We’re living in an interesting era. People talk to inanimate objects and they even get a response.
Yes, you guessed it right! We’re talking about the digital assistants that we carry in our pockets every day. These digital assistants work based on Voice Search queries made by users through voice commands.
Speaking of which, Voice Search is one of the most interesting inventions of our time and is growing at an exponential rate. It is basically a speech recognition software that lets users search anything on the internet with a voice command.
As of today, there are many speech recognition software available in the form of digital assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Microsoft’s Cortana.
But, the important question is, has the Voice Search trend really gone so far that eCommerce businesses should take this new search methodology into account?
Well, let’s look at some statistics related to Voice Search to find out:
- According to ComScore Study, 50% of all internet searches will be done through Voice Search by the end of 2020.
- 27% of worldwide smartphone users already use Voice Search.
- The mobile share of eCommerce traffic has already reached 65-70%.
- A Study by OC&C Strategy Consultants forecasted that 55% of all U.S. households will own a smart speaker by 2022.
- The same study also revealed that Voice Shopping will reach $40 billion by the year 2022.
These studies and reports clearly indicate that the Voice Search trend is going nowhere.
Therefore, it’s best to get your eCommerce store ready for Voice Search as soon as possible to get a competitive edge.
But, if you’re still having second thoughts, let’s see how Voice Search directly influences the online shopping process and thus, the eCommerce industry.
How Does Voice Search Directly Influence Online Shopping Process?
Voice Search, as we mentioned earlier, is growing exponentially. Today, 36 percent of people who own a Google Home, Alexa, or some other smart speaker use it for online shopping.
In fact, a recent report also forecasts that this number will reach 55 percent in the following 2 years.
Now, the question is, why Voice Search is so popular?
Short answer:Time & Convenience.
You see, the average typing speed globally is just 30 words per minute. But voice search can process around 100 words per minute, helping people save a lot of time and typing efforts.
Apart from this, the emerging eCommerce technologies like Magento 2, for example, also makes it possible to complete the entire shopping journey using voice search, from the landing page to checkout, without having to navigate manually.
In fact, customers can easily control every step of the shopping process including specific product searching, comparison between brands, fill out shipping details, place the order, etc. on Magento 2 based eCommerce stores. Below, we’ve shared the top 3 benefits of Voice Search for online stores.
Benefits of Adding Voice Search to Your Magento 2 Based eCommerce Store
So, where all the voice search queries come from? According to ComScore Study, more than 50% of worldwide smartphone users will use voice search on their device by the end of 2020.
The same study also further revealed that the majority of people use voice search for its speed, convenience, and accessibility benefits.
1 - Speed
Like we said earlier, Voice Search is much faster than manual typing and it allows everyone to enter information or give a command to search on the internet. This saves a lot of time compared to manual typing, which is why the majority of people have now regularly started using Voice Search.
2 - Convenience
While manual search requires people to stop what they’re doing at the moment and type their search query, voice search allows people to perform searches on-the-go.
Apart from this, the smart speakers are also equipped with Artificial Intelligence, meaning they automatically analyze users’ previous shopping experiences and provide voice search results according to their preferences.
For example, suppose you have a Magento 2 based eCommerce store that sells nutrition products.
The artificial intelligence in smart speakers will learn over time that your users will need certain nutrition products every month.
So, your Magento 2 store will automatically remind them at the end of every month to add the products in their shopping cart.
3 - Accessibility
Accessibility is by far the most useful benefit of Voice Search.
For example, Voice Search is incredibly helpful for some categories of users such as people having physical disabilities or cognitive impairment.
It’s technically impossible for people with such disabilities to manually type a search request on the internet.
But, thanks to Voice Search, these people are able to make unlimited search requests through voice commands and shop online.
How to Get Your Magento 2 Store Ready for Voice Search?
Now that you’ve seen all the benefits of Voice Search, it’s time to get your eCommerce store ready for Voice Search as fast as possible. Below, we’ve shared 5 different ways you can start optimizing your eCommerce store for Voice Search.
1 - Mobile Optimization
The world has already moved to mobile a while back, including the online shopping industry. For instance, the worldwide share of mobile eCommerce salesis forecasted to reach 70 of the total sales by the end of 2020.
Google also revealed that 27% of people worldwide are using Voice Search on their smartphones.
Google, in fact, also now uses mobile-first indexing, meaning optimizing for Mobile is a must for all sorts of websites, including the eCommerce stores.
So, if you haven’t yet developed a mobile version of your online store, do it.
2 - Improve Page Loading Speed
After mobile optimization, you also need to optimize the loading speed of your eCommerce store.According to a report, over 50% of shoppers leave an online store if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. And when it comes to Voice Search, customers expect even faster results.
In fact, page loading speed is also a Google ranking factor, meaning if you want to rank higher in Google, you need to make sure your online store loads within 3 seconds.
To check the current loading speed, just open Google PageSpeed Insight, enter your eCommerce store URL, and wait for results. Once the tool returns the results, analyze each issue and do the recommended to improve your page loading speed.
Generally, Google often advises to resize images, minify CSS and JS files, and so on.
3 - Shoot for Rank 0 on Google
Google has recently started offering a new position on its SERPs called featured snippets. The featured snippet block was created to help searchers read the answer to their search queries without clicking the website link.
Being on featured snippets means Google rates your product or content best and it will be read out to all voice searchers.
Here are some useful tips you can use to get to the featured snippet block.
- Write a short and relevant answer.
- Include the main target keyword in your answer.
- Find and target all info keywords that have featured snippet block.
4 - Target Long-Tail Keywords
Ever since Google introduced its new Hummingbird algorithm, the context and long-tail keywords became more important for ranking on the first pages of SERPs.
The hummingbird algorithm basically aims to make online interactions feel more human by emphasizing the natural language.
That means, following strict keywords usage rules no longer work. To rank higher in Google, eCommerce stores need to think about visitors’ needs. And when it comes to Voice Search, they’re often always long search queries and include basic question words such as Where, What, Why, and How<
The point is, you need to forget all standard keyword rules and start identifying the right long-tail keywords that the majority of voice searchers use.
5 - Structure Your Store According to Behavior of Voice Searchers
After keywords, you also need to think about the behavior of voice searchers to create the right sales funnels in your eCommerce store.
Simply put, plan all the steps, from landing page to checkout, in accordance with voice searchers’ behavior and structure your eCommerce store accordingly. In order to do this, first, you need to identify the difference between text-based searches and voice-based searches.
Secondly, you also need to analyze how exactly customers come to your product page and what other actions do they take before purchasing a product.
Also, if customers are leaving without placing the order, you need to identify the “why” and come up with the best way to convert them.
Also read: Tips to Optimize Your Magento 2 Store for Voice Search
Wrapping Up…
The voice search has already become a necessity rather than just a luxury for the eCommerce industry.
In fact, this shift will continue to grow among consumer behavior in the coming years, especially since big technology players are constantly investing in improving the Voice Search technology devices.
So, the only question is, are you ready to optimize your eCommerce store for Voice Search and outrank competition? Feel Free to Reach us to implement Voice search on your Magento 2 store!