Reflect for a moment on how you search for something. The pool of online users is split between mobile users and traditional desktop users, leaning to the former. According to a report done in 2016, 58% of online searches were done from a mobile device, leaving 42% of all searches to desktop users. Most current search engine optimization marketing strategies involve understanding the difference between desktop and mobile searches. This binary, however, is facing a potential disruption with the introduction of innovative smart home technologies.
The phenomenon of the Internet of Things is not a new phenomenon. Smart home technologies have been around since the 1960s, but have long been lauded as luxury items only for the 1%. At the pace that the tech industry has been frantically moving, most technologies are no longer staying with the wealthiest and elitist portion of the upper class, but instead quickly becoming commonplace throughout most of the upper class and trickling into the middle class. To have an effective SEO strategy, staying on pace with early adopters is crucial in the explosion of the IoT industry.
The IoT has recently exploded - you name it, there's a high end model of it that also includes Internet access. Your home could be completely Internet connected if you choose, from your thermostat to your refrigerator. A number of people still shy away from having that much connectivity, but the early adopter segment has always been eager to embrace new technologies as they come.
Consider the scenario: you don't know what to make for dinner, so you type into the nearest browser (which happens to be your fridge) all of the ingredients you do have, and up come recipe results. This is amazing and convenient for a consumer. For a marketer, this is a segment they need to learn how to optimize for.
Isn't my SEO strategy enough? Good question. For the IoT, the answer is no.
The disruption of current SEO strategies comes with a predicted third search realm for marketers to start considering. While search isn't the main function of majority of the smart home technologies, with increased technology comes the need for increased convenience. As technologies takes over the home, marketing strategies will need to stop thinking within the binary of desktop searches versus mobile. Instead, an effective strategy will need to consider a three prong system: desktop, mobile, and residential.
If a strategy was to include optimizing for residential, it's important to understand the impact on search results that these residential devices have. A major one is a smaller search engine results page (SERP) potential - instead of 10 results being seen when someone searches something on their desktop, these technologies may have tunnel vision and focus on showing minimal results back. What will truly be the most difficult for marketers is the growing popularity of digital assistant AI technologies, such as Google Home or the Amazon Echo, which focus on providing the consumer with an average of only one option.
The smart home market is expected to grow to a projected US$137.91 billion by 2023. This is a market that shouldn't be dismissed. While Internet connectivity on home devices is still in the early adoption stage, having an integrated smart home hub within the home has moved to the early majority phase with products such as the Google Home, the Amazon Echo, or Apple's more recent foray into the market with the HomePod. Effective SEO strategies need to change to reflect the new way that people are searching with these devices.
"Hey Siri, what is..."
"Hey Alexa, can you look up..."
"Okay Google, how do I...."
When people are searching from their homes while standing in a room, rather than picking up a device and typing, the search queries are going to be significantly more conversational, and much less short tailed keyword focused. To stay ahead of the marketing curve, a shift in strategic focus is required.
Instead of focusing on hitting the short search terms that one might type in quickly on their phone (think disjointed words that someone is typing quickly, on the go), you'll want to capture longer, more conversational style searches.
The long tail keyword has been considered a valuable and important part of any SEO strategy for a long time. This is nothing new. However, the time is now for that long tail keyword to reach it's fullest potential with the mass amounts of data that these smart home technologies offer to strategic marketers.
The relationship between marketers and potential leads grows as data collection expands and grows. As the number of internet compatible devices in the home grows, that potential for data collection sky rockets. With all of this data comes the possibility to deliver specific solutions to online users through a strategic SEO strategy.
Whether these early adopters are at the cusp of a technology that will revolutionize searching or whether the technology won't live up to it's promises (although with the success of digital assistants and at home AI's, it looks likely to be the former), expanding SEO strategies to optimize for residential search realms will help you stay ahead of the marketing curve for your business. So why waste time when your competitions are already striving for the top spot in your industry? Get your innovative strategy in action with H&C Inc. today.