Page 26 - AeM_March_2019

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Planning

for the right

voice search strategy

The spread of language assistants, such as Google 3. Decision: what fits better to the brand image -
Assistant or Amazon Alexa, heralds a new evolutionary featured snippets read aloud or a dialogue via
stage for user interfaces. In fact, now it is expected now, chatbot? Featured snippets can reproduce simple
according to forecasts by market research firm question-answer scenarios and are especially
ComScore, which also finds that at the latest by 2020 suitable for W-questions, FAQs or HowTos. They
around 50% of search queries will be voice-based. are easy to integrate into a website and can be
read by Google. Chatbots, on the other hand, can
Of course. running a search query via speech and perform detailed dialogues and provide a
getting the result read out loud does not make sense in multimodal interlocking to text or display.
every context. Despite all enthusiasm for new
technologies, one should always keep an eye on 4. Intensity: how deep should the user enter the
usability, since it is a fundamental requirement for a dialogue? To what extent does the classic website
broad acceptance of the technology by the users. user experience reach its limits?

Certainly, voice is unbeatable when it comes to speed, 5. Language: how should the user be addressed
not to mention ease without the need of long typing and and with what tonality? Language offers a lot of
being able to do other activities parallel, in obtaining room for sympathy but also for
information or starting an interaction. Voice search misunderstandings.
makes sense wherever short keywords are too imprecise
for a good search result or long tail optimization is a
bottomless pit. Voice alone is not the future of search, but a user-
centered mix of traditional text search, voice and
But what to do in a noisy environment, e.g. in public visual. Depending on the complexity of the search
transport, or when it comes to predominantly visual query, the context and the application scenario, the
searches, like in the field of fashion? A sole voice search user receives the appropriate search mode -
is of little meaning there; hence, the advantages of sometimes in pure form and sometimes as a
traditional search modes are not replaced by voice. With combined version. In the future, voice search must be
that in mind, voice search may not be an all- understood as part of the online user experience and
encompassing game changer, but it will push several be included in the SEO strategy. Only then can useful
technological trends soon. applications be staged for the whole range of search,
which really raise the interaction between user and
Reason enough to start thinking today about strategies, interface to a new level. ◊
which role language assistants will play in the very own
business environment. The following aspects could be By MediaBUZZ
considered:
1. Customer benefit: where does the user benefit
from voice search?

2. Scenarios: in what environment does the user
search for the brand or product? What added value
can a combination of different search modes offer?

26 March 2019 - Visual Search, Voice Search, Smart Speakers & SEO