Search Engine Optimization

Google Rolls Out Universal Search

John Bradley "JJ" Jackson

17 Dec 2007 • 1 min read

Just when you thought your website was fully optimized, Google has decided to change their search engine ranking algorithm--- again. Now, more than ever, it makes sense to look for help with search engine optimization (SEO) since what worked last year won’t be working as well in 2008.

Google has shaken things up by introducing "Universal Search" which is a system that will combine listings from its news, video, images, local and book search engines. This information is gathered by their search engine spiders that crawl along the web.

This new ranking methodology was introduced for anyone using the English version of Google.com. This change should help searchers find more relevant information without having to dig deep into pages of unrelated search results. You will still get ten search items per page but you can now expect to see video and image listings also included.

For the website owner, the bar just got raised again. High rankings will require more content including video and image results. It seems that keeping up with these changes favors an ongoing relationship with a SEO firm who can stay on top of things.

I think the pundants' forecast of easy-to-use, do-it-yourself web design and SEO maintenance was greatly exaggerated. Thanks Google.