There was a lot of moaning and groaning in the SEM world when Google revealed Universal Search results. But others, like me, saw it as a huge opportunity - a chance to a vie for a few more spots in the Search Engine Results Pages by submitting and optimizing varying types of content.

In my SEO dream, I envision a top spot in the sponsored listings, with a paid ad. It’s not SEO, but it’s so easy and predictable that you have to do it.

Then, my Local business listing would appear as one of the three results in the Google Maps area above the natural results.

Of course, that would be followed by my top spot in the organic results, complete with 8 site links beneath it.

The top 10 results would also include a video, a photo, a podcast and a PDF result from my website.

I wouldn’t own the entire first page, but it certainly wouldn’t leave much real estate for my competitors to occupy.

That would be the grand slam of optimization. Crazy? Maybe, but……

LINK BUILDING

LinkBait=Link Building Through Social Sites - Create content which appeals to members of Social web sites, like StumbleUpon and Digg, and you might attract hundreds of links to your web site.

7 Signs of a Low Quality Directory - Some criteria that will help you to evaluate directories.

THE SEARCH RESULTS

Google Double Listings - Some tips on how to get those coverted double, indented listings in the Google SERPS.

Optimizing PDFs - Your PDFs can appear in the Universal Search Results, but if they are duplicate content, you may not want them to.