Search Methods| SEO Solutions

There are different search methods that Google utilizes that can help you to expand your SEM campaign, but you will need to know the different search methods before you can determine the best search engine optimization solution for your website.

I will discuss the following Google Search Methods:

1. Personalized Search
2. Universal Search
3. Real-time Search
4. Local Search
5. Google Images Search
6. Quick Search Box and Google TV
7. Mobile Search
8. Google Instant

Let's start our discuss with personalized search.

Personalized Search

Some users utilize personalized search, knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. Once you know what it is, I'll explain how you can turn this feature off if you decide that you do not want to utilize this feature.

Personalized search simply means that Google is putting the user's search to the forefront. In the beginning, this type of search was offered to sign-in users, but now it is being expanded outward to include signed-out users as well.

How Personalized Search Affects your SEM Strategy?

How will Google's personalized search affect your search engine marketing campagin? In the past, you could go after the "average user" and pull many users to your site. But with personalized search, Google has customized the user's search according to their previous searches, thus, making it more "personal" for the user.

This search method can prevent some of your keywords from reaching your target market. So how can you better use your keywords to break the personalized search barrier?

How To Utilizes Your Keywords With Personalized Search

1. Utilize more long-tail keyword phrases versus the high ranking keywords. (If you're a small website-you may already be doing this because of the competition).

2. Utilize Adwords to draw traffic with a new web page. (Many do this with a new page any way, because it helps people find your pages more quickly).

However, the user can also turn off personalized search, if they are wanting a broader "average" search.

How a User Can Turn Off Google's Personalized Search

To disable the history-based search customizations of Google, you will need to remove Web History from your Google Account.

1. In the top right corner of the search results page-click web history.
2. Click disable customizations on the page

Or you can delete the current cookie storing search from within your browser and start fresh.

Universal Search

Universal search or blended search, is where the search engines return not only text results but also images, news, local listings, blog posts, etc. to the user doing the search.

How To Utilized Universal Search

The Search Engine Marketer will need to optimize for:

video (YouTube)

images

local (blog)

news (Press Releases)

Social Media opportunities (FaceBook, Twitter and other social media opportunities)

Note: If you are not aware of the rules or etiquette of some of these other social media avenues-take the time to learn.

Google Images Search

Those new to website construction or search engine optimization usually ignore their images. They assume an image is an image and it offers nothing more than aesthetic beauty to the site. Though you are right, partially, but not totally.

Images can signal to the search engines, the type of information on a web page, thus, allowing it to categorize and index your information for the keywords you have in your images. How can you get your images noticed?

Search Engine Optimization and Getting Your Images Noticed By Google

To identify your photos or images for Google you should do the following:

1. Within your HTML coding, use an alt tag. The tag should include a relevant keyword.

2. Your photo or image title should also be descriptive. (With relevant keywords)

If you have news on your website or blog and you utilize images or videos be aware of some of the limitations of the Google's News Crawler:

1. If your article contains no text, just images or videos, you just lost the opportunity of being picked up by the Google News Crawler.

2. If you update your article after it's been posted and it's been crawled by the Google News Crawler, the update will not be seen. Why? The Google News crawls your site once.

3. If you dramatically change your site, the Google News Crawler may have a hard time finding your news articles

Local Search

You should not forget about local search if you are a brick and mortar business with an online presence. Though local search has long been ignored, you should try to utilize it. Why? Times are changing.

Instead of pulling out a local telephone book, many people are going online (Ipad, cell phones, netbook, computer) to find local businesses in their area.

How to Utilized Local Search in your Search Engine Marketing Campaign

1. Include Your local Address: Name, City, State

2. Get other local websites to link to your site

3. Include map and driving instructions to get to your business

In the near future, you will find local search will begin to play a greater role as more people begin to use the mobile web to find businesses in their locality.

Search Engines For Local Search

Local search is expanding to other search engines. Though Google is first in line for your local search, you should also take a look at the following search engines that can drive additional traffic to your blog or website:
MapQuest

Bing

Yahoo

Google

Real Time Search

Google is utilizing real time search within the different social media areas, such as Twitter, News, Facebook, to name just a few.

Using SEO with Real Time Search

1. Your keywords should be in your titles, your updates and your content.

2. Current Events.

3. Talk about topics that interest people-this will promote additional conversations and if you have a blog or you're on Twitter, tt can create a following.

All this translates into one thing, look at all the methods that Google is using to reach it's user, and utilize the methods that best fit your blog or website.

Quick Search Box and Google TV

With the recent announced of Google TV by Google, be prepared to start optimizing your websites for another opportunity. Yes, Google will utilize search in the form of the "Quick Search Box".

What will have to optimized to get ready for Google TV?

Your Videos will need to be optimized. Not only will you have to optimize your videos, but you will have to keep the quality of your video content in mind as well.
Your website content will have to look good, no matter the type of screen the viewer uses.

Mobile Search

Some businesses have been creating the light version of their traditional website to reach the mobile crowd. Your traditional website will not always translate to the iphone or smartphone as it does on the Internet because the mobile browser utilizes WAP.

You will have to strip down your website to meet the phone browser capabilities, cell phone download limitations and to accommodate the cell phone(s) screen size. Many companies are beginning to create a separate website to accommodate just the mobile user.

Advertising is growing. Here are some avenues to mobile advertising:

Quattro (acquired by Apple)
AdMob (Acquired by Google)
Google Adwords

Google Instant

Google Instant purpose is to allow you faster searches, by instantly displaying possible topics as you begin typing. These possible queries, that may be relevant to your search, will appear in grey. And-this will all be seen before you ever hit the "Search" button.

How will Google Instant Affect Your SEO Strategy?

1) Google Instant easily use 1-term keywords. However, the 3+ keyword phases seem to have no significant changes. Thus, by tweaking your content with 3+ keyword phrases you can keep your web pages relevant.

2) The Instant results will cause people to stop typing when they what they are looking for in the "list in gray". Thus, the first word is going to be important, even though the search can choose from the list that may be 3+ keyword phrase deep.

Thus, long tail searches are going to be important.

As you can see, there are many different search methods in which you have to be aware of when developing web copy for your website or blog. By ignoring the changes, you have effectively been left to wander on the Internet on pages 3 and beyond.

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