Voice search, which was once seen as a novelty and something straight out of science fiction movies, has now officially hit the mainstream, and in a big way. The voice search customer base is growing exponentially and we could eventually see a time when it will surpass text search in importance. So, if you are still stuck in the past and think it doesn’t have any repercussions on SEO and link building, then you’re in for a surprise. It is already affecting SEO in multiple ways and particularly affects certain sectors more than others. Let’s take a look at the importance of voice search and why it should be considered when formulating your link building strategy.

The Importance of Voice Search

Voice search is set to completely transform the way websites are made. Instead of simply displaying information, site owners will have to focus on answering their clients’ questions. Sites that do that properly will eventually score better when it comes to user experience, which is a criteria Google now uses to rank websites.

How Voice Search Affects Local Search

One of the areas that is most affected by voice search is local search results. Since so many vocal search queries are geographical in nature, businesses that serve their local community will see major repercussions if they don’t have a solid voice centred link building strategy in place. Competing establishments that do a better job will then be privileged when voice searches are made. And the more voice searches made, the more added visibility your competitors will be getting over you.

Voice Search and Mobile Search

This also extends to mobile search as well. As you may already know, voice search is very popular on mobile devices and many mobile searches are geographical in nature as well. Mobile searches now count for over 60% of all queries, and many of these searches are local. So, if you don’t have a link building strategy that takes these new realities into consideration, you will be getting less traffic from both mobile and vocal searches.

What Can You Do to Optimize Your Site for Vocal Searches?

Well first of all, you have to optimize your links and site content to answer specific questions. This will increase your site’s chance of being picked up when vocal searches are performed. People who perform vocal searches also don’t do it in the same way text searches are done.

For instance, people might only type a few keywords when conducting a text search. Vocal queries are usually more direct and detailed. That’s why you should not only focus on long tail keyword phrases, but phrases that reflect queries as well. If you don’t know where to find possible queries, you can use a site like Answer the Public which will give you tons of different possible queries depending on the keyword. You can then start filtering questions that would be the most relevant to your product or service and build your link building strategy around them.

Conclusion

Voice search is here and here to stay, and those who choose to ignore it will eventually be left behind. So make sure that you do everything in your power to optimize your site and link building strategy to reflect this new shift.