Chesterfield, Derbyshire – We would all love a crystal ball with the ability to see into the future and answer those burning questions about inks, plates and press technology but don’t forget it’s also worth considering the future of online and digital marketing especially when people are researching your business using online search. Understanding how your customers will access this search, especially when searching for your business name, could allow you to keep one step ahead and ensure you have a say in what’s presented in the results people find.

One possible future is based around the current convergence of intent-based search combined with the growth of voice-based devices.

This combination is where a small start-up in the North of England is staking their future. Called buyquanda.com, it labels itself as a business & trade Q&A website and offers businesses & brands around the world the opportunity to answer commonly asked questions about themselves in a way that works for this future.

Founder Philip Price explains “We realised that traditional search is moving towards intent-based results. You can see this with the likes of Google and Bing adding their ‘PEOPLE ALSO ASK’ features. This opens a new requirement for marketeers and brand owners to ensure the answers to these questions are out there in the digital world in a safe and controllable environment. We believe they will struggle to accommodate this on their own websites where third-party context does not always work, hence our site buyquanda.com.”

Philip continues; “Consider how content is being delivered in the form of AI and speech-based devices and you now have to question whether traditional web site content really fits. Take for example something as simple as opening times or office hours. Imagine you were asking a colleague if they know the office hours of their print partner. The response would be something like Weekdays 9 till 5. In comparison, a current webpage may have a table of days and opening times which is far from voice search friendly content. This highlights the difference between the spoken word and the text you’ll probably find on a website.”

Buyquanda.com provides what are essentially FAQ’s and then invites short answers from four main audience groups. They are information and opinion seekers, potential customers, potential suppliers and potential employees. When a business registers themselves, they automatically create the most commonly asked questions, however, more can be added by the business or brand to cover any specifics relating to their own brand.

Philip explains why short answers are so important; “We’re all used to posting short sentences in a tweet or social post. So, when it comes to answering questions on our site, we are no different. It’s how people speak. Nobody likes someone who drones on and on, so why not replicate that online. That’s why we believe length is not important. Concise, factual sentences are perfect, and even a simple yes or no can sometimes be all that’s needed.”

With the long-term aim of becoming a significant database of knowledge and opinion that can be tapped into by search providers and speech-based services, their vision of future search could well become a reality.

Buyquanda is a free service and companies can register or claim their business by visiting buyquanda.com where they can manage their own Q&A.