Google Universal Search

Big changes are happening at Google. If you regularly use the Google search engine you will soon be affected by these changes although there's a chance you may not even notice them to begin with, as they will be in the form of links in the blue bar which appears along the top of the search results page.

Put simply, the Google Universal Search is Google's answer to making their search engine more comprehensive and more useful when it delivers results to your search query. Depending on what you search for, you may have links to the web, to book results, to images, and even video images that are relevant to your search term(s).

The links you see in that blue bar will depend on the nature of your search. A TV program or movie might have images or video options included, while searching for a breaking news event would have the web, news and possibly images as part of the results.

This is packed with potential for website owners, as it gives you further possibilities for marketing your website. If you haven't yet delved into the marketing advantages of making short instructional videos, for example, now might be the time to start.

For example, you could make a video that is relevant to the content on your website, and distribute it for free via a site such as YouTube. If you take time to create a good description of the video (packed with relevant keywords of course) you can eventually expect to get the video indexed by Google, and there is every chance you will then appear in the Universal Search results once it rolls out worldwide.

It may take a while before everyone can access the new way of searching using Google, but if you think about the possibilities it offers you as a website owner now, you could be well ahead of the competition by the time everyone else starts discovering the Universal Search and what it can do.

One aspect that must be kept in mind is that if you currently rank in the top ten against nine other web pages, you will now have other types of internet content competing directly against you to get into that same top ten. Relevant images may now come in as part of that top ten, so it's vital that you stay on the ball and promote your site in as many creative ways as you can.

Google Universal Search is here only time will tell what you will make of it.

Web Profits specialises in search engine optimisation, online marketing & web design, helping businesses generate profits from the Internet. For a free report on 'The Secrets of Online Marketing for Offline Businesses' visit Search Engine Optimisation.