How voice search will impact video marketing and your SEO
As voice search becomes more commonplace, your video needs to be easily found.
I had an epiphany last year when we added Google home to the appliances cluttering our kitchen counter.
I never wanted the device in my house. I did not see the purpose of it. Sure, it could play music and podcasts, but so could my phone. It could tell me the weather and give me a rundown of the news headlines, but so could the morning news I watched every day as I sipped my coffee. To me, Google home was just another piece of technology that could listen in on my life and pepper my Facebook newsfeed with ads for things I really didn’t want.
But then – HALLELUAH – I discovered that Google home could broadcast to the mini pods in my boys’ bedrooms. I no longer had to repeatedly shout up the stairs telling them to COME DOWN FOR DINNER. I started using the device to broadcast podcasts through the house while I cleaned, and to give me recipe ideas while I dug around in my pantry for ingredients.
And one day, while I’m working away in my home office, I hear my husband talking to GH (what we affectionately call our Google Home) from the den. “Hey Google, show me a video of how to spatchcock a chicken.” Google complied, turning on our family room smart TV and opening up YouTube. It was the first in a series of cooking, repair and other how-to videos my husband would ask Google to play for him.
Information on the go
Our busy lives are demanding that we find our information fast and immediately, when and where we need it. Talking is far more efficient than typing and Google’s RankBrain is teaching itself how to deliver exactly what we are looking for, regardless of how stunted or stuttered our speech is. If you pay attention to how Google responds to our text searches, you’ll notice just how conversational the predictive text has become. In the search world, short phrases are still what we type, while we are far more generous with our words when we speak. For example: “Lodge camping grill” is what we would type and let Google finish the rest; our spoken request might be “Where can I find the best selection of Lodge cookware near me?” We type keywords, but we speak keyphrases.
Natural language drives voice search and it also makes up your video content
Search engines can’t search visuals, but they can search voice. Has this happened to you: you’ve wondered how to do something, asked Google for help in text or via voice and a video shows up in the search results? That’s keyword results. But when you click on the video and the playhead is forwarded to the point in the video where your question is answered. That’s voice search at work. Video captures conversation, especially when questions are asked and answered.
Get your video ready for the uptick in voice search
There are some steps you can take with your video in order to lean into the rise of voice search.
- Transcribe your videos and use the power of SEO to capture the text.
- Incorporate FAQ words into your video content. Consider what people would ask when searching for your product or service and answer that question.
- Turn long videos into short, separate pieces. Chop them up into segments that address a specific question or idea.
- Include long-form keywords and keyphrases in the video description.
- Embed search phrases in the video script.
Keeping your video content conversational can give your business an edge when it comes to voice search. Creating a script that is as close to a natural query will guide potential clients toward the answers they seek.