What's New in Search for 2010

2010 is reportedly bringing some substantial changes in the world of search. One of the most considerable changes is the consolidation of the three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) into just two actual engines at work: Google and Bing. While Yahoo will take control of running Bing's MSN Ad Center for paid search, Bing will power Yahoo's natural listings.
These changes create a healthy amount of questions: Will the new Bing-Yahoo collaboration create a suitable competitor for Google, in something like a search duopoly? Will the changes be more relevant for the searcher? How will the changes affect natural rankings? The list of questions goes on and on, but we've nailed down a few basic things to keep an eye on during the next year to maintain control of your hard-earned rankings and also stay afloat in the ever-changing game of search.

1. Conventional SEO tactics still apply. Although we do expect there to be some algorithmic changes on the horizon, Bing and Google will likely continue to use industry-accepted SEO practices for the coming year. That said, marketers would be wise to keep an eye on any changes that might alter these algorithms, as mentioned below (see Google Caffeine). One way to keep abreast of upcoming changes is to create an account on Webmaster Tool Centers (Bing, Google, Yahoo).

2. Both Google and Bing are currently making similar plans for the future: namely, displaying more "blended search", which will index information from various databases to put on natural rankings. What this means is we will be seeing more and more multimedia, real time news, and social networking content appearing on the natural search results. As these new listings will both affect and be affected by search, it will be more and more vital for marketers to make these "alternate" marketing tools a part of their long-term strategy, use social media appropriately, diversify their online presence, and reap the benefits. With the search engines now incorporating Twitter feeds into their search results, and Google now reviving the "instant add" feature seen on Infoseek in the late 1990's, it is becoming increasingly important to have more of an online omnipresence.

3. Keep content a top priority. Not only does your content need to be suitable and relevant for the user, your content and data management needs to be structured in such a way that it can be indexed quickly and easily. This is more important than ever, as Google Caffeine will likely involve some shifts to rankings, and having a well-organized and hierarchical data structure will ensure you are in the best position to maintain and/or regain your rankings.

4. If you are not currently using a web analytics program, get one! With the focus shifting to blended search results, you need to know if your visitors are coming from an ad, image, video, natural rankings, Facebook or Twitter, or somewhere else altogether. A good analytics program will tell you on which types of media you should focus your online presence, and it is worthwhile to spend some time learning about which types of analytics programs best suit your company's needs.

5. Prep for Google Caffeine! According to some sources, we will likely see a shift in natural rankings, perhaps around 15% on average. The biggest pool affected will probably be the single keywords, as Google will be indexing more web catalog pages for single word brand or head terms. This should increase the relevancy and value for searchers, but will create greater competition for marketers. On the flip side, there may be less competition for the long-tail, multi-keyword phrase searches, so marketers may have a better chance of getting their product pages and deep-level pages indexed.

In addition to those projected changes, Caffeine users should also be seeing search results display in about half the time. So if you're worried that 0.32 seconds isn't fast enough to see what you are looking for, get ready for 0.16 seconds. Google Caffeine will also be displaying more universal (think "blended") search listings in the first three pages due to its greater emphasis on indexing multimedia and "lifecasting", or networking, sites than on previous versions of Google.

To sum up 2010's forecasted search environment, marketers would do well to continue their "tried and true" SEO strategies, as well as to prep for an increased flexibility as rankings may change once Google Caffeine rolls out. Also, the increasing focus on social networking and multimedia sites should be an encouragement to companies to expand their online presence, or at least strongly consider the subject in their long-term strategy planning.

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Contributed by Amanda Finch, VP Operations, Titan SEO, Inc.

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What's New in Search for 2010