Whether you need to find a restaurant, a house, a street, or just want to know what song is playing on the radio, most adults use voice search every day. Children and teens aren’t far behind. And while it might seem like you’ve already chosen the perfect marketing strategy and SEO plan, your business may still be falling behind competitors if it doesn’t take full advantage of voice search. Today, voice search is no longer some futuristic feature — it’s widely available and no longer a “gimmick” of just one brand. Keyword phrases also play an important role — especially those that are better suited for voice queries, which improves local SEO. As a result, the entire marketing strategy may need to shift, possibly improving performance overall.
Voice search plays a major role in digital marketing strategy, and it needs to be adapted and aligned to produce the right results.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at voice search and its impact on the web, marketing, design, and users. And we’ll consider whether it’s truly necessary for marketing or just a passing trend.
The Mystery of Voice Search
Simply put, voice search is a voice recognition technology that allows people to search using mobile devices without a keyboard. But devices aren’t limited to phones and tablets — PCs and smart home systems also apply. Most often, this type of search is used through Google, whose voice queries have grown exponentially for years. It’s essential to understand this shift and include it in your digital marketing strategy. According to Internet Trends research, even in 2016, the use of voice assistants was rapidly rising — and even more so in 2017–2018.
Today’s leading voice assistants include Apple’s Siri, Google’s “OK Google,” Microsoft’s Cortana (outside of Russia), and Yandex’s Alice.
Apple was the first major player to equip its iPhones with Siri. Later, Google introduced Google Now, which anticipated user needs before the question was asked. For example, if you come home at 7:00 p.m. every day via the same route, Google Now automatically updates traffic and suggests alternate routes around that time. Microsoft’s Cortana debuted with Windows 10, and Yandex introduced Alice a year later. Still, Google search remains the most popular and should not be overlooked in your marketing strategy.
How Voice Search Is Used
Virtual assistants are designed to either provide information or answer questions. Here are two simple examples of how people use voice search and what types of queries they ask:
Why Voice Search Matters for Business
Let’s consider this: if your online marketing strategy directly impacts your company’s success — and voice search directly influences that strategy — then voice search trends will inevitably affect your business. Whether this impact is positive or negative depends on how well you adapt your strategy to changes and digital innovation.
Adaptation is especially important since Google now prioritizes mobile versions of websites over desktop ones in search rankings. Voice search simplifies user experience, making search results more accurate and relevant. So if your site is well-optimized for mobile, voice assistants could give your business an edge.
Say you need a local public services office address. If you type in “public services Moscow,” you’ll get multiple listings. But if you’re physically in your district and your district’s site is rich with optimized, relevant content, simply saying “nearest public services phone number” will return very precise results.
This leads to what’s called the "Position 0" in Google — the featured snippet that voice assistants use in search results. Position 0 is the quick-answer slot returned when a question is clearly asked and only one result is highlighted. Google began displaying such results as featured snippets or related questions with relevant answers last year.
Voice Search and SEO
Some analysts believe the rise of voice search marks the end of traditional SEO. Others think it will actually drive SEO forward. But both sides agree on one thing — digital marketing is evolving for the better. It’s like seeing the glass half-empty or half-full. Regardless of how you view it, voice search is impacting SEO and digital marketing — either positively or negatively.
The main reason SEO is changing is because both voice and text searches now coexist. Some people still prefer text, while others rely on voice. And each type involves different query formats. Therefore, for voice SEO, it’s essential to consider user language (regional), longer and more natural phrases, focus on results, authoritative content, and high content quality.
The key difference between text and voice queries is conversational language. We might type: “best restaurants golyanovo moscow,” but ask: “Google, what’s a good restaurant in Golyanovo?” So your content must be optimized for these natural, speech-based queries.
For Google to prioritize your content as a featured snippet, it needs to be fast, informative, and precise. Being chosen as a snippet increases clicks (CTR), traffic, and visibility. That’s because the content is seen as trustworthy and helpful — perfect for voice search.
And here’s the key: you won’t achieve this by just repeating the same keyword over and over in irrelevant content. But if your content is clear, useful, and user-friendly — your snippet might just become free advertising.
Google My Business Profiles
Almost every business today uses Google My Business — including Russian companies. These profiles can and should be optimized for voice search. Just having detailed info and relevant images isn’t enough. Marketers must also maintain a strong local SEO strategy.
You must also understand how people actually phrase their queries so your content matches those expressions. According to the “Internet Trends 2016” report by Mary Meeker, voice searches are 3x more likely to be local than text searches. The same insights hold true in reports from 2017 and 2018. Definitely worth a read.
Voice search categories include: local info (restaurants, shopping, directions), general info (web search, recipes, news), entertainment (music, games, social media), and personal assistant functions (shopping lists, calendar, calls, texts).
The Future of Voice Search Marketing
Today, nearly 20% of searches in Google apps are voice-based (depending on context). Some may argue voice search isn’t mainstream yet. But when you factor in iPhone accessibility and growing assistant use, the trend is undeniable. According to CampaignLive, nearly 50% of all internet searches could be voice-based by 2020.
As we’ve said before, mobile behavior is critical for staying competitive. A site might not look fancy or modern — but if it loads fast and provides essential info, it might top the featured snippet slot.
Another major factor in voice search is its ability to “learn” your behavior — how you speak, what you search for. Devices also track browsing habits. For instance, you search for makeup once — and soon your feed is filled with beauty ads. This is part of voice-enabled remarketing.
Google announced last year plans to integrate voice search across all its services — including Analytics and Search Console. This means phones, watches, and assistants will run on unified software. Some may find that concerning — but in digital marketing, it’s the new reality. To compete, your business must stay current with tech updates and adapt your SEO strategy accordingly.
And no — adapting your SEO strategy isn’t as difficult as it sounds, but it does take time. We’ll cover that separately.
Final Thoughts
Most people want simple, quick ways to manage their busy lives — and voice search fits the bill. It’s perfect for those who can’t type easily or need hands-free access. Sure, current speech recognition still has an 8% error rate — but tech keeps improving.
Voice search is reshaping how people discover products and services. That’s why digital marketers must ensure content is accessible across all query types (voice, text, and more). As user habits change, websites optimized only for text need to adjust to voice search realities.
So, circling back to our starting point: voice search is not a gimmick — it’s a growing trend, a shift in how people use the internet. And it’s here to stay.