For some time now, Google has been presenting its search results in what it calls “universal search” but which everyone else calls “blended search.”
In addition to displaying regular web pages, results from its news, video, images, local and book search engines are mixed together (blended) on the standard SERP; you’ve seen it a million times. This situation presents, at least for now and at least according to Forrester, a potentially easier way to achieve the holy grail of first-page listings on Google.
Now I don’t know if there is any easy way to getting to first page on Google. There are no magic bullets. But one thing is for sure; if you aren’t optimizing images, video and audio content, it is time to start.
As far as getting your search term on page one, the idea is that if you optimize, say, videos for a given search term, it could suddenly get launched to page one because there is less competition. A real problem is that I have yet worked out when search results are blended and when they aren’t. If you know more, please share your knowledge in the comments section below.
A lot of our search terms at work are “long tail” and they are less likely to produce a SERP with blended results. So take Forrester’s advice with a pinch of salt.
Anyway, the fact remains that,:
* Fewer than 20% of marketers put keywords into the file names of videos on their sites
* Even fewer marketers write keyword-rich captions
* Just as few create online video libraries
So if you’ve never considered using keyword-rich files names and tags for all images, video and audio, and ALT text for images, or if you back-burnered it, now is the time to start.
Of course, you should never be dishonest. File names and tags should describe the content being presented accurately. Put yourself in your visitor’s place. Make sure that you are leading users to the right stuff.