In May this year (2007) Google announced the arrival of Google Universal, a new way of integrating search results to combine images, video, maps and regular search results all on the same result page.

If you’re not taking notice of this new development, you’ll be left behind when it rolls out of beta and into the mainstream results.

I was at a SEO/SEM conference last week and was lucky enough to lunch with Bruce Clay (one of the world's top SEO people) - he speaks with Matt Cutts every other day (Matt Cutts is Google's principle "webmaster SEO" spokesperson: www.mattcutts.com). Google intends to fully roll out Universal Search this time next year, although it's already in beta phase. Here's an example of what we'll all start seeing more of: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=darth+vader&btnG=Search

Google is already displaying more images and video (so THAT'S why they bought YouTube for a squillion bucks), and maps (for local search) so that a user's search experience will be fully catered for when they visit Google. Bruce also said Google was rolling Google Universal because Google has very 'unsticky' pages. Even though Google gets a ridiculous amount of traffic each day, time spent on their site is very low. They're hoping that with content from Google Video and YouTube imbedded into the search results, people will spend more time on site and have more chance to click on Google Ads (where Google makes most of its money).

Bruce said that from an SEO/SEM perspective we should be getting our clients to think about providing more video content - creating it, posting it on YouTube, link to the video heavily so that it has a strong chance of appearing at Google for search results (not just at YouTube). Companies who do this now will have a real head start when Google Universal rolls out in earnest.

It’s not much fun playing catch up.

Chris Thomas, Search Engine Optimisation Specialist

Labels: Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation

SEO - Search Engine Optimization - is a set of methodologies aimed at improving the position of a Web site in search engine listings. Primarily, to achieve high rankings in search engines, a web site must be optimized for keywords relevant to the Web site’s subject. The keyword phrases you choose to optimize for should be equivalent to the queries users are likely to enter into search engines when seeking the product or service your Web site offers.

It is important that you optimize your site for the right keywords. Choosing popular single-word keywords is unlikely to yield satisfactory results. If, on the other hand you have very specific words that are unlikely to be found on many of your competitor’s sites, such as the name of your business for example, then it would be foolish to ignore these. But it is much better to choose a number of two- or three-word keyword strings to optimize for. For instance, if your site is about apples, “apple” is a mandatory keyword, but if you select a number of multi-word phrases such as “apple orchards”, “growing apples”, “buying apples” then success is more likely.

Another issue to consider is synonyms. Very often users will use different words for the same thing. However, be careful not to use every synonym you can think of. Most search engines have algorithms that include synonyms in the keyword match. But using relevant, on-topic phrases is likely to give you extra street cred by search engines.

The way you use the keywords you have chosen to optimize for can make or break your SEO campaign. It is important to use these terms frequently, but be careful - overkill can lead to being blacklisted by search engines. Try and aim for a keyword density of 1-3% for your primary terms and 4-7% for the rest. Anything over 10% is likely to be frowned upon by users and search engines alike. Where you use your keywords is also important. Search engines place higher relevance on keywords found at the beginning of pages, blocks of text, headings and titles.

Aim for about 10 keyword phrases to optimize for. It is not worthwhile thinning out your attack by tailoring your content for many more.

So content is king. Keywords alone will not shoot you to the top of search engine listings but choosing the right ones for your site and using them intelligently in your content is the first step to claiming pole position in Google.

Isaac Forman, Designer

Labels: Design and Usability, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation