Figaro digital talk: A voice search Q & A with John Brasington

Last week, I spoke at Figaro Digital in London, with a talk entitled 'Voice search SEO is about to change everything! How to make sure your online content remains visible.'

The need to optimize for voice search is becoming more and more crucial in the coming months, as voice technology develops and gains prominence.

Below are just some of the questions I was asked following the talk:

Q: Where does voice search sit within the marketing funnel?

A: At the end of my talk, I was asked whether I thought voice search would sit at the bottom of the marketing funnel. Despite Amazon’s desire, I believe voice search to be really important throughout the user journey, as it’s critical in the research phase and building awareness. For that reason, like traditional search, it will be present throughout the marketing funnel, and should be used tactically at each stage.

Q: Will we return to the type of queries we once used to input into Ask Jeeves?

A: Google uses the hummingbird algorithm and Google Suggest to teach us one way of searching. With voice search, I believe they’ll do the same again, thereby naturally pushing us back to using ‘Ask Jeeves’ type queries.

Q: How will voice search affect privacy?

A: Sadly, it seems convenience always wins out. We're already long past that stage, with our phones already recording us.

Q: What demographic is most likely to use voice search?

A: 'Youth' is the obvious one, but you can add 'Tech enthusiast / early adopters' to that. Despite the initial awkwardness, convenience will likely prevail again. Although, it's worth noting that voice will always be a smaller issue for some sectors.

If you missed the event, feel free to watch the talk here: