The future of Search Marketing is here!

Up until recently, if you wanted to be found in Google you would need a simple HTML website that had been indexed.

But hold onto your hats, as things are changing out there - AND FAST!

So what is changing then in the world of search (the process of finding your business in the search engines)? Well, new stats show that YouTube is now the world’s number 2 search engine!

Hold on, I hear you say... YouTube is just a playground for kids to upload videos of their crazy antics whilst trying to impress their mates... Whilst you may be correct in part, what you probably fail to realise is that more and more businesses are utilising YouTube for their own marketing purposes and there is a simple reason for this, Google indexes these videos and shows them in its search results.

Not only that, but Google also lists images, maps, tweets from the infamous Twitter, and news articles (Google News) included in the traditional “10 Blue Links”.

However, many website owners have failed to realise the significance of this evolution in search...

Surprisingly, lots of businesses have incorrect map listings within Google Local Search. Very few even consider creating promotional videos to upload to YouTube. We’re not talking about spending mega bucks here, but a short professional looking clip with keywords will do just fine.

Then come’s the aforementioned Twitter. Seems like everyone is going on about Twitter these days, but with good reason! Misconceptions of it are that its pretty much an extension to MSN and the like for kids to use in their spare time, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Google now indexes tweets in its search results and due to this, quick thinking businesses are utilising Twitter’s tweets to communicate with their customers. Does your business make the most of this?

Critics suggest that Facebook will eventually outmuscle Google for search in the coming years, as it continuously develops its platform. True, it does seem unlikely at this point, but if you think how long people actually spend on Facebook on a daily basis, its not as daft as it sounds. As the amount of time they spend on Facebook each day increases (which it will do), then demand for access to information goes up therefore Facebook will command more search traffic.

What’s more, now that we have Smart Phones all over the place, people have more direct access to these social platforms. Finding a video on youtube, changing your status on Facebook or tweeting that all important update to your followers only takes seconds.

So with that in mind, does your business take part in the “Social Web”. Do you have Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts that you use regularly as part of your marketing?.

If not you should be paying attention to these new methods for finding information and make sure you have them in place in order to benefit.