Mobile First Index? Plan for Voice Search
There are indications that Google is preparing to change its search experience by prioritizing Voice First over mobile. The index is still favoring mobile, but there are small indications that it is moving to accommodate Google Assistant, Google Home and Google Voice. Going forward, you should think of search in the voice context.
Evidence of Transition
If the SEO for your website is based on the mobile search experience, you must consider changing your strategy to accommodate Google’s new direction toward voice. The following four points outline evidence of the shift:
- The Research Blog has been renamed the AI Blog. The rebranded page includes a message about AI making daily life easier through the use of Google assistant and helping people around the world connect through Google Translate.
- Recipes are getting closer to Voice First. Google now encourages users to send their recipes to Google Assistant. That indicates a move for the structured data toward voice search. An important distinction is while voice search can be done on mobile, voice itself is bigger than mobile search.
- Voice search is growing. The company recently stated that Google Assistant is compatible with more than 5,000 different devices, which is another indication that voice is now larger than mobile. Any SEO strategy must align itself with this scenario.
- A demonstration by a top engineer. Ray Kurzweil introduced a demo that showed the progress of AI. Although it was limited, the demo proved once again that the search world is quickly moving on to voice.
Google’s Subtle Announcement
The company said that with Google Home becoming more popular, new guidelines are being published to help people with the voice experience in regard to their recipes. It added that users will receive more traffic because of the ability for recipe discovery using the Google Assistant. While nothing is official at this time, it seems the company is moving very fast to support voice search.
Google Assistant and Google Home
In recent years, mobile computing has grown to the point where it is everywhere. Its presence is not much different than air. Google is looking ahead and seeing a future where Google Home will attain the same level of ubiquity that tablets and smartphones currently have. This is a big leap from something users read and type on to something they talk at and listen to. That changes SEO in significant ways.
Here are some takeaways for you to consider:
- Voice, not mobile. Understand that the wind direction has changed, and it is time for you to optimize your site for voice search, Google Assistant and Google Home.
- Keep up with structured data. This helps Google understand what your site is about, and you need to make changes to keep up with the fast shift toward voice search.
- Remove incompatible page structures. Link lists and content inside of tables is compatible with voice search and will not be added to search results for voice.
Welcome to Web 3.0
The time has come to reconsider mobile SEO and search marketing strategies and get them ready for voice. Mobile search is simply a stepping stone to voice search, which is powered by AI and will play a big role in the next generation of the web.
Search engine optimization is very complex and often difficult to get just right. With the world of voice search just opening up, you may need some help making adjustments. The experts at the Internet Marketing Team and Gilbert SEO are standing by to assist you in all of your SEO needs.