Using google search as your website search? Options

[kajax101]

I'm conemplating using google search (limited to my site) on my web site.

Does anyone have any opinions on this or perhaps some statistics or studies that illustrate if this is a good idea?

What are the general guidlines for this sort of thing?

-thanks

[domokun]

i havent used it myself but ive seen it successfully implemented on many sites (highrankings.com/forum/ to name but one). personally i can see no down side.
the results aren't displayed in the theme of your site (unlike atmoz) but then users generally have a high regard for google so this should not detract from your site

[Grumpus]

You can set it up so that it shows your logo and links back to your homepage in the results. The colors and all of that are configurable, too...

http://www.google.com/services/free.html

I've used it before and it works. Remember, things can be old, so it's not going to have your most recent updates in there and if your site is large, it's not always going to have the entire site, but otherwise, it's handy, and fun.

G.

[kajax101]

Cool, I tried these features out and although useful, are somewhat limited.

I assume the search opens in a new window, this could be somewhat confusing for users.

In any case, the feature is a quick and easy way to provide search on your website.

Any more views if using google seach on your site (to enable seaches of your site's content) is the way to go?

[Grumpus]

I assume the search opens in a new window,

I don't remember if it does by default or not. I also don't remember if there's a tickbox when you congure it that will allow you to choose or not. If not though, you can simply remove the "target=whatever" from the form action code and it'll open in the same window.

You need to know a little about forms and such, but you can make that puppy play lots of tricks. The only real area you don't have total control over is how the results page looks. If I remember right, it's just the logo and colors that you can mess with.

G.

[kbaldwin]

I've been there and done that. Unless Google has every one of your pages indexed, it's useless.

[travelslang]

As regards integration of results from google into your web site you may wish to consider using the google web services which allow a user to download information directly. Thus you may format the dataset however you wish. I have an example used at travelslang.com, a vb.net site which has a function to let users find additional map links for the particular city or country they are currently at. The call to instantiate the original object is:

Dim gsSearch As New com.google.api.GoogleSearchService()

[xyZed]

I tried the Google search on Washerhelp a few months back. I was excited to have found it after being disatisfied with Atomz results. However, I removed it immediately when I realised it takes people away from your site too easily. If people search for a keyword or kewords, and they don't find what they want (even though what they want may be on your site but they just disn't search with the right keywords) then Google search lets them try elsewhere. Quick as a flash they are gone.

[kajax101]

Thanks for the tip, make sense actually.


I sometimes think that building a website and running it is a bit like building and running jurassic park....just when you think you've got every angle covered....'nature' behaves in an upredictable way....just like your site users.

Adding search seems a good idea, but not if it leads people away from your site.

Still, I'm very interested to hear other opinions.


-Thanks

[xyZed]

The other thing I disliked about the Google search feature was that there were no logs made available. There was no way of seeing what people are searching for once they arrive at my site. To me, this is an essential element of having a search box.

I eventually decided that (for me) a search feature was potentially counterproductive. When I used the Atomz search engine, over a few month period, I noticed from the logs that most people were searching inappropriately and without thought or skill. Most searches produced no results (and they presumably left) but I knew the information they wanted was on my site. If they'd just gone to the "repair FAQ section" for example, they would have seen what they wanted.

On some sites they are very useful, but you need to think carefully about whether yours needs one or whether it's just something you think is "cool" so-to-speak.

My major concern is that they can discourage people from actually reading your site properly and they may foster a lazy "give-it me-now" attitude akin to smash and grab instead of arriving at your site and looking at the Navigation, reading sections (and maybe going off at a tangent when they see other interesting content)

[kajax101]

Well I think I know what you mean, but that's just the nature of the internet, people are lazy and it's this lazyness that drives the push for usability.

I personally very rarely use site search beacause most times the results suck, and I would consider myself a reasonably intelligent searcher, I can find anything I need with google very easily, in fact I will often use google to search for items on a specific site, rather than a websites own search.

Jakob Nielsen is a big fan of search and uses http://www.mondosoft.com/mondosearch.asp on his site. In fact, his search results ( http://useit.mondosearch.com/cgi-bin/MsmFi...UERY=search+box )
are some of the best I've ever found on a web site, alot of the others I've seen are really useless.