5 Ways to Prepare Your Website for Universal Search
(By Tony D. Baker)

The way Google handles search is changing. You may not have heard
of universal search yet, but it is going to affect the way your
website and your company show up in search engine results, at least
for Google. You may have noticed that pictures, videos and even press
releases are showing up alongside websites in regular search engine
results.


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5 Ways to Prepare Your Website for Universal Search

You need to develop a strategy to meet these changing search
conditions, and that means optimizing more than just your website
landing page. Images, videos and articles are all parts of your site
that could be working harder for your company. Here are five tips to
help universal search work for you.

Stop the Presses

Make sure your press releases and company news are getting into Google
News and Yahoo News. If you're not doing press releases, you should
seriously consider it. Press releases will give you one more chance of
showing up in the search engine results beyond your web page. Press
releases also give people looking for information about your company
the chance to see you in the best light. If you play your cards right,
you might get some publicity out of the deal as well.

This is the perfect chance to one-up the competition and highlight
your company as an industry leader. Even if you think you have no
news, you can comment on industry trends or recent studies relating to
your business. The more you get your name out there, the more results
you will ultimately see.

Don't Overlook Images

Images are already starting to show up in search results based on text
around them and the description text in the HTML image tags. It's not
difficult to get images onto your site. You can include pictures of
past projects, process illustrations, graphs and charts related to
your business or industry. A little creativity in this aspect of your
website can pay off with your images showing up in Google search results.


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Once you have the images in place on your website, make sure the
search engines can find them. Pay attention to your image ALT tags,
captions and surrounding text so your images show up. Always be sure
to have keyword-rich descriptions with your images and use descriptive
names for your files as well.

Capitalize on Video Content

Presentations, training videos, interviews and commercials could all
be working harder for your company. Don't let these just sit on the
server when they could be showing up in search engine results and
providing even more results for your site.

Consider creating a multimedia page where customers can view these and
where search engine spiders can locate them. Again, be sure to have
keyword-rich titles and descriptions so search engine spiders will
know what they are seeing. You might also consider distributing your
videos to YouTube for extra exposure and another chance to show up in
the search engine results.

Make Sure Search Engines Can Get to Your Content

Do you know if your site is easily accessible by search engine
spiders? Flash-heavy sites, improper redirects and broken links can
thwart your best SEO efforts. Remember, search engine spiders see your
website differently than a normal user. They are looking for content
and links, and it is in your best interest to be sure they can
navigate your site with ease.

Above all, spiders need clear text links. Uploading a new page to your
web server, while personally gratifying, may as well be invisible if
you do not provide links from your main site. If you don't lay down a
clear link path throughout your site, search engines may nevër find
your content. Site maps are an essential tool for making your content
search-engine friendly. Make sure yours is updated regularly and
submitted to Google with the proper formatting.


Don't Ruin Your Hard Work

While it's important to prepare for the future, don't overlook the
basics. Keyword-rich text and title still matter for your web pages.
Quality links to your site are still essential SEO components. Just
because you've discovered new Internet toys doesn't mean that you
should turn away from the tried-and-true methods. Use both for maximum
results.

By taking the time to ensure every aspect of your website is ready for
universal search, you maximize your chances of getting your name in
front of potential clients and customers. Follow these tips and jump
to the front of the search engine multimedia race.