Anatomy of a Google Results Page
Have you noticed a change in your Google results lately
? Google now lists results from all types of media from all over the web including social sites, videos, images, paid listings, news sites, local results, shopping sites, even book results all on the same search results page.You do know what this means, right? It means your website is no longer competing only with other websites, it is competing with results from multiple sites and sources. The image below contains the results for a search on "mobile phones"; and as you can see, the organic results are only one of eight different types of information pulled onto this particular search result. So how can you get the best rankings for your business?
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A Solid Foundation
First and foremost, your website must be properly optimized for the search engine spiders that has not changed. Lots of great page content with correct keyword densities, meta data, HTML elements, valid code, and quality inbound links are still essential to showing up in the organic listings. Web architecture is also important (no template sites, Flash, or frames) and clean, optimized code will make it easy for the search engines to read and index your pages. Be sure the search engine spiders can also find every page of your site by using search engine-friendly, readable navigation links and sitemaps (XML and HTML).
Social Networking and Real-Time Results
A fairly new development in the world of search is that search engines now index content from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. A quality social marketing strategy can mean more content for the search engines to find and index for your business, and can also drive additional traffic to your site. Being active on the social networks is not only a powerful marketing strategy all by itself, but it also strengthens and supports your SEO efforts.
In The News
Another effective SEO strategy is to send press releases to online news outlets and news sites. Not only does this help build inbound links and improve traffic to your own website, but it can also mean that your business may show up in the news section of the search engine results as well.
Videos and Images
When posting videos to your website, social profiles, or YouTube, be sure to apply SEO techniques such as keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and complete author information whenever possible (the same goes for images). This can help your video be found more easily on sites like YouTube, but it can also boost the overall placement of your website in the search engines.
Local Search
Search engines have been delivering localized search results for quite some time, displaying results based on the physical location of the computer on which you are searching, and also taking your past search history into consideration when displaying results. For instance, if two users in two different cities perform a search on the same search terms, they would likely see two different sets of results based on their physical locations. By adding geo-tag meta data to your website code (GPS coordinates that identify your physical location), you can help ensure that the search engines can correctly include your location in local search results.
Another good local search strategy is to make sure that Google has correct, up-to-date information by customizing your business' Google Places Page. All businesses have one of these, whether they know about it or not! It's far better to customize your listing and add keyword rich, optimized content than to ignore it and let Google just fill it in with whatever it finds online about you. When the local listings are displayed on a results page, you want your business not only to be included in the list, but you want your information to be correct!
SEO Is Not Enough
Today your website faces some pretty stiff competition in the search engines, even if it's properly optimized. And while correctly optimizing your site is just as important today as ever, SEO is no longer enough by itself. There are new opportunities for promoting your business and being found in the search engines, and smart companies are pairing SEO with other online marketing channels for even better results. A well-rounded online presence that includes multi-media, social networking, and a solid search engine optimization strategy is the best approach to take for search engine success.
Anatomy of a Google Results Page
By: Lauren Hobson