Introduction to Impact Of Voice Search On Business
Whether you own a restaurant, a café, a bakery, a gift store, a clothing store, or any other kind of business, staying up to date with the changes in the world is necessary, and especially if those changes waver around technology.
For a business to stay consistent in the modern world, it should embrace all technological changes that attract more customers.
In the present era, when everything is done online, no business would want to be left behind in the domain of online marketing strategies.
The current scenario of online searches clearly shows the growth of voice searches. Not to brag, but a few reports show the statistics that say, around 55 percent of the online searches were made online.
WHAT IS VOICE SEARCH? WHICH BUSINESS DO PEOPLE SEARCH BY USING VOICE?
Voice search is a search made by voice. It is done on devices like smartphones, tablets, or laptops. A small mic button on the search engine allows a user to search for anything, get tasks done, and receive answers using voice. Now, the question arises: do people use voice search for businesses?
Well, the answer is yes. Voice technology has made its firm place in the world of business. Some reports that observe consumer behavior have shown that around 45 percent of consumers use
voice search daily for searching about a local business.
WHAT DO CONSUMERS SEARCH ABOUT THE BUSINESS?
Voice search has become a consumer’s part of life. With everything going online, consumers perform searches before visiting a store. This was the case with typed searches too. However, voice search has increased the statistics of consumers making searches before visiting.
Why is that so? Well, it’s because the voice search is easier and faster. It doesn’t require typing. It is natural as it gives us the freedom to make searches in a conversational tone. With typing, searches require to be more specific with keywords, voice searches save us there.
Now, according to some reports, the statistics show that around 51 percent of voice searches are for local restaurants and cafes. After all, food is the first priority. Isn’t it? Other than that, the rest of the voice searches are made for grocery stores, hotels, clothing stores, etc.
The question arises: what is searched about these businesses?
1-Open hours
One thing that consumers search about a local business is its open hours. Imagine, driving to a restaurant, café with the expectation of savouring your favourite dish and then finding the store closed. The
the reason is good enough, why people use their voice to search if it’s open or not when they want to visit.
2-Location
Consumers, while driving to a store, often make voice searches for reaching the place. While driving, voice search makes it easier to locate a spot without having to check the screen again and again.
This makes it necessary for a business to get their locations on the maps. So, the voice assisting them can bring them to the store.
3-Website
Consumers make voice searches to reach the website where they can find reviews or place orders. Having a website is a must, as that’s the place where the voice search will guide customers when they want to see reviews, or make purchases.
Having the voice search option on your website is a plus point. That way, a user gets his tasks done quickly.
VOICE SEARCH VS TYPED SEARCH FOR A BUSINESS
As you know, businesses must get themselves listed online and must have a website with reviews, photos, location, contact numbers, etc. for information to appear when the consumer searches for them.
However, the way searches load on a screen is different for both typed and voice searches. As typed searches require specific and targeted keywords, the businesses follow those keyword trends for the information to appear on the web pages.
The most used keywords in typed searches are:
Best- it can be ‘best restaurants in my town’, ‘best bakeries’, and so on.
After all, all customers want the best.
Near me- while making typed searches for local business, the keyword used is quite often ‘near me.’
For example, ‘sweet stores near me’, ‘furniture stores near me’, etc.
Well, there are a lot more keywords used to make searches. Voice search in this realm is quite different from the typed search.
It allows consumers to search for information in a conversational format. Just like, we would ask the store owner, “what are the opening and closing hours of your store?”
In the same way, we can do a voice search. So, other than getting listed online and website optimized according to targeted keywords, a business must also strategize to appear in the voice search results too.
One way to do that is to observe the trend of the customer’s way of asking questions. As it’s evident, while making voice searches, customers tend to ask questions.
Local businesses must connect with their customers to know about their demands.
For that, businesses should make use of online platforms like the Bolkar app, which is an audio-based platform used by thousands of people.
Bolkar app allows its users to ask questions and give answers in their local language.
It’s a great platform to connect with customers of their town and know more about what they need, what are their preferences etc.
Bolkar app is used by a lot of people as it is multilingual. This can be a great platform for local businesses as they can interact with users in their language
Technology is for everyone’s benefit.
Why shouldn’t businesses use it for their benefit?
Makes sense, right?
Other than that, to boost your business, a question-answer page must be there on your website. It should have quite a lot of basic questions that a customer may ask.
The frequently asked question page must be strategized in a way that makes it appear in voice search results when the customers ask a question.
For example, ‘do xyz bakers provide home delivery?’
The content should be organized keeping in mind, the most common questions asked by targeted customers, and how to make your website appear in the voice search results.
By doing so, not just they bring traffic to the website but also bring more customer traffic to the store is real.
As per the growing statistics of voice search, it is here to rule the world of businesses. So, wouldn’t it be better to adopt voice search strategies and use it to your advantage of having more customers?
Technology will keep on changing. Who knows someday, something else will take over the voice search? Till the time it is trending, it should be used for the advantages it has to offer.
