effective as people who want results get it faster and the people who want to provide results are getting more opportunities to do that. Today, if someone wants to increase traffic on their webpage, it is highly recommended that they include voice search as it improves user experience and also the website ranking on the search engine result page. Google’s priority has shifted from providing the most relevant results to providing a good user experience.

With the use of voice search, searchers get their results faster and due to the constant development of this technology, becomes better and better with every search. Users can also prevent any chance of spelling mistakes and typing errors which will effectively reduce the negative bounce rate of the website. The more you use voice search, the answers will increase in relevance to the previous searches.

If one wants to harness voice search, they must do it early as their competition is most likely using it to their aid as well. With the advent of smartphones and the general increase in the use of the internet, conversational voice searches are likely the future of online searches.

How to use voice search effectively?

Focus on the w and h: If you want your results to improve, you have to use FAQs and questions which answer the why, what, who and how of the query.

Long keywords: Gone are the days when people search on the internet with short keywords for relevant content. With voice search, people will not search with one-word queries with their voice. Instead, they will ask direct questions and will expect the same kind of answers. If you use these long keywords, then you will increase your chances of hitting more users and generating more traffic.

Go local: When using voice search, users will not speak as formally as they type into search bars. It is important to keep the queries in colloquial language and watch your traffic go up.

Applications of voice search:

It can be something very simple but time-saving like opening an application, selecting an option, hands-free voice dialing, content searching, etc.

A more commercialized application of voice search is in smart speakers. In 2017, the market for Google Home and Amazon Alexa grew exponentially as home automation and smart appliances have also made their way into the market. The benefit of voice search is in using it for controlling your home appliances and the lighting and air conditioning systems and Google and Amazon harnessed those features into their products.

Smartphone-based applications based on voice search:

Google Allo:

It is made as a messaging app but uses voice capabilities to function as a virtual assistant. It uses features like smart replies and including the google assistant in a conversation for help and to find locations nearby and to set up reminders and alarms.

UX apps:

Available in the google app store, this application has incredible capabilities to choose the right options from voice recognition. It has features like speaking the name of the contact and getting the result. It has a very polished user experience and supports voice input in various languages. It has integration with search engines like google, making it reliable and credible.

Prometheus Interactive:

The unique quality of this app is the accurate and close to organic voice recognition that the experience gives you. It also has a ranking system of the user’s favorite apps and keeps a history of recent searches to provide relevant results.

Conclusion:

Needless to say, speech recognition is the hottest feature in the market today and there is a lot of room for improvement. The latest improvement being adopting Deep Neural Networks or DNNs. The purpose of this is to assess the sound of the user at every given time and use it to improve the performance of the voice search and even hear the user in a loud or noisy environment. There are still many more applications in the world running speech recognition technology. If you want to improve the SEO for your website, you should consider voice search, as it will boost your ranking on SERPs.