The way people search for information is changing—and it’s changing fast. You may be used to actually typing out your search queries, but more and more users now favor voice search—a trend that has much to do with the advent of mobile services, plus voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. Just how big of a deal is voice search? According to many industry predictions, more than half of all search queries will be voice-based by 2020.

Of course, this changes the way we think about content marketing. You can’t just write for those who do text-based search. You also have to write content that can be easily discovered and digested by those who are searching with their voice—and having the results read back to them.

But how can content marketers adapt?

How Does Voice Search Change Your Content Strategy?

There are three big ways in which voice search changes content strategy.

  1. Think in terms of questions and answers. When you’re typing out a search query, you generally try to make it as brief as possible; something like best coffee maker or best plumber near me typically suffices. When you’re using voice search, though, you’re more likely to ask an actual question: What’s a good, affordable coffee maker? Who is the best local plumber? As a content marketer, it’s important to incorporate this question and answer format; use titles and H1, H2, and H3 tags to ask questions, then provide immediate answers within the following paragraph. This makes it clear to the Google algorithms which questions you’re addressing, in a way that voice search users will find straightforward and helpful.
  2. Consider long-tail keywords. Again, voice search users are more likely to elaborate their queries; best local plumber may become something like what’s the best local plumber who does drain cleaning or what’s a local plumber with good reviews, or who is the most affordable plumber in the area? This gives you an opportunity to implement longer, more specific keyword phrases that better match the conversational style of voice search users—and in doing so, you can get more specific with your own value proposition.
  3. Incorporate your location. A majority of voice search queries are location-based—which makes sense, given the big overlap between voice search and mobile search. To ensure your content is visible to the relevant audience, it’s important to incorporate as much local data as you can—including localized keywords, user reviews and testimonials, and your company contact information.