Mark Wheat from Zazzle Media, spoke on Voice Search at KBBDigicon this September. Check out why snippets are absolute gold as far as voice is concerned, and we'll talk you through nailing a strategy to make sure Siri and Alexa can find your business!

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#KBBDIGICON

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About me…
o Strategy and Innovation
Manager.
o Managing accounts since
2008.
o Made the move to agency in
2016 and haven’t looked
back!
o Now, I spot opportunities to
take client performance to
new levels.

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Where I work
o 9 years young!
o 50+ employees
o Content Marketing
o Part of IPG

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Some of our clients
include…
#KBBDIGICON

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I’m glad you asked!
This talk is about voice search; it’s
growth and how to potentially benefit
from it’s use…
What’s this
about?

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They say the only thing
constant in life is
change…
#KBBDIGICON

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We're only 2 years away
from it being all about...
VOICE!
#KBBDIGICON

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The big players are already piling in…
#KBBDIGICON

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As are the users.
20% of all searches are already voice.
50%of all search queries
will be voice by
2020.
#KBBDIGICON

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What is causing this increase?
 Technological advancements
 Improved accuracy
 Integration
 Ease of use
 Speed of use
Voice: 150 wpm
Typing: 40 wpm
#KBBDIGICON

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Voice search and SEO:
What is it changing?
#KBBDIGICON

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 Searches naturally become longer
and more conversational
 Google states that 70% of searches
on Google Assistant use 'natural
language'
 Voice search keywords are
significantly longer than text-based
searches
The way people
search…
#KBBDIGICON

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Where people search…
Google states '_____ near me'searches have grown
by 150%inthe lasttwo years.
One survey found people aresignificantly more likely
touse voice searchina public place compared to
last year.
#KBBDIGICON

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But most significantly, voice
search changes how people
get results...
#KBBDIGICON

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'Voice search is changing
Google from a search
engine to an answer
engine...'
#KBBDIGICON

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Featured snippets become GOLD
#KBBDIGICON

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But, why are featured
snippets
so important?
#KBBDIGICON

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 40.7% of voice search answers come from the
Featured Snippet.
 Google Home and Alexa search results only give
you one answer!
40.7% of
voice search
results
#KBBDIGICON
Featured snippets are a
voice search cheat code

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Our devices are powered by more than just one horse.
ALEXA GOOGLE ASSISTANTCORTANASIRI
#KBBDIGICON
It’s not all Google…

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What do we know about
featured snippets?
#KBBDIGICON

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99.58% of featured
snippets already
rank in the top
ten results
in SERPs
#KBBDIGICON

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With 97% ranking in the top 5.
There is a correlation between ranking position and snippet percentage.
#KBBDIGICON
30.9%
#1
23.5%
#2
15.9%
#3
13.7%
#4
6.1%
#5
0.8%
#6
0.7%
#7
0.5%
#8
0.5%
#9
0.4%
#10

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Content with
a featured
snippet gets a
2x higher CTR
(HubSpot)
Owning
snippets
is important for
more than just
voice...
#KBBDIGICON

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What types of searches are getting
featured snippets?
QUESTIONS
41%
COMPARISONS
22.67%
PREPOSITIONS
17.72%
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What is the relevant
snippet opportunity?
#KBBDIGICON

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6,659*
Keywords returning
Featured Snippets
1.6m*SEARCH VOLUME PER MONTH
for those keywords
Firstly, there are
already a significant
number of snippets
within this market...
#KBBDIGICON

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So, how do you get
heard?
#KBBDIGICON

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Start with
keyword
research
Look for 'natural language' keywords.
In addition to search volume, CPC, and seasonal
trends, keep an eye out for conversational keywords as
these going to be more and more relevant as voice
search grows.
As we move into a voice first
world we need to change the
way we do our keyword
research.
Don’t avoid long tail keywords.
As touched on, as more people search
through voice the average keyword length is
getting longer and longer.
Focus on 'question' keywords.
Attributed to voice search question
keywords are said to be up 61% year-over-
year. So think about operators like 'what',
'how', 'where' and so on.
#KBBDIGICON

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Then produce voice optimised content: voice
focused FAQ pages...
FAQ pages
answer natural
language
questions.
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Why are FAQ pages so important?
 Question keywords are on the
rise.
 Voice search results are 1.7x
more likely to come from an
FAQ page compared to
desktop results
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Answers need to be succinct.
Understanding how word count plays into the equation
By analysing snippets in your
industry we can build a study to
identify the length Q&A content
should be.
From this data, we know content
between 45 and 53 words is the
sweet spot for capturing them.
#KBBDIGICON
45-53 words

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The most common
length of content
in featured
snippets is 40-50
words (SEMrush)
This correlates with
wider analysis...
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Content needs to give
people direct answers to
their questions.
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 The average word count of a Google
first page result is said to be
approximately 1900 words
 The average word count of a voice
results page is even longer at 2312
words
 One page can return snippets for
hundreds of different terms.
But, long form content
ranks better for
voice…
#KBBDIGICON

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Websites must be
optimised for voice
search…
#KBBDIGICON

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Website speed is key…
The loading speed
of a voice search
result is 3.8x
faster than that of
the average
website.
#KBBDIGICON
Voice: 0.54s
Webpage: 2.10s

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27% of mobile
searches on
Google are
made via voice.
So is optimising for mobile.
#KBBDIGICON
Google's mobile
first index has
increased
the significance.
Voice search is
considered a
mobile-driven
phenomenon.

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 Voice searches are 3x
more likely to be
location based than text
searches
 '____ near me' searches
grown by 150% in the
past two years
Not forgetting
location marketing…
#KBBDIGICON

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So, websites need
to be optimised for
local search…
#KBBDIGICON
 Google My Business
 Structured Data
Markup
 Review Strategies
 Directories and
Citations

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To summarise...
#KBBDIGICON

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 Voice search usage is growing rapidly.
 It is changing how we search, where we search, and the search
results we get.
 Claiming featured snippets is key.
 Look at keyword research and create voice centric content like FAQ
pages.
 Ensure websites are optimised in terms of speed, mobile, and for
local search.
#KBBDIGICON

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This presentation will be available on Slideshare at
www.slideshare.net/zazzlemedia
www.zazzlemedia.co.uk

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Thank you and questions.
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#KBBDIGICON