The main intention of search engine optimisation as a promotional process is to obtain an organic search engine positioning on “Google page one”. A searcher performs a search request using a selected keyword and the search platform creates a results listing, and the potential client typically makes a selection from those present on page one. There are enough statistics that show how rarely searchers look at the results provided on page two and beyond. The search platforms currently return one or two page URL addresses per domain on a search, but that should not be a problem. As long as one of your business’s pages is noticeable, However, there is a concept known as “universal search” that many people may not be aware of, but according to some search optimization professionals it is possible for an organisation’s domain to acquire enough URL backlinks on a search results listing that one company could take up every organic search engine positioning on page one.

Universal search has been around for a few years, since the search platforms expanded the content of search results to include references from several sources such as maps, video and news feeds, and it is theoretically possible for your organization to be included in several places at once and expand the chances of multiple entries on the results page. Are your search optimization processes able to achieve this?

A mention on a map is relatively easy to manage with the increasing tendency towards local search, so as long as the business’s trading address is readily read by the search platforms. It can be no shock that the other ways of attracting multiple references on a results page involves dispersing content relevant to your website on social sites. However, once you have the content distributed widely, you are able to build backlinks from your primary website to the additional locations – and these additional locations are classed as third parties so the backlinks will contribute to the search platform algorithm backlink factors when deriving a ranking, a bonus for your existing search optimization effort.

It is simpler to understand how this could work for some types of organization than others. YouTube, the video hosting site, is classed a social media site. The dedicated website to publicise the new musical, Love Never Dies, includes many rehearsal videos but these are all hosted on YouTube while being viewable on the show’s site. For a small organization it is difficult to see how a YouTube reference could help, unless you are trying to demonstrate the use of a new product that you are trying to sell.

For the other networks usually thought of as social media there is the same old question. search engine optimisation only has a direct influence on information gleaned from conventional websites outside the social services. There seems little justification for a presence inside Facebook or places like it if your organization has nothing exceptional to offer and it is too difficult to maintain the multiple presences. It is better to remain fully outside than half in.

For a larger organization, targeting all the possible outlets to make the most of universal search is viable and achieving the total domination of a results page one is possible. However if that case, a potential client may be tempted to look at a search engine positioning that is not on page one after all, so it is wise to keep up the normal search engine optimisation effort without having to redirect all the work to other channels.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Business and Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.