The Key Differences between Voice Search and Text Search

When it comes to voice search versus text search, there are three significant differences. Having said that, one is more important than the other two.

Let’s go over the three differences. Each one only requires a small change in how you design your website and create content for content marketing.

The Search Engine of Choice

When you’re dealing with text search, the leading search engine is still Google Search. But when you’re dealing with voice search, that is not the case. Now that over half of all searches come from mobile (and most of those are voice searches), and with the advent of enabled smart speakers like Cortana and Alexa that use Bing, even people at home are using voice searches. It’s only going to grow and because of that, Google are likely going to lose their place as the number one search engine.

What People Are Searching for with Voice

When people search for things with voice, it’s often something they want to buy or use or know right now. With more use, it’s getting trained to work even better than before. But when people use their voice to search for things, they are doing it a little differently because they search for different things than when they search for something with text. Voice searches are more focused on right now, like local restaurants, for example, while text is more focused on information about things like healthcare.

The Way People Search for the Things They Need

When people use text-based searches, they typically go to a specific search engine, usually Google Search, then type in an abbreviated form of a question – usually just typing in a few keywords. They might enter “blood tests, lab, their town” but when they use voice they tend to speak to the assistant as if it’s a person and ask an entire question, and they may not use the name of their town but instead might say something like, “Where can I get a pregnancy test near me?”

When it comes to these three main differences between voice search and text search, the most significant difference is the way people search for the things they need, using entire question-formatted sentences instead of random keywords. For this reason, it’s crucial that you create content that is focused on asking and answering the questions your customers have based on where they are in their buying journey, to include industry and peripheral questions, since voice searches only return one search at a time.