Optimizing for Universal Search

Why is universal search important? It's the next evolution of Search Engine results. And since people's eyes scan from top left the Universal results are going to be the first thing they see. A study from an earlier Universal session at SES NY showed that currently 17% of Google searches result in some type of universal search being displayed. That number is expected to increase.

Another interesting observation is that, in terms of news stories, Universal search sends traffic directly to the news sources rather than to the Google news page. And optimization is not too difficult. Just target the key terms of the story -

• Who: Company and executive names
• What: Brands, products, categories and industry
• When: Business and financial news
• Where: Places
• Why: Pictures, photos, pics, images, diagrams, cartoons, illustrations, logos, and videos
• How: training videos

So what can you do to optimize for universal search? One strategy is to try to get ahead of the curve by ranking for non-competitive keywords. But regardless of the keywords you target; optimizing for Universal search requires planning. Here are some things to help you begin that plan:

Review all of the types of files that you have both on your site and available to you - images, pdfs, audio, video, etc. Google currently uses 13 types of file formats in their results beyond html. Yahoo uses 7 types beyond HTML. Go to Google and Yahoo and use the "invisible" tabs for additional ideas - maps, predicts - are examples.

Review the status of your overall optimization. If you are struggling with the basics of html optimization because of your cms or other site challenges, consider optimizing for YouTube, flickr, maps, etc. that don't require spidering. If you have the basics down revisit how you are handling images, pdfs, or other elements.

Be ruthless in your evaluations, but be kind to yourself. For example, for you your business in the past there was no compelling reason to optimize images, now there is!

Look for the low-hanging fruit. These will yield the most bang for your effort. Maybe it's the pdfs, maybe products, maybe maps. Build the systems and plan for optimization of other elements. For example, how will you handle images going forward?

Determine whether it makes sense for your business to fill the gaps in how you face universal search. Is video appropriate? What about audio? Develop a plan of action for moving forward based on your needs not just what the engines show.

Draw baseline data to ascertain in your current performance. It's helpful for making the case for doing more. Then, monitor the change.

Here are some Quick Tips for Optimizing for Universal Search: Optimizing for Flickr

• Title - keyword-rich
• Caption - Meaningful
• Tags - use like keywords
• Links
• To other photos
• To other sources
• Anchor text - Use it to help define
• Keywords in caption and title should be reflected in the tags

Challenges

• Many formats for video production and players still Vying for prominence with users
• Most users do not know where to look for video - there is a lot of niche market video
• YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! and Brightcove get most attention
• Professionally done video competes for attention with consumer-generated video
• As more video is optimized, users will be able to find video more easily
• Monetization schemes are ill-defined

Video Formats

• QuickTime Movie (mov)
• Windows Media Video (Search Engine Optimization Public Relations, and Amanda Watlington, Search for Profit. Not enough can be said about how informative this session was and how appreciative the search world is to their efforts.

  Dante Monteverde, Website Magazine Contributor is a Search Strategist specializing; in Search Engine Optimization. He founded SpiderBait.com in 1996 and has over 10 years of SEO experience. Visit SpiderBait's SEO Expert blog: www.spiderbait.com/seo-expert for more useful resources on a variety of search topics.