Small Business Information

If you’re like us then getting to the top of Google’s search engine results pages is very important. If you’re not in the top four listings for any important word or term that you might be targeting then you’re not anywhere has been a driving force for us for many years.

That’s why we weren’t all that impressed when Universal Search came along. It reduced the number of spots on the front page and sometimes it even took away the top spot and gave it to a map or a picture. That’s fine if you happen to own the link behind those maps or pictures but it just seemed to make life more difficult for the rest of us.

But now perhaps an image can change everything for the searcher and so they can work in our favour.

Recently Google introduced Universal Search. I’m sure you will have noticed it by now if you’ve been searching on Google. Instead of just returning web pages in the results pages Google now includes video, maps, images and other search verticals as well.

The impact on people who have been looking for information on Google has been interesting and it seems that eye-tracking studies have now found that the video and image thumbnails are attracting more interest than perhaps the top listing is.

There are some lessons there for affiliate marketers who are always striving to get to the top of the results pages … and there’s a lesson there for Google too. Expect to see a change in the way Google displays it’s Adwords advertising on the results pages sometime soon.

A hat tip to Small Business SEM and the post on the recent Search Engine Strategies - SES: 14 Takeaways

Have you wondered about search engine friendly urls? There are some around who suggest that in the future it won’t matter what your URL looks like … but we’re not there yet. That’s why you should read this interview with Matt McGee - you should find it helpful.

… and also get seen by all the other search engines too.

If you’re reading this then you already understand that although you think your small business’ website is the best thing since sliced bread the search engines might be seeing things quite differently.

So you’re left wondering what you should be doing to get Google and the others to see your site in a more kindly light.

Well, there are some lessons to be learned from one of the biggest retailers on the Net and you can read more about it at Amazon.com: The SEO-Smartest Retailer on the Web?