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Blended search: Optimize social, video, images, PDFs – Boston SEO Meetup

In 2007, Google first launched universal search.  Universal search has enabled forms of digital content, other than a simple web page, to appear as a search result.  As a result, search engine marketing strategies changed, too.

Four years later, on January 10, 2011, Jeff Selig of Overdrive Interactive presented on “blended search” aka “universal search” at the Boston SEO Meetup.  His presentation, “Blended search: Search engine optimization for social, video, images, PDFs, and news,” discusses how blended search has changed the way users find information online and how to optimize search engine results for your content.

Jeff will be presenting these insights in greater detail at New England Direct Marketing Association’s Marketing Technologies & Tactics Summit: Accelerate Your ROI on Feb 8, 2011 at Bentley University in Waltham, MA.

SEO Crawler’s brand monitor makes it easier to quickly adjust your content marketing strategy.

Blended search impact: What makes people click?

  • Universal search results yield higher click through rates (CTR)
  • Video viewers are 20% more likely to make a purchase, especially when looking at results further down the page
  • Images & video lead to more clicks, 84% click through rate, 12% text CTR, personalities 91% CTR
  • Stocks, maps, dictionaries, definitions and answers are diminish click-through rates — searchers get the answer on the results page & move on
  • Paid plus organic results together with images definiteky will raise click-through rates

Click influencers: How can you increase clicks?

  • The better your description matches what searchers are looking for, the more likely searchers will click
    • When the metadescription matches, you’ll see 75% CTRs
    • When the title matches, you’ll see 73% CTRs
  • Search engines love rich media, do whatever you can do to repurpose a whitepaper & post off-site
  • Video especially boost CTRs when you’re ranking lower in search engine results
  • Preview on search results pages definitely count and creates a sense of trust
  • Google Instant increased video traffic 28% vs before Instant
  • Have consistent messages
  • Know your market & know your query space

Optimizing rich video is a worthy investment

  • Create & submit video sitemap
  • Markup videos with microformats to let the search engines know what they are
  • On YouTube you want your starter image to be the most alluring
  • When optimizing, be sure to pick a screenshot that accurately depicts the content

Photos & images are worthy of optimization too

  • Bigger is better, large images are well-loved by search engines
  • Benefits some sites, not all, be sure there’s a reason to keep clicking.
  • Images optimize with Alt attributes
  • Image properties contain and can be customized w all kinds of info

Optimize your Facebook Fan Page for search engines

Facebook best practices

  • Engage fans in your posts
  • Have  Facebook resemble your website
  • Be sure to optimize your FB pages
  • Ask questions, add product news, reach out to potential fans via email
    • Ask for suggestions on how to maintain the product
    • Generate new product accessories through user-generated content

Twitter Optimization

  • Use Twitter profiles to add keywords to your brand, web address
  • Pay attention to your followers
  • Determine how many times they’ve been “listed” on Twitter Lists
  • Tweet your keywords
  • Use URL shorteners to track your influence
  • Be sure you use a URL shortener service that will stay in business: When it goes, so do your links
  • Remember: No-follow links still carry juice
  • Popularity isn’t the same as authority, want to follow 1/3 of followers

Optimize LinkedIn

  • Use a vanity URL
  • Answers provide the opportunity for lots of link juice
  • Check out opened-up Groups
  • Be sure you are in the Services Directory
  • Use keywords without stuffing, highlight your products
  • LinkedIn Insights shows how you compare to your competitors

Optimize YouTube

  • Maximize the About Me section
  • Be sure to use HD:  Google loves bigger/better.
  • Add URLs to descriptions, pollinate video
  • YouTube as PPC is inexpensive now
  • Use autoplay on YouTube
  • Label yourself as an expert
  • Internally link playlists
  • Transcribe your YouTube video: Can be as cheap as 10 cents/minute

More optimization tips

  • Can adjust Google Alerts to monitor news, blogs, social media
  • Local searches, more Yelp and Twitter coming up
  • Location-based searches are playing a bigger role
  • SEO and blogs: use at least 3 links per post, develop an interlinking strategy, think of how users will find you
  • Tools: Pingomatic
  • Be sure PDF is readable by search engines (try copy & paste) & be sure to use links