Leveraging Universal Search to Grow Traffic and Revenues for Your Business

Universal search is here. To most of us, it’s a logical next step in the search evolution. Basically, instead of just text links to a search query, you’ll get a mash of video, images, local findings and more (Just check out this search for Darth Vader). Ask.com has been promoting their universal search capabilities for a while.

The onset of universal search creates a number of opportunities and challenges for business content marketing. The majority of businesses who create content do so in text format – web versions of magazine content, eNewsletters, even blogs. In order to garner more attention from search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask, businesses will have to begin diversifying their content streams similar to the way they diversify their revenue streams.

All of our marketing plans in some way rely on search engines. Obviously, we continually gather data and information from customers in order to communicate with them directly…but search engines provide maybe “the” forum for prospecting customers. If search engines went away, it wouldn’t kill most businesses, but it would hurt. Either way, as user behavior becomes more accustom to receiving video and audio communications from businesses, it is those formats that will garner the highest rate of attention.

Here is a short list of initiatives you need to seriously consider now to take advantage of the shift to universal search:

1. If you or any of your employees are presenting at in-person events, be sure you video and audio tape it, and retain the rights to reproduce it on your site. With minimal additional cost, you have just added two great content pieces to your web content strategy. If you are still in love with text, create a transcript of it and post that as well on your site.  Give your customers options.  Everyone likes to engage in content in different ways.
2. Repurpose your current content into all available options.  For example, if you produce a print custom magazine, you can repurpose that into a digital magazine version, chop it up into html articles to send via an enewsletter or how on your site, repackage themed content into a content-based microsite, create audio versions or podcasts of the articles, and more. By doing so, and making these initiatives available on the web, you’ll have a greater opportunity to get picked up by universal search.

The Most Important Step

Even by doing all of the above, and getting more traffic to their main sites, most businesses fall short on their websites because they don’t know what behavior they want. Do you have a clear plan of what you want your customers to do on your website?  If not, get one.

Many of my clients get excited when they see spikes in traffic to their sites.  That’s great…but I’m more concerned with hitting our goal conversions.  For most projects, the goal conversion is getting a person’s name and contact information. You do this by creating a content offer on your site. Bob Bly, famous copywriter and internet marketing guru, always pushes the “free on free” concept. Give your customers the ability to subscribe to a free piece of quality content (eZine or eNewsletter), and if they do so, give them a free report that has some significant value. Once you get their information, then you can begin to communicate with them directly to ultimately sell them your product or service.

So, businesses must prepare for universal search, but must do so with an eye on the true end goal. Traffic for traffic’s sake is not a winning proposition for your business.

Not sure about universal search…check out this success story.

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Related Articles:

• Why Most Custom Publications Aren’t Measured
• Stop Shouting Features: 5 Tips To Create a Knowledge Marketing Program
• 4 Content Marketing Essentials for Every Business

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