One of the simple changes you can make to your feed is the product name, which is similar to a title tag on a website. It ends up being the hypertext people click on, so it can affect clickthrough rates just like good ad titles for PPC or good page titles and snippets for organic results. But what exactly makes for a good title?
Well, just like PPC and Organics, your results may vary. However, what I’ve found to work well is a combination of things.
I’ve been sort of wondering this for a while, but at SES I heard a response from a Google rep in a session that made a lot of sense.
Since we know that onebox refers to the fact that there is just one search box, Universal is technically onebox results. He said to think of Universal as “Onebox Version 2″. Universal, which has a lot of people really freaked out, is just an evolution of the onebox results that we’ve been seeing for years and really isn’t something to fear, but rather something to learn, understand, love and dominate. Don’t look at it as something getting in the way of the organic results… think of it as opportunities to do something different for once to end up on the same first page of search results.
There’s been some confusion over this name, not only from newbies, but also among some experienced SEO’s and marketers. You see, Onebox results have nothing to do with the little “Box” drawn around them (imaginary or otherwise). In fact, the name isn’t from those results at all. It all goes back to the page before your results - the search page. These results come about from a single search box (one box) on the Google homepage, presenting you with options without having to search in any different manner than you’re accustomed to.
Brian Mark is a forum regular around the web and a speaker at Search Engine Strategies. He has worked at ToolBarn.com since 1999, taking the online retailer of power tools from a few orders per week to an Internet Retailer Top 500 company.
