Five Ways to Optimize Your Website for Universal Search

Making Sure Your Whole Site Works for You

With everything from pictures to videos showing up in the regular search engine results, you need to make sure to optimize more than just your website landing page. Images, videos and articles are all parts of your site that could be working harder, if you just knew what to do with them. Here are five tips to help universal search work for you.

Press releases matter.

Make sure yours are getting into Google and Yahoo News. If you're not doing press releases, you should seriously consider it. Press releases will get your company's name out there, and give you a chance to one up the competition. Even if you think you have no news, you can comment on industry trends or recent studies relating to your business. The more you get your name out there, the more results you will ultimately see.

Don't overlook images.

Images are going to start showing up in search results based on text around them and the description text in the HTML image tags. It's not difficult to get images onto your site: include pictures of past projects, process illustrations, etc. Pay attention to your image ALT tags, captions and surrounding text so your images show up, too. And always be sure to have keyword-rich descriptions with the image.

If you have video content, distribute it.

Presentations, training videos or interviews could all be working harder for your company. Don't let these just sit on the server when they could be showing up in search engine results and providing even more optimization for your site.

Make sure Google can get to your content.

Is your site easily accessible by search engine spiders? If you don't lay down a clear link path, they may never find it. Also, site maps are absolutely essential. Make sure yours is the proper format, and submitted to Google.

Don't ruin your hard work.

While it's important to prepare for the future, don't overlook the basics. Keyword-rich text and title still matter. Quality links to your site are still essential SEO components. Just because you've discovered new Internet toys for SEO doesn't mean that you should turn away from the tried-and-true methods. Use both for maximum results.

By taking the time to ensure every aspect of your Web site is ready for universal search, you maximize your chances of getting your name in front of potential clients and customers. Follow these tips and jump to the front of the search engine multimedia race.