I have written in the past about the importance of having videos, blogs, etc. in your marketing plan.  With the news today that Google is testing a new Google search sidebar, I am even more convinced.  Why?

This new sidebar will be placed as a permanent fixture in the Google search engine.  This means more people will click these options.  If someone is doing an organic search for your niche, Google is making it even easier for them to search other verticals such as videos and blogs.

So how can you prepare for this?

• Create videos around your niche and post those videos to YouTube and other popular video portals.
• Optimize your images (image name, alt tag) for the page you place them in.
• If you don’t already have a blog, it’s time to get one.  Focus your blog around your niche.
• Submit press releases for product launches or announcements.
• Participate in industry specific forums.  Don’t spam, but participate.

Google has recently added new search options.  There is now a “Show options” link that appears above the Google search results.  Clicking this link opens up a left panel with additional options.  You can display video results, forum results and reviews.  You can even narrow it down by time.  This is something all web marketers should pay attention to when creating and optimizing their online material.  The ability to narrow down search by time (past 24 hours, past week, etc. ) is very powerful and something web masters should take note of.  Many searchers will want to see most recent content first, so it is even more important for websites and blogs to generate fresh and relevant content.  I was happy to see that we place #1 in a video search for one of our target search phrases.  This convinces me that creating videos is important in your online marketing efforts.  Check out Google’s video below explaining these new search options.