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Everyone is familiar with the big Internet Search Engines like Google and Yahoo, what I'm referring to is a tool that searches just your website for whatever keywords the visitor enters. These tools work just like the big boys with the search box and resulting search results pages with links to pages containing the requested keywords.
Except for the smallest of websites, say under 10 pages or so, a site search tool will really help you understand what information your visitors are searching for. Plus if you get a decent amount of traffic, I'll show you how you can make a few dollars as well.
All well designed websites should already have an easy to use navigation system to aid the visitor in finding what they are looking for. You may also have a site map to assist the visitor as well. But there will be times when this is not enough for the visitor to find what they are looking for. A search tool gives the visitor the ability to search for information in their terms allowing you to take a peek inside their minds.
Good search tools will keep a history of what keywords were used by your visitors. By taking a look at this history, you may see some patterns emerge. For example, you may uncover stumbling blocks in your current navigation that is confusing visitors. You may find additional content to add to your website to help these visitors. By adding new content, you may also attract more visitors from the Internet Search Engines to your site.
Money Making Tip: If you see that your visitors are searching information, products, or services that you do not offer, why not create a page that contains some information for them to read. Then add Google ads, Amazon links, or other affiliate links for your visitors to click on. If you get people to click to these pages, then click on the ads, then you may be able to generate a few dollars for yourself.
Site search tools work in the same manner that the big Internet search engines work. That is these tools are comprised of two separate components: the indexer and the retriever. The indexer program is initiated by the site owner (or sometimes they can be programmed to index automatically) to sweep through your site's web pages. Entries are written into a data file that the retriever program accesses whenever a visitor types their keywords into the search box. A search results page is then generated with links to any applicable pages.
Site search tools can be hosted either on your own server or third-party's server. That decision will be based on how much control you want to have and your comfort level in installing software. In either case you'll be required to add a snippet of code to your pages that will display the search box.
There are literally hundreds of site search programs for you to evaluate. Go to your favorite Search Engine and type in "site search tools" to see some of the big players. For those of you who like to get into nitty-gritty of installing your own software, often times for free, visit HotScripts.com. Type in "site search" and select your programming language of choice and click search. You'll be presented with plenty of programs to choose from.
Some of the tools I've used over the years have been Google Free, Atomz, and Thunderstone Webinator. For hosted solutions on a third-party server, you're going to pay based on the number pages that you index. For software solutions that you install and host, then the costs range from free to thousands of dollars based on the features and technical support offered.
One product that I want to highlight is WrenSoft's Zoom Search Engine. I was contacted by one of my clients a couple of years ago to replace a site search tool they had installed. This client is a non-profit and needed to index over 50,000 web pages. Cost was a big issue with this client and the reason they were dumping their current site search provider. The large number of web pages was a big stumbling block for many inexpensive search products. After investigating dozens of company's products I came across Zoom. Zoom offered search tools written in PHP, ASP, and JavaScript. But they also have a CGI version that was built to handle a large number of web pages. And at $99 for their Pro Edition, this solution was a perfect fit. To see this tool in action, visit GSENet.org.
I hope I was able to inspire you to give this powerful tool some consideration for your website.
Mark Beck is Vice President and Partner of The Boulevard Group, a full service internet services company specializing in web design, web development and internet marketing. The Boulevard Group serves a broad customer base and provides services that include dynamic content management systems, database-driven ecommerce catalogs and shopping carts, and traditional brochure-style web sites. Mark formerly provided content to the Duct Tape Marketing blog where he covered topics relating to web design and internet marketing. He may be contacted at
Mark@theblvdgroup.com or by calling 908-876-3707. |
