Google Goes Universal
Last week Google made the most significant change to its search results in years. I have devoted increased space to this change so you can be informed about what is changing, why it is important, and what you can do about it!
What is changing?
Google actually has multiple search engines for blogs, news, products (formerly known as “Froogle”), books, and more. In the past you would see a small area under the search box highlighting results from other Google search engines. If you search for terms about John Grisham’s “The Broker,” you might see Google Book Search results above the normal results. Now, Google is incorporating search results from some of their other engines into the normal results….hence the moniker “Google Universal.”
Many in the SEO community are calling this search “predictive.” Google is trying to predict based on the actions of other searchers what kind of information you are looking for.
Here are some examples of how this predictive search works:
- David Beckham is easily the most recognized athlete in the world. He is known for his golden foot..and also his golden looks! He is a consistent favorite of photographers and tabloid writers. Notice a search for his name returns image results in the #1 position, and news at #2!
- Search for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and you will find Video results in the 3 and 4 positions. Also, you will see Google suggesting “thriller lyrics” as a relevant search, and including results from that keyword phrase! Talk about predictive…
- Other notes:
- While Google is becoming more “universal” in its results, notice the tabs which allow you to switch to other Google search engines entirely (Images, News, etc). Tabs that are visible vary with each search as Google tries to predict what kind of information you are seeking.
- Blog, news, image results and more can appear in any position in Google’s search results.
|
|
|
Why is this important?
- First of all, Google is the search engine market leader and expanding its dominance. Anything they do matters!
- Secondly, this means that effective websites will leverage content in a variety of media. Focusing only on textual content may get you bumped to a lower page as blog, news, or video results take the higher positions.
What can you do about it?
How can I optimize my site for the “New Google?”
- Leverage your content through a variety of media. Do you have a series of white papers you could turn into a blog? How about images from your last industry conference, with seo optimized file names? Commercials can be turned into YouTube videos, and press releases can be sent to free press release websites.
- Contact us today about how to optimize your site to take advantage of these media.
Want more information?
This video, from Barry Schwartz at SEORoundtable.com, provides an excellent walk through of the changes.
Related Posts
- Does the age of my site matter? How to fight the Google “Sandbox Effect”
As they say…”communication is the basis of every relationship.” Unfortunately in your site’s relationship with search... - Links, links, links: why links are essential in SEO
Successful search engine optimization strategy has two prongs: on-page and off-page optimization. On-page optimization involves a... - What you can do to increase your SEO rankings
Did you know you have an essential role to play in your search engine rankings? The...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Leave a Comment
Subscribe
