At yesterday's Inside Search event, Google announced that it is rolling out voice and image search for desktop users, and marketers should consider the SEO implications of these developments.

Google's new voice and image search for desktop may change the way people look for information on the web (and SEO). Search marketers optimizing their sites for searchers might want to start thinking more carefully about the queries consumers use to discover their pages.

At yesterday's Inside Search event, Google announced both Voice Search and Search by Image for desktop users. The Voice Search feature will roll out to Chrome users this week, allowing users to “simply click the microphone and speak your search.”

The company anticipates that Voice Search will be used for hard-to-spell searches and/or complicated, longtail queries (such as “translate to Spanish where can I buy a hamburger”). This may mean that consumers will have an easier time searching for specific, nuanced information, and marketers will want to think like site visitors when planning site content.

Google also announced that Image Search is now available for desktop users. Users can click a camera icon on their Chrome toolbar and upload pictures or insert links to pictures found across the web. Then, Google will help them determine what the image is.

Both of these developments are part of Google's effort to help online consumers unlock knowledge. At the event, Google's Amit Singhal said, “From data arises information and from information arises knowledge.” He believes search has done “an amazing” job of making information accessible, and now Google wants to deliver knowledge.

This is in keeping with the company's earlier move, shifting the titles of search-related jobs from search to knowledge offices. As Brafton reported, this seems to be yet another way the company promotes the creation of useful web content that focuses on sharing “knowledge.” Google has said that search marketers need to offer useful content to achieve good rankings, and SEO campaigns should be prepared accordingly.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.