Recently I was mending a fence in my front yard. The U.S. Mail truck came by and dropped a few items in my mail box by the street. It was a hot day so I set my hammer down, grabbed my lemonade, and headed over to get the mail. I was pleased to see the Summer 2007 edition of Search Marketing Standard.

Like most online marketing professionals I do the majority of my reading and research online. I have my favorite news sites, forums, and blogs just like anyone else. The print version of Search Marketing Standard is a welcome rest from the hours of screen time I rack up each day.

While the magazine is barely over a year old, I think it has quickly become a useful tool for anyone interested in the search marketing industry. Packed with information on search and online marketing, it may be a must read for anyone new to the industry.

Veteran search marketers will appreciate articles like this month’s feature on SEM training and certification. Other informed articles give depth to topics like link baiting, local search advertising, and paid search quality scores. All of these topics are discussed daily within any larger search marketing organization. Search Marketing Standard has done well in targeting industry insiders’ constant quest for knowledge.

Top search marketers will continue to take the initiative to read and research online. For this reason the articles in Search Marketing Standard may seem like last week’s or last month’s news, however newbies and professionals that need to catch up will appreciate what is inside these pages.

I look forward to future issues and I enjoy the print piece as almost a novelty. I’ve put the magazine in my tool box and look forward to reading it rather than fixing that squeaky stairway this weekend. You may want to take it on the airplane with you, to the doctor’s office, or toss it on the coffee table next to that dog eared copy of Wired.

Read Duncan’s review of Search Marketing Standard’s premier issue.

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Everyone paying attention should now know about the rollout of Google’s Universal SERP. With the introduction of the new search results format, new opportunities and challenges present themselves depending on the website’s business model and goals.

In this entry I’m going to discuss some examples of how sites can effectively use Google’s new search format to oust the competition with a greater share of the SERP.

Real Estate:
There are two Google vertical products that are integrated with the SERP for a user’s search query on a local real estate agent based on the new Universal format, Google Maps and Google Housing Search. So, combined in this SERP there could be up to four ad mediums to optimize, Google’s organic listings, pay-per-click advertising, Google Maps and Google housing search.

Example (Maps): Search Google.com for a real estate agent in your home town. I’m from Traverse City, Michigan, so I’m searching “traverse city real estate agent”. Below is the result I get.

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If optimized well for organic search, pay-per-click listings, and Google Maps a real estate agency has the clear advantage over the competition allowing the searcher easy access to both your website and the physical location of the business. This example would also be applicable for most brick-and-mortar businesses only interested in geo-targeted, local traffic such as restaurants.

Example (Housing Search): Now change the query to “traverse city real estate” or “traverse city homes”. This time the first listing isn’t for Google Maps or an organic listing, but Google’s Housing Search tool.

(Click Image for Larger View)

Just as with Google Maps, I’m sure you can see the value of being listed in the Google Housing Search. If the searcher doesn’t opt for using the housing search to find your listing, he/she will either click on your well optimized paid or organic listing.

These same concepts will also hold true for e-commerce sites, social networking sites, blogs and lead generation sites using other Google search products such as Google Product Search, Local, News, Images, Video, or Blog Search.

If you follow basketball, a searcher can be compared to an offensive possession. Getting offensive rebounds is just like giving your site multiple listings in the SERP. The more chances you have to score per “possession” or per “search query”, the more likely you will be to attract the click and score a new customer.

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Google recently announced the debut of Universal Search, a major shift in the way the engine will deliver search results.

Increasingly, results from Google’s vertical search engines, such as News, Images, Videos, Blogs, Local and more, will appear within the normal Web search results.

Joining these vertical silos of information with Google’s regular search results will change the search engine landscape forever. In other words, Google is growing up.

Google’s simplicity of design, user friendliness, and massive index of the web have all driven it to become a household name and the number one search engine in the world in less than 10 years. Now Google is developing new and innovative ways to grow its brand and business through universal search.

These new changes are a logical maturation of Google’s search results. More than ever, content creators and search engine marketers must think vertically. This is an opportunity for companies to have additional visibility in more places, as well as broaden their audience. The meshing of vertical search should provide the Google user with more relevant results and more options for finding information in a one-stop search engine shop.

I have to give a hand to Google for finding a way to integrate all of its services into one. Google has spent lots of resources on research and development of new vertical search services. Now Google can highlight and unify all of these services and continue to grow as the world’s number one search engine.

How will these changes affect PPC and natural positioning? Wise search marketers who pay attention to trends in the search marketing world will have no problem with the changes. As a new opportunity for growth, optimization will be more important than ever. As a comprehensive search solution, universal search should also be helpful to searchers who have simply ignored Google’s vertical search options, missing out on the good content available.

Is universal search the wave of the future for search? Regardless, thanks to Google the future is now.

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