Google Custom Search

Some websites need a search facility – on a complex site with lots of pages, it can be a quick and simple way for a user to find what they’re looking for. One of the best search facilities we’ve found is Google’s Custom Search facility. Simply put, it is a Google search that is restricted to searching for stuff on your website.

Building a Good Search engine

It’s pretty easy to make a case for using Google’s search engine: Most people (about 90% in South Africa) use it over other search engines because it gives the results that are closest to what they are looking for. There are a number of site-specific Search facilities that you can use – and we could even build one for you – but none of them would work as well as Google’s.

Costs

A basic Google Custom search is free, but it comes with Google Ads (those results down the right-hand side of your Google search). This can quickly become a problem because your competitors probably take out Google Ads on the very products and services that you are trying to promote on your website.

To remove the ads costs R1000 per year for up to 1000 pages. The costs go up from there depending on how many pages are on the site.

Additional Features

• The Custom Search will search any websites that you specify. This means you can get it to search from a suite of websites and from your blog.
• The results can be customized, so the colours match those on your site.
• The Search Facility is simple to implement and works on all website browsers.
• It allows you to place promotions in the Results – useful for directing common search queries.

See Google Custom Search implemented on the Trellidor Website