Internet of Voice (IoV), commonly referred to as ‘voice search’ is set to be the next big thing in marketing for various businesses. Several key leaders in the marketing industry are predicting IoV to be the marketplace disruptor in the coming years.

IoV Overview

Voice search refers to sending a query using your voice instead of using a keyboard (or text). This basically includes using your voice to command your media to perform different activities virtually. These commands may include asking your voice assistant to send messages, read messages, check emails, ask for directions (on map), look for nearby restaurants, sought flats for sale in Kharadi, etc.

Voice Assistants

Cortana by Microsoft, Siri by Apple, Google Assistant by Google, etc. are some of the popular virtual voice assistants today which were introduced in the market in the year, 2014, 2011, and 2016 respectively. These applications integrate the latest AI (artificial intelligence) technologies, voice recognition system, and relevant search mechanics.

Simply put, voice assistance can be termed as using your voice to ask a question using an intelligent technology (chatbot, voice recogniser, digital assistant) to get relevant results for your query.

Facts and Predictions

According to a report by Economic Times,

·        President of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Subho Ray said, “Voice as input will make a big difference for users who are not keyboard savvy.”

·        Sumit Chauhan, Vice President, Lifestyle Audio at Harman India, predicts, “By 2022, 80% of our interaction with audio visual devices will be non-touch.”

·        According to a study by Search Engine Watch, by 2016, iPhone and Google voice search has increased 35 times since 2008. ‘Call mom’ and ‘navigate home’ were the common commands given on Google using voice search.

·        According to a research by Campaign, it is predicted that by 2020, 50 percent of all the online queries will be driven by voice search.

Search engines that empower voice search assistants are constantly upgrading and implementing different machine based learning algorithms where AI can be used to scan various data signals (available data). These search engines aim to provide users with precise information/search results based on their query (geographical location, top rated products/services, etc.).

Voice Search and Real Estate

As mentioned earlier, since 50 percent of the online queries will be driven by voice search by 2020, as a real estate agent, you will have to optimize your web pages according voice search algorithms. Your web pages must be optimized to drive traffic to your website.

Keywords will stay play a crucial role here. In this case, you’ll have to be updated about millennial lingos, abbreviations, short forms, alternative terms, phrases, and other latest and relevant search terms.

IoV will apparently make it possible to interpret the meaning of provided queries as compared to text based doubts where search engines had several limitations while analyzing and interpreting them.

How to Optimize Your Real Estate Website for IoV?

For your realtor services/business to grow, it is essential to generate real estate leads online. Apart from keeping up with the latest trends and technological advancements, it is important to try different strategies for the same. Starting now you can take one step at a time and see how it works for your business.

Optimizing your website for voice search can be considered as a marketing strategy in itself. Here are some of the basic optimization techniques that will help you generate real estate leads online with voice search.

Voice Search Keywords

Enlist, research, and analyse keywords for voice search accounting its ranking factors. Rather than waiting for search engines and other tools to provide a directory of ranked keywords, you can create your own list of terms using most searched real estate keywords. It can consist of sentences, phrases, and terms that are commonly associated with real estate.

For example, if you are using Google assistant, you’ll have to start by saying “Okay Google” and then search the terms you’re looking for like

·        Okay Google, I am looking for 2 BHK flats in Kharadi

·        Gera’s World of Joy, Kharadi

·        Realtors around me (based on geographical location)

·        Properties in Pune for real estate investment

·        Luxurious apartments in NIBM

Specify Your Target Audience

When you run a marketing campaign (PPC ads, or social media marketing – SMM), it’s crucial to specify your target audience. While running such campaigns, you can specify,

·        Age group of your target audience. For example, in the case of child centric homes, you can mention target age group between 25 to 45 years, since most of the people who have kids in the age group of 3 to 15 years would prefer such homes. Health tech homes can be preferred by both millennials and baby boomers

·        Categorise the project as either as ‘premium apartments’, or ‘affordable homes’

·        Mention demographic location/s

Analyse Your Target Audience

Along with using the right keywords and specifying your target audience, analysing their commonly searched terms and phrases will aid you to keep a track of marketing strategies which have the potential to work. Social media can aid you significantly in analysing your target audience. You can try using different phrases or sentences and find out which strike a chord with your readers and accordingly bank on such these terms to run ad campaigns.

Integrate Messenger Bot on Your Website

Messenger bots are commonly referred to as ‘message bot’, or ‘chatbot’. Webopedia explains messenger bots as, “Short for chatrobot, a computer program that simulates human conversation, or chat, through artificial intelligence.”

Also, you cannot overlook the way AI is changing real estate. Incorporating chat bots on your website will help you initiate conversations with your potential clients who land on your website using voice search. You can engage with them by integrating chatbot on your website. Through chatbot, you can,

·        Ask their budget range

·        Provide unit configuration options (1 BHK, 2 BHK, 3 BHK, etc.)

·        Provide a list of popular projects in a locality (Gera’s World of Joy, Nyati Elysia IV, Forest Edge, etc. in Kharadi)

·        Ask their area of preference (Kharadi, Hinjewadi, Balewadi, etc.)

·        Enlist zone categorisation (East, West, North, and South)

Do not Overlook ALT Text Field

Yes, you read it right. Always mention appropriate ‘ALT Text’ when using images for property listings. It is often said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, but for that picture to be seen, you need to provide search engines with thousand words (not literally) to aid search engine crawlers in indexing an image.

For example, let us consider a project named ‘Majestique Signature Towers’. So, if you are including images with 2 BHK floor plans of a project, your alt text can be ‘2 BHK cozy 2D floor plan’.

Prioritize Local SEO

Become a local real estate expert. Apparently, people will use voice search to get details about locally (demographic specific) available product/services. Ensure that your website is registered in local database. One way to optimize this process is getting referrals through realtors from other localities and vice versa.

Always keep one thing in mind, that your website and services will get online referrals from other realtors and credible sources only when you provide apt, trustworthy, honest, and reliable offline services.

Mobile Friendliness is the Key

Lately, prime search engines have started prioritizing on mobile-friendly content on the web. And so, it has become crucial for your web page to be optimized for mobile phone users. Even if you implement strategies considering IoV but if your website doesn’t load within seconds on mobiles, then, your website may not rank well in search engines.

Benefits of Voice Search for Realtors

IoV has already proved beneficial to many businesses. One primary benefit of using voice search is that you can browse through many properties within seconds. All you need do is speak your query into the microphone of your mobile. Also, you can make queries in long sentences in voice search as compared to text/character limitation.

IoV allows you to ask questions to search engines and interact with them in a humanly manner. You can seek multiple answers for your property query by directly speaking into microphone of your mobile rather than typing it every time.

For example, ‘properties in Kharadi’, ‘properties in Pune’, ‘2 BHK flats in Balewadi’, ‘affordable homes in Hinjewadi’, etc.

Epilogue

To conclude, we can rightfully say that voice search and conversational AI is redefining the way information is sought today. IoV not only has the potential to engage with people but also will provide answers to consumer queries within seconds without the hassle of typing on screens.

A report from MarTech Today suggests, “The age of touch as the primary user interface between consumers and devices is being disrupted. We’re entering the age of conversational interfaces that are powered by our voice and gestures.”

“We’re entering the age of conversational interfaces powered by our voice, sometimes even our gestures if there’s an AR/VR technology component in place, and it doesn’t even have to involve a screen. Increasingly, these devices do have screens, but their job mostly involves listening and delivering a spoken response.”

*Note: The given particulars are based upon market analysis and may or may not work for every realtor.

Photo by Samer Khodeir on Unsplash