Unless you own a Blackberry, it’s difficult to remember a time when smartphones had physical keyboards. Technology has evolved faster than any other revolution in history. Considering that more than half of the global population will be using the Internet within five years, tech companies are rethinking its product capabilities for the developing world. Research from Alphabet Inc. suggests that “the next billion” mobile users will replace typing with video and voice. Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri are poster children for the benefits of voice-only search, and when used appropriately, they have helped us organize our schedules, save lives, and order a pizza.
But what happens when QWERTY inevitably disappears?
Poor literacy — both domestic and international — will contribute to a growing market of illiterate Web users. That is one more reason to avoid the comments section, but it also a key opportunity for us writers by trade to think about how we deliver messages that reach any segment of the world’s 3.75 billion Web users.
Keyword research still matters.
The industry has adapted to longer keywords and tags as more Web users search using sentences. Thankfully, search engines have evolved with the trend, but websites need to literally answer those questions. A healthcare company may rank high in search results, but if a lower ranking site better answers a search user’s verbal question, they are more likely to earn the user’s traffic. Today’s most effective keyword strategies thrive at the intersection of relevancy and conversation. But even after using an effective strategy, what happens to the voice-only user once they find your website?
Voice-only users are as significant now as mobile users were a decade ago.
Mobile content was an afterthought until it became the single most important element of any website redesign. Accessibility, specifically voice command, will soon take its place. There are Chrome extensions, AI bots, and companies like Voxer that help incorporate voice commands into the user experience. The next step toward a viable ‘voice strategy’ is crafting content and UX for voice commands. For a company like Samsung, a voice-only user might end up on Samsung’s homepage, grant microphone access, and say, “show me options for your latest TV.” Samsung will soon need to display this page with a relevant voice query.
Replace 1,000 words with imagery, but don’t sacrifice page load and metadata in the process.
The industry has strategically adapted to audio-optional content in order to accommodate mobile users. Infographics, images, and short videos are dominating ad placements and work well when uploaded directly to a social media account. But social algorithms are now following in Google’s footsteps to deliver content quickly to its users. Facebook now considers page load time as a metric for which content to feature higher in its news feed. While “content is king,” it should also be prompt, or the king will have no referrals from social media.
Technology is becoming better and faster for billions of new Web users. How will your audience engage with your brand without typing? Will they be able to find your content? We are charged with creating strategies that raise the standard for effective storytelling. Using tools made available by the technology revolution, we have the resources to meet the demand. There is no better time to begin thinking about life without QWERTY.