Voice Search is the new buzz term in SEO town! This trend lets users interact with search engines through virtual assistants and find answers to their questions and needs.
A recent study by SEMrush shows that two out of five users today use voice search and it is estimated that soon half of all searches will also be shifted from the keyboard to the microphone.
The study was conducted to ensure that the marketers are keeping fully abreast of how voice search will impact the performance of their campaigns.
Below are the key findings from the study:
- The study indicates that 80% of the result are received from the top 3 web search positions.
- In addition to ranking in the top 3 positions, content is also likely to be returned for a voice query if it’s contained in a SERP feature.
- In over half of the answers, backlink anchors and keywords within a title matching the voice search query are present.
- Well-linked pages (internally and externally) are favored.
- Some voice search results were faster than the average of non-answers.
- Text length of the answers returned was nearly the same for every device.
- The study also showed that the average word count of an answer from voice search was 41.4, with similar word counts reported across all three devices.
- Page Score and Trust Score were slightly higher for answers’ URLs regardless of the device.
- Over a third of the answers do not use schema.
- HTTPS and URL depth seem to be irrelevant for Google Assistant’s selection.
The research concluded that the answers Google Assistant returns from a voice search queries are page speed, ranking in the top three results and, in particular, occupying a Featured Snippet position.
