Universal Search SEO

Universal Search is rapidly becoming the next big step in search engine evolution. Universal Search is the integration of multiple kinds of media into search results. Search engine monster Google was the first to release universal search. Google's users recently may have noticed images, YouTube videos, and other forms of media showing up in the standard results page. The other major search engines have all either recently rolled out their own versions of Universal Search or have announced plans to do so. Such a significant change in the operation of every major search engine warrants close attention from SEO companies.

This is not the first time Google has introduced multiple kinds of results on the same search page. For instance, Google has long put pay-per-click advertisements, local results, and book search results at the top of the main search page. It is also not the first time the company has offered searches in multiple kinds of media- Google Image Search is an age-old feature of the search engine giant. However, it is the first time a search engine has been able to put multiple content types within the same ranking system. For instance, under the new universal search system the number one result for a query could be a web page, a news article, a video, or even an adobe PDF document.

What does all of this mean to your search engine optimization efforts?

The first impact is that your web pages now have a lot more competition - not just from other web pages, but from videos, images, news articles, blog posts, books etc.

So you have to try that much harder to gain traction on Google. A plain vanilla, pure Web site optimization campaign may not be enough going forward. You will have to think seriously about making your presence on vertical searches as well.

That means building more diverse content, including

• Press releases and articles (for mainstream media) that could make the cut on news search engines
• Videos that you can aggressively promote on YouTube and other multimedia sharing platforms
• Building a compelling presence in the blogosphere by communicating with and through blogs
• Optimizing your images with relevant metadata (a good idea may be to opt-in to Google's enhanced image search)
• Making use of the Google Local Business Center to build a presence on local search

Google is also increasingly incorporating results from social media, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. It may be a good idea to create a profile for your company on these networks.

AppSoft Web Design SEO Experts truly understand the new Universal Search world and can help your company take full advantage of the Universal Search opportunities.