Why Do People Love Voice Search?
The human population is moving toward an astounding 8 billion people and should get there in just two years. By that time, the number of voice search assistants, which is currently over 4.2 billion, is projected to hit the same mark. Not everyone will have access to one, of course, but this is the product of many people having numerous devices — phones, tablets, laptops, Alexa-enabled devices, Google Home devices, etc. But nothing shows the sheer popularity of voice search options like this incredibly fast rise to equal the global population. Clearly, this is technology that is here to stay. Why is it so popular?
Convenience
At the end of the day, the answer for most people is pretty simple: Voice search is convenient. It makes it possible to search quickly when doing so on a traditional device, with a keyboard, doesn’t seem simple or realistic.
For instance, say you’re a young parent. You’re overwhelmed one day with trying to clean everything up, take care of the kids and keep the house in order. You decide that you want to order some food for dinner to keep things simple. But you need to order immediately, and you’re in the middle of washing yet another sink full of dirty dishes.
Sure, you could stop doing the dishes, wash your hands, dry them off, find your phone, type in the name of the restaurant, click their link, download their app, place your order and then go back to the dishes. But isn’t it so much easier to just talk to a voice assistant on a device that’s already in the kitchen with you? In mere seconds, without stopping what you’re doing, you can order the food you want and trust that it’s on the way to your door.
Speed
A similar reason that is worth considering is speed. Typing on a small smartphone screen is easier than the old T9 texting programs (remember those?), but it’s still slower than a computer and prone to inaccuracy. When you speak, you can enter a more complex search without having to type at all, in a fraction of the time. This is why voice searches are often sentences, phrases or questions. If you were typing that in, you may choose just the most relevant keyword to save yourself some time. With a voice search, it’s actually faster and more accurate to say your entire thought, rather than one word.
Children
Families often have voice search assistants and home automation systems not just because they’re helpful for adults, but because they offer a new type of functionality for children. A 3-year-old may not know how to spell or have a phone to type on, but they can ask an automated device to play a song, tell them the time, turn off the television, look up a movie, tell them a joke or answer a question. There are potential downsides — such as the children suddenly having the power to turn on the TV and watch a show whenever they want, regardless of their parents’ instructions — but the ease of use for young kids is a game-changer on the whole. Again, voice search offers a new level of convenience.
Search Has Changed
It’s clear that the way people run searches on the internet has fundamentally changed. In the same way that the smartphone essentially changed the game by allowing people to have a computer with them at all times, voice assistants are making it so they can simply interact by talking to those computers, rather than touching them and entering a more traditional form of input. This can change how you want to design your site, how you approach SEO, what type of traffic you get and much more. Working with the experts here at Content Customs can ensure that you’re ready for these changes and able to meet your visitors’ needs.