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Search Engine Optimization for Universal Search - Back to Square One?
By Scott Buresh (c) 2007

Organic search engine optimization, until recently, had been a
fairly straightforward endeavor. The goal was to optimize the
content on a website so that it would show up in the organic
results on one or more of the major search engines - results
that were comprised of nothing but other websites. However, in
the middle of May 2007, Google began rolling out its new
"Universal Search," something it had been working on behind
the scenes for several years. This new search option may have
long-term repercussions for every search engine optimization
company in the industry if it is something that is preferred by
the public at large and if it becomes the standard going
forward.

What Is Universal Search?

Someone using Google's Universal Search will find that a query
brings back results that encompass not only web pages, but also
videos, blogs, images, news articles, and other media available
online. While Google already had in place options for searching
each of these areas individually, many searchers did not notice
those options or did not know how to use them, a phenomenon that
became known as "invisible tabs."

With Universal Search, there's no need to select a separate
menu item - the search will return results that encompass many
different types of media. For example, a search for
"breakdancing" might bring up not only web pages about
breakdancing, but also blog posts about it, videos showing
technique, and news articles about it. It would not, however,
give you the reason why you were wearing parachute pants and
trapped in the eighties.

However, Universal Search hasn't been rolled out fully yet.
Currently, certain terms will give Universal results, while
other searches will remain the same as before. This is a classic
Google move - roll something out gradually, see how it plays in
the public eye, and then decide what to do from there.
Basically, Universal Search as it exists right now is very
likely to change, depending on user feedback.

And if the limited queries that now return Universal Search
results do not garner positive responses, it's likely that
Google will revert to its previous, webpage predominated
results. They obviously don't want to lose market share, and
they already learned a valuable lesson not long ago when they
released a new algorithm that was poorly received and which was
subsequently dialed back.

What are the Benefits of Universal Search?

Universal Search brings several benefits to searchers. A
searcher no longer has to specify the media he or she is looking
for - one keyphrase search will cover everything. And the
results from a search will be more comprehensive in many
instances, giving a well-rounded picture to the searcher that
may include better information than would previously have been
found in a search of just one type of media.

What are the Drawbacks of Universal Search?

The problem with Universal Search is that it can muddy the
results, and it can also introduce irrelevant results that a
searcher cannot use. A search for "Paris Hilton" (ever heard
of her?) will bring up news, videos, and other information about
the heiress. But it will also bring up a map of the city of
Paris showing locations of Hilton hotels, something most
searchers that typed that exact phrase probably did not have in
mind. Plus, 28% of Internet users are still using slow dialup
connections (1), according to RVA Market Research. Many of these
people are likely not interested in videos or other results that
require much bandwidth, and such users may turn away from
Universal Search entirely - there are, after all, other search
engines. No, really - there are.

In addition, there is no way to turn off Universal Search; as it
exists right now, it is part of the standard "Web" search,
eliminating the ability to simply search web pages and
introducing a new wrinkle in search engine optimization efforts.
Now, a website is competing not only with other websites, but
also with all the other media that will be included in the
results that an average searcher achieves. And Universal Search
makes it difficult for Google itself to determine the relevance
between different types of media, since the factors that
determine a web page's relevance are much different than those
that would determine a video's relevance, for example.

What Can You Do Now to Make Sure Your Site Is Ready to be Found
in a Universal Search?

Clearly, Universal Search will change how an SEO campaign is run
if it catches on. But this is a real if - users' search habits
are hard to change overnight, even if you are Google and you
essentially define what searching is and how it works. If it
does catch on, you'll need to analyze the industry you are in
and figure out which types of media might be most important for
you. For example, if you are a real estate firm, images of the
buildings and homes you are selling might become a very
important part of your site, and so you will want to focus on
adding alt tags to each image so that not only does your site
show up for certain keyphrases, but your images do as well. If
you are a business services firm, you instead might want to
focus on news items produced by your company - press releases
and white papers - and make sure that those are available to
search engine spiders and optimized for critical phrases.

If you are working with an outside search engine optimization
company already, now is the time to ask what they plan to do in
regard to Universal Search. Your search engine optimization
company should at least have an awareness of the magnitude of
this new way to search on Google and should be able to present
you with some sort of plan of attack, even if they plan to wait
to embark upon the plan until they know for sure that Universal
Search is going to catch on. If you are looking into hiring an
outside search engine optimization company to launch a new
campaign, the same holds true - ask your contacts at the firm
how they are planning to handle Universal Search. They should at
least be familiar with the concept and have a general outline to
present to you.

Conclusion

If you thought that it was just Google that was working on what
it calls Universal Search, think again. Yahoo, MSN, and Ask, as
well as several minor search engines such as A9, are all working
on their own versions of a universal search that will display
different media types. These versions are currently still in the
testing phase, but they could be rolled out at any time. What
all this means for you and your search engine optimization
company is that the face of SEO will be changing dramatically
over the next several months - or it won't. Only time will
tell.

(1) http://www.birds-eye.net/directory/statistics/2007.htm -
Accessed June 2007
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Scott Buresh is the founder and CEO of Medium Blue, which was 
recently named the number one  search engine optimization company 
(http://www.mediumblue.com/) in the world by PromotionWorld. 
Scott's articles have appeared in numerous publications, 
including ZDNet, WebProNews, MarketingProfs, DarwinMag, 
SiteProNews, SEO Today, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. He 
was also a contributor to Building Your Business with Google For 
Dummies (Wiley, 2004). Medium Blue is an Atlanta search engine 
optimization company with local and national clients, including 
Boston Scientific, Cirronet, and DS Waters. Download Medium 
Blue's latest exclusive whitepaper (http://www.mediumblue.com/
free-whitepaper.php), "Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix," for 
more insight.
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