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“Alexa, tell me what trends will content marketing take over this year.” “Hey Siri, what should we focus on in our content marketing efforts this year?” “Google, tell me how content marketing Landscape looks like. “

Many of us have asked Alexa, Siri, Google, or some other voice assistant device to tell us the weather or give us any information we need in an emergency, such as where to go. B. How many cups go in a gallon. In fact, a study by eMarketer predicts that 122.7 million people will use a voice assistant in 2021. Why is that? As the pandemic has shifted to everything digital, consumers have changed the way they do things, even the way they search the internet. From processes to collaboration to marketing and more, digital technologies affect virtually everything we do. And with the increasing popularity and use of voice search, its influence on search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing is growing rapidly.

Voice search is the number one choice for many when asking a question or looking for a quick update on something. In most cases the voice assistant will respond with a short answer, but other times may lead the inquirer into a deeper research phase. These changes in the way people search, and the developments in the underlying technologies themselves, are affecting SEO and content marketing strategies. In short, voice search is important to content marketers.

Reinforcing voice search techniques in your content can start with these three strategies:

1. Create conversation content. When people speak to their voice assistants, they are most likely using a different language than when they are on their phone or computer and entering their request. When people speak, they use common words that many know and understand. Consider making your content more chatty by using full, complete sentences and familiar words that relate to the subject or the subject of your content. The natural repetition of keywords within content can also help improve ranking.
2. Focus on keywords and language. This is where you can focus on the spoken keywords someone might be looking for. Consider the popular keywords someone would search to find the topic or service you are offering. While this is something you should already be doing for your SEO strategy, consider making changes to spoken words. Most likely, the keywords will be longtail and specific rather than fragments. For example, a person might type in “definition of content marketing” while someone using a voice assistant might ask, “what is the definition of content marketing and can you give me an example of it?”.
3. Consider using FAQs. Voice assistants are designed to answer questions and that is exactly what they are used for. Think about the popular questions people in your industry ask. For example “What strategies are there to create an eBook?”. Once you understand this, you can start creating blogs, articles, or other applicable content that will focus on these key questions. Do you need help determining the questions people are asking? Enter a relevant search term into Google and scroll down to the “People Also Ask” section. Or use a tool like Answer the Public to generate a wide range of related questions that people ask.

The advent and rise of people around the world using voice search and voice assistants require marketers to revise their content to reflect these changes. With voice assistant usage predicted to increase, content marketers must start making changes now to reap the rewards in the future. Focus on the language and the feel of the conversation by making sure your content matches a conversation tone. Re-evaluate keywords and add them to those currently being optimized to improve your ranking. Remember that topic-specific long-tail keywords are essential. After all, people like to ask questions, especially with their voice assistant. Create content that includes and answers these questions. The use of voice search and voice assistants has not yet fully caught on, but as the trend continues to be felt it is important to keep it in mind when creating content and running content marketing initiatives.