Universal Search = Digital Media & Content

While I am Optiem's go-to resource for SEO, my title and the name of the department don't use words like "organic" or "search" or "engine". Frequently this confuses people because they think what does digital media have to do with search?

At SES San Jose this week Google Engineer David Bailey explained why. In the words of Chris Smith from Netconcepts:

One major piece of advice he [David Bailey] gave to companies who wish to rank well in the new Universal Search paradigm really stood out to me: he recommended that companies look to diversify the types of content they have out there in promoting their products and sites — to work to have content in each of the major vertical areas now, including Images, local business listings in Google Maps, video, news, etc.

Search is now about the types of media you produce, how you distribute them, how they are tagged and used to drive traffic & organic search results for your site. This is something we've been suggesting to our clients for quite some time now but Universal Search makes it easier to understand the reasons why.

18 Questions Your CEO Forgot to Ask When Building Your Website

Great article on StuntDubl.com discussing the benefits of building SEO into your list of priorities when first launching your website. Plus it's chock full o' links to other useful resources. Definitely something to keep handy when doing a new site.

JAWS Video on the Cusp of SEO Friendly

A highly intelligent coworker of mine recently emailed me a great video from Accessify.com. It's about how screen readers can be a tool for web development and design. But the video just misses out on scoring an A+ for failing to mention SEO.

Here's a basic explanation of how this tool helps development, design & search marketing work hand-in-hand...

Tools like JAWS are typically used by blind people to read/hear a website. Your site's code should be "user friendly" for this audience under the American's with Disabilities Act. A nice side benefit of compliance is that your "user friendly" descriptions are typically also keyword rich, helping to reinforce your target keyword set with search engines.

The video walks you through how a JAWS screen reader reads a site's code. This is a fantastic way for designers to understand the usability of their design, for developers to make sure their code is clean and for search engine marketers to evaluate opportunities for keywords. And the moderator keeps mentioning how people who are blind will appreciate easily understood language, but falls short of calling out the specific search marketing implications.

Fisher-Price + Lead Paint = Bad Online PR

The severity of Fisher-Price's announcement regarding lead paint in their toy products is a serious issue. By releasing the products FP put the health of millions of children at risk. As of yet, I have not seen any sort of corporate apology.

Beyond that, it boggles my mind how poorly Fisher Price has used the Internet in their response to the announcement of lead paint in their toys. Further, the only noticeable online response I could find dilutes the entire Mattel brand...bringing down brands like Barbie and HotWheels.

Here are the three key areas where I think Fisher-Price missed the boat:

1. No pay-per-click advertising for keyphrases related to the toy recall. This is a perfect way for FP to regain some control some of the messaging relating to the announcement. Currently FP does not have a placement in the top 10 when searching on Google for "toy recall".
2. The Fisher-Price home page does not include any mention of the recall. The Mattel main page has a large call-to-action "Recall Information", why not Fisher Price? To be fair, the Fisher-Price site does have a permanent link in the navigation "Recall Information" (what does that tell you about their toys?), and I'm not sure what's typically on Mattel's main splash. This leads me to my third point...
   
3. If you click on "Product Recall" from the FP site, it redirects to a page hosted on the Mattel site. This would not be such an issue if Mattel did include all of their other brands like Barbie & HotWheels right across the top.

What are your thoughts on how Fisher Price could have better handled the toy recall?

Reviving Anorexic Web Writing

Great article - note, it's an article not a blog post as discussed in a previous Media Hatch post (yes, mine are posts) - yesterday on A List Apart. My fave quote:

The client balked. “Can’t we just add that (content) later, once the design is finished?”

My inner writer growled, but my outer designer smiled, accustomed to the request. “Sorry; can’t do it. The content is the heart of the website. I can’t build you a body until you give me a heart.”