William Flaiz has written an interesting article in Search Engine Watch. He suggests that the days of compartmentalizing search engine optimization (SEO) are over and that a holistic approach is now what’s required to win in the new environment of “universal search”.

Argues Mr Flaiz:

“An integrated approach across multiple disciplines is the only way to address the diverse nuances of the new SERPs. We can tame universal search if we address it from all fronts: SEO, paid search, social media, Web development and user experience design.”

The article is aimed at SEO agencies but the principle remains the same for SEO departments or individual search engine optimizers. A holistic approach is required if we’re to achieve optimum results.

For instance, we’re currently working with a client to:

1. Optimize some new product pages;
2. Prepare press releases for those products; and
3. Write articles related to those products and website pages.

By understanding the underlying keyword strategy and taking an integrated approach we can ensure that each of these items work together to enhance our client’s search engine ranking for the terms it’s targeting. After all, although the methods are seemingly disparate, the objective is quite singular: a higher listing in the organic results.

And given the (growing) number of Internet “assets” - website, press releases, images, videos, pages on social media sites, and so on - the demand for a holistic approach is only likely to grow.

Bottom line: rather than approach any given SEO tactic in isolation, approach it as one component of an overall effort where your main aim is to optimize your presence on the search engines for the keywords that deliver you the maximum number of targeted, qualified prospects.

Source: William Flaiz, “Universal Search: The (War) Elephant in the Room”, Search Engine Watch, November 10, 2008

Could it be that we don’t really need to get the first spot on the search engine results pages (SERPs) in order to attract our most qualified prospects i.e. the supposed 20 percent of prospects who generate 80 percent of sales?

Well, some research from MarketingSherpa indicates there might be some truth in this…

In a recent study, MarketingSherpa found that certain kinds of search engine users are prepared to wade through more SERPs than one might normally expect. It found that among industrial engineers:

• 14 percent just looked at the first few results on the first page of results;
• 39 percent looked at the first page of results;
• 10 percent stopped looking after the second page of results; and
• 37 percent looked through more than two pages of results.

MarketingSherpa reckons these findings would be typical of niche searchers. Presumably, anyone highly motivated to find uncommon (i.e. niche) information is more inclined to look through more pages of results than other kinds of searchers.

Given that search engine optimization (SEO) - like anything - comes at a cost, it *may* follow that at a certain point it may no longer be cost-effective to keep striving to become number in the SERPs, simply because niche prospects are prepared to look through more results anyway.

Maybe…

Source: MarketingSherpa, “New Chart: Optimize All Your Web Pages For Niche Searchers Seeking Relevant Results”, MarketingSherpa, October 14, 2008

No one, except the search engine themselves, knows exactly what goes into the algorithms that determine where a website ranks in the organic search engine results pages (SERPs).

But there is a general consensus over the four (4) critical factors that affect your ranking. And it’s these factors that you really want to focus your attention on in order to improve your ranking:

1. Domain Age

In general, the older the domain, the higher a website will rank in the SERPs. This is for a number of reasons. One of which is the fact that Google’s patent specifies domain name age as being a factor in how it ranks websites, another being that older domain names (e.g. expired domain names) are likely to have more sites linking to them.

2. Content

The search engines tend to favor websites containing plenty of copy. According to Mark Jackson of Search Engine Watch, you want at least 150 words on a webpage, and this should include a decent smattering of your targeted keywords, which should ideally be within the first paragraph of text, and in your H1 tags.

3. Title Tags

Your webpage title tags should include the keywords targeted for that webpage.

4. Links

Domain age, content and title tags are all necessary… but not sufficient. Getting back links from authoritative and relevant websites is where the real search engine optimization game is at. The more quality back links your website has, the more highly it will rank in the SERPs.

Source: Mark Jackson, “Search Engine Optimization: Back To Basics”, Search Engine Watch, August 19, 2008

Google’s launch of Knol, it’s answer to Wikipedia where contributors can upload their own articles and share advertising revenue with Google, seems to have fueled fears that Google is increasingly controlling both content and access to content on the Internet.

There is little doubt that Google, as the owner of YouTube, dominates online video content; it also owns the popular blogging platform, Blogger.com. Recently it introduced its own virtual world, Lively, followed shortly thereafter by Knol.

And that’s just to name four of its content properties.

Google claims that it’s nothing more than a media conduit - where it connects people with content, rather than create or own content itself. That, in my opinion, misses the point. Whether it technically
creates the content or effectively hosts the content, Google is still either the source or arbiter of more and more content. That gives it increasingly more control over what content people consume on the Internet and, for that reason, it IS a media company.

That being so, I think it’s reasonable to ask whether Google may tend to favor its own content sites over others when it comes to ranking results in its search engine result pages (SERPs). While there is no definitive evidence of this as yet - and Google denies it will ever happen - it’s almost inevitable that Google WILL favor its own sites. That’s simply because, as its own sites gain further popularity and authority… they will will rank higher in the SERPs.

Yet, despite Google’s growing control over what we see when we search - or otherwise use the Internet - can we really complain yet? Assuming Google really isn’t “doing any evil” behind the curtains, then, while far from perfect, it’s still delivering a lot of value to Internet users. Let’s face it, who is offering a solid alternative to Google in terms of search… online video aggregation… free
world mapping… free analytics… and so on?

And while other media companies might not like seeing Google increasingly eat into their ad revenues… who is offering a real alternative in terms of giving Internet consumers what they want?

Source: Miguel Helft, “Is Google a Media Company?” New York Times, August 10, 2008

Great news for Flash lovers. Adobe is working with Google and Yahoo to enable the search engines to index Flash (SWF) files and the information - such as text and links - they contain.

Google has already incorporated the Flash reading technology into its search engine and has begun indexing Flash content across the web. Yahoo is currently working with Adobe to determine the best possible implementation. The new indexing will apply to all existing Flash (SwF) content - so developers need not modify or upgrade their SWF files in any way.

Of course, as Erick Schonfeld from TechCrunch points out, making Flash content indexable is one thing… improving search engine rankings is another.

Since so much depends on authoritative back-links - which, as Google has admitted, is the MOST important consideration when Google ranks sites - the outstanding issue is to make it easy for webmasters, bloggers and others to deep-link into those Flash files. Until this happens, don’t expect all those Flash-heavy pages to leap up the SERPs just yet!

Even so, the indexing of Flash content is a great step forward for Adobe, Google, Yahoo, Flash developers, webmasters and search engine users alike.

So… what is Microsoft doing about it?

Sources: Adobe, “SWF searchability FAQ”, Adobe, July 1, 2008, Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch, “Once Nearly Invisible To Search Engines, Flash Files Can Now Be Found And Indexed”, June 30, 2008