We received an email this morning from HubSpot.  HubSpot is an internet marketing company based out of Cambridge, MA that is setting online world on fire. In just a couple of years, they have added more than 2,000 customers.  The email I received I’m sure was just to keep us warm as a prospect but they made some great points so I want to share some of them here.

The gist of the email is that now that Google has added Universal Search and Realtime Search to the Search Engine Results Page the landscape of that page has really changed.  In the old days, let’s say 2006, if you were a marketer you wanted not only  to be on the first page but you wanted to be in the top 5 results.   Those results were so important because they were above the fold’ and at eye level for the searcher.  Today, traditional search results have often been replaced with maps, images, videos, local listings and even realtime listings for Twitter etc.

I don’t want to steal all of HubSpot’s content from their email but you can find part of it below.  I’m sure if you sign up for their websitegrader.com service or contact them directly at hubspot.com they would be happy to provide the complete discussion.

FROM HUBSPOT EMAIL

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1) New Real Estate

Before universal search, SEO (search engine optimization) was all about creating remarkable content that people would link to and would be optimized for certain keywords so that your web pages would show up as one of those top 10 search results (the first page). But now, those 10 spots are cut down to 9, 8, 7, or fewer. Some of that old real estate is now reserved for different kinds of content across the web – video, images, etc. – that are on their own ranking algorithm.

There are new opportunities to get on that first page of search results, and businesses need to create multimedia content to take advantage of this new real estate. That means posting videos to YouTube, photos to Flickr, and tagging this multimedia content as thoroughly as possible.

2) More Emphasis on Top Search Results

With these new, visually appealing, search results part way down the first page of search results, there is now a visual barrier that focuses users’ eyes even more on the top of the search results page. We already know from eye tracking heat map analysis that users focus on the “golden triangle” (planted in the top left hand corner of the SERP) and few people scroll to the bottom of the page or go on to the second, third, etc. SERP.

It’s very possible that this multimedia will continue to focus users’ eyes on the top of the first SERP, so your website better be one of the first search results.

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To me,  the key point they make is at the end of the first paragraph… “That means posting videos to YouTube, photos to Flickr, and tagging this multimedia content as thoroughly as possible.” If your website can’t hold the first position in Google don’t you at least want some multimedia content there that will eventually get more visitors to your site?

For example, Rewatchable has a client that offers maybe the most delicious coffee in the world.  Jaho is a siphon coffee shop that is located in Salem, MA.  Jaho has two shops in Salem and also sells coffee machines and supplies all over the world via Jaho.com.  Because we produced a video for them and optimized it for Google and YouTube, a video of their shop shows up as one of the very first results in Google.  (see screenshot below) When they first engaged with Rewatchable, Jaho wanted to do the video production so they could have a video for their website visitors to enjoy.  They ended up getting a video for  all of the web to enjoy!  Now, Jaho essentially has an adwords ad with a picture and its totally  free.

Siphon Coffee Shop Video Result in Google From Universal Search

Thanks to HubSpot for making some great points about video and universal search in their email.  HubSpot makes lots of great points.  In fact, their CEO Brian Halligan just wrote a book called Inbound Marketing that is extremely enlightening.  We had the pleasure of videoing a presentation by Brian at The Franklin Club in Boston, Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago and Brian was pretty amazing.  We will be releasing that video on behalf of the Franklin Club in the next few days.

Rewatchable is a Boston Video Production Company