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Google Custom Search

Google Custom Search o Google Custom Search, is a service provided by Google Inc. that allows you to configure a custom search function for your website.

Features

If you set up Google Custom Search on your website, a Google search box will be integrated into it and will provide the respective search functionality. Unlike the normal Google search engine, your search will not cover the entire web. Instead, it will be a custom search in which the web operator defines which pages will be searched. It can be differentiated as follows:

  • www.example.com/page.html - Individual subpages.
  • www. example.com/* - Full site.
  • www. examplee.com/docs/ - Certain areas of a web page.
  • .example.com - Entire domain including all subdomains.

At the same time as the web portal on which this search function is configured, other websites can be searched using the personalized Google search. Therefore, the site operator can directly influence the search results that will be displayed. Once all the necessary adjustments have been made, the site operator can integrate the search box on your website. For this, Google provides an HTML code that can be embedded in the region from your home page. At the same time, a public URL can be retrieved by custom search directly from the browser, equivalent to the normal Google search engine.

Customization options

There is a wide range of ways to customize your personalized Google search. Some examples:

  • Incorporation of Google image search.
  • Websites to search.
  • Incorporation of Google AdSense ads on search results pages.
  • Graphic adaptation with many pre-established designs and layouts.
  • Custom graphic adaptation in terms of font, border color and background color.
  • Activation of autocomplete search terms.
  • Connecting Google Custom Search with Google Analytics to review the search behavior of site visitors.

Both the search box itself and the search results pages can be highly customized to your pages in terms of layout, so at first glance it is difficult to see that it consists of an external service. In this YouTube video explains how to precisely configure Google custom search.

Costs

The personalized search on Google is free, despite everything, there are some limitations. It cannot be absolutely personalized in terms of design. At the same time, the search box will show up as a custom Google search. If you don't want to or feel like making more design modifications, you can upgrade to the paid version of Google Site Search. The annual price varies based on the total number of searches per year and typically ranges from $ 100 to $ 2,000.

Advantages of Google Custom Search

Google Custom Search has many benefits for both site operators and users:

  • The weaknesses of the search capabilities in the CMS can be overcome.
  • Search term suggestions that have yielded little or no results.
  • Use of search alternatives and filters.
  • The limitation to your own website is feasible.
  • Easy incorporation and operation.
  • Earn money from Google AdSense ads on search results pages.
  • Use without costs.

Relevance for SEO

Google's personalized search is not of significant importance for search engine optimization, since the ranking of a website cannot be affected by its use. But it is essential, despite everything, in the field of conversion optimization. A functional and easy-to-use search function is essential to ensure good usability. Google's custom search can usually serve this purpose better than an internal search.

R Marketing Digital