Google's new universal search format, which blends news, blogs, video, books and the company's other vertical searches into the main query results, is now a few weeks old, and e-tailers are wondering what impact this will have on their search engine marketing and optimization. We've talked to a few search experts to find out. The good news is that the adjustments you need to make aren't that complex. The bad news is that it does mean you have to work harder to get high rankings on the main results page.
Now that the main search page is going to include video, local listings and so on, it will be more difficult to get listed in the top 10, because there will generally be only three or four "regular" result slots left. This means e-tailers must expand their marketing so that they are included in the other platforms, said Bill Hartzer, who manages the search engine marketing division of MarketNet Inc., is an administrator at Search Engine Forums and founder of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association.
And, while competing with fresh content from these other sources may seem overwhelming, Hartzer sees it as an opportunity for Web shop owners to get an edge over the competition — if they act quickly.
"It means that site owners need to start paying attention not only to the title tags and copy, but they must branch out to take advantage of these other platforms," said Hartzer. "For e-commerce sites who get in on optimizing images, press releases, local search, video, they will get the competitive advantage because most of them aren't paying attention to this stuff, not many are doing it, they're focusing on regular ranking. It doesn't take a whole lot to get listed in the other areas and if you do you'll have that edge."
Making a Pitch with Photos Most e-tailers already realize that using visuals is an effective way to create a compelling site, but Hartzer says it is now imperative to capitalize on this. It is wise to put a good description of the photo into the HTML alt-tag [define] and surrounding text to get listed. He cites the example of a client who is already reaping benefits. "There's a particular dog breeder I know, they use a lot of photos of puppies on the site, and it brings a lot of traffic."
However, even if you sell something less adorable, using photos is now a must. Hartzer says, though, to be wary of the balance between how images boost search rankings and how much they may tax your resources, such as bandwidth and server capabilities.
"If you have thousands and thousands of people linking to your image of the new iPhone," he says, "that's a good marketing opportunity, but they're just looking at the image and not your site, you may want to assess that. It's a fine balance." He recommends the use of watermarks with the URL and company name for all images for brand exposure.
Video Doesn't Have to be Vexing In regard to video, Hartzer says the time to start using it is now, if you haven't already. He suggests, for instance, doing quick takes of tutorials for products such as electronics highlighting a cool feature. As is the case with images, you need to have a good description in the text, and can use watermarks for branding.
"If you use YouTube and Netscape, they'll host it. Netscape will link back to your own Web site, and you can embed the code easily on your Web page," said Hartzer. "It gives you the opportunity to run it at your own site, but you still get the marketing benefits of having it on YouTube too."
Get the Word Out: News and Blogs On the news front, the challenge is that the content has to be timely. "If you do well in Google images, you'll be there for a while," said Hartzer. "But in news, there's always a limited window of opportunity, it's not permanent." Still, he suggests issuing press releases, either through a free or paid service, on a regularly scheduled basis with any company news, whether it be a new service, product or site feature. Google's news publishers FAQ page has more information on how to get listed.
Similarly, if you are updating your blog with fresh and relevant content, and nurturing links to other blogs, you have a better chance of being picked up in Google's blog search. In some cases it's best to include the blog as part of your site, but if your content is primarily the same as most of your competitors, you may get better results if you set up the blog on a separate domain.
Get Listed on Local Search Finally, Hartzer said that now is the time to make getting listed in Google Local a priority. He says the free service is a great way to garner more exposure, but does have a note of caution. "Some people in certain industries go into local and register their competitors who haven't yet listed," said Hartzer. "So for instance they may list all the pizzerias in the area, but the actual URL points to their own Web site. We've had to help a couple of companies address this, and it's frustrating because it takes a long time to get it fixed, So it's important to go register and be sure you have control over it."
Meanwhile, if all this seems overwhelming, don't fret. The reality is that it will take some time for most Web shop owners to optimize all these platforms, said John Lovett, search analyst at Aberdeen Group, which means for the time being the status quo will be the order of the day.
"In terms of optimizing for SEO, I think that e-commerce sites will operate under a business as usual mindset. Image tagging and product tagging for optimization will remain largely the same," said Lovett. "The features of finding video, news and other digital mediums falls outside the scope of today's e-commerce, but may have some validity as sites begin to utilize these features."
In terms of SEO, keyword phrases will still be the dominant tool since organic results are not being eliminated by any means, just limited. Given this, it is prudent to focus SEO efforts on more specific, or long-tail, search terms.
And other industry watchers aren't even sure if the universal search will turn out to be a boon or bust for Google. While no one is predicting the demise of the search giant, some believe that the blended search clutters, and therefore may degrade, the quality of results in the minds of users who may be turned off by the inclusion of book and video listings for more pragmatic searches.
Whether or not this will happen remains to be seen, but for now, it can't hurt to try to get your e-business listed in the other Google properties. Said Hartzer: "This is definitely an opportunity marketing wise because people who take advantage of it now will have a huge advantage in the future."
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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