How to OWN a SERP

Recently a client asked me why we are recommending they create a blog, a Wikipedia page, a Google Knol, and a YouTube channel with videos. They couldn't understand what one had to do with the other. We often refer to the combination of these tactics as Reputation Management. And while we find it essential to control as much of the search engine results page (SERP) for a client for messaging reasons, we also like the fact that it just plain allows an opportunity to own as much of the real estate on a SERP as possible.

But since most search engines only allow up to 2 links from a single domain, you must create optimized presence in a variety of domains in order to do that. With strategic website choices (like those I mentioned above) and appropriate tagging and optimization, a client can achieve many slots in a SERP, even for competitive phrases. If done well, a client can potentially own all 10 first page results.

Google Knol Now Open For Contributions

Last December we wrote about Google Knol and now it is open for contributions. The difference between Knol and Wikipedia is that authorship is strongly encourages and every knol will be associated with an author or a group of set authors. Knol also favors multiple knolls on the same subject, allowing people to voice their opinion on a specific topic.

If there is an existing Knol on a topic and someone reading it wants to add or contribute to it, the author of that Knol can accept, reject or modify the suggested edit. A Knol can also include ads from Google Adsense, providing that author with a revenue share.

So far, I find Knol to be really easy to read and there are mostly articles about health related topics. Knol also allows you to include a biography about yourself to show your credibility in the particular subject you wrote about. This may become a great tool for businesses to be authoritative within Google about subjects that pertain to their business.

Check out Google Knol and see how you can contribute.