What is PASO? This is the acronym for Personal Assistant Search Optimization or SEO for Personal Assistants.
Would the SEO be migrating to PASO?
We are witnessing a subtle, but persistent change in the world of the web. The phenomenon of voice search and personal assistants could greatly modify the field of SEO, but to what extent?
Personal assistants
Personal assistants are taking more and more place in everyday life.
They were already ubiquitous thanks to their integration in the systems of the smart phones. One can think of Siri, widely popular for its, sometimes, surprising answers, but also Cortana, Google Now and more.
Still, the personal assistants have taken a step further to settle in the houses with the arrival of Google Home and Alexa from Amazon. Moreover, the adoption of personal assistants has doubled in the United States between 2015 and 2016 according to a recent study by Parks Associates. The adoption of personal assistants is expected to continue with the addition of new features.
Evolution of search engines
If you think about it, the ultimate and perfect search engine would automatically provide the answer you’re looking for. Though the idea may seem to come straight out of a science fiction movie, this is what search engines crave.
One can notice it with the increase of results in position “0” in Google. This 0 position is usually occupied by the Knowledge Box which attempts to provide an instant response in the search results.
Moreover, search engines also tend to be more and more personalized and increasingly geolocalised, not to mention that they are becoming more intelligent. One has only to think of RankBrain, the recent IA added to the algorithm of Google.
There are therefore several elements necessary to the establishment of a personal assistant in the search engines of today. It is therefore natural to see the arrival of products such as Google Home and Alexa.
Indeed, the SEO will have to adapt to meet the reality of personal assistants that differs from traditional search engines. First, rather than providing millions of results, personal assistants will limit themselves to 3 or 4 results, or even just one, depending on the question asked. So how should we work with PASO? In this regard, we have already analyzed the impact of voice search on SEO and made recommendations on how to optimize your website for voice search.
Will PASO replace the SEO?
In the near future, the answer is “no, probably not. ” However, PASO will likely make its place in all SEO strategies if the trend towards voice search continues to grow. Any professional responsible for a company’s web presence should take this into account for the future and plan its optimization accordingly.