What happens when your visitors can't find what they want on your website? They might be bored, probably they're hungry for more or they might want to refine their search. If you have a Google Search Box, you can now retain these 'quitters' — and make money from ads they click from their search results!
The Google Search Box isn't just an added convenience for your visitors — it can actually make you money!
If your AdSense ads are being ignored, add a link at the bottom of the
AdSense ads, inviting visitors to try Google search. A simple note should do the trick. Try something like: "Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!"
A Google Search box allows your visitors to specify their exact search terms, thereby "pulling" more relevant ads to your page. Using the Search feature, you can pull up on-demand AdSense ads at the top of the search results.
At the bottom of the Google text ads, place a link to the Google Search bar, inviting readers to Search for better-targeted content and offers. When visitors click an ad, YOU get paid!
You can invite users to search within the website or the entire web.
As far as possible, use a staid gray button for the Google search feature. It looks more believable — and legitimate! Note that Google has not played around with its own search buttons, although the logo itself has undergone many theme-based transformations.
Fig 7.1 The "Search" feature is an important part of content-rich websites. On my website above, users are invited to search different threads within the website 'by keyword' and 'by username'. Check it out at:
http://forums.dealofday.com/search.php?
Google Search Boxes are getting increasingly popular with Internet Forums, enabling users to pull up relevant text ads "on demand"!
7.2 Learn How To Add Google Search To Your Web Page!
Adding Google Search to your Web page is very easy. This Step-by-Step Tutorial shows you how:
7.3 To Search Or Not To Search
Putting a Google search box on your site brings advantages and
disadvantages. The big plus is that all the ads the user sees are going to be relevant. The user chooses the keyword so the results are going to be right in line with what the user wants.
On the other hand, that means you’ve got no control over the keywords they choose so you can’t try to promote high-paying keywords. You have to take what you’re given. You could have a high click-through rate but low revenues (although there’s still no guarantee that the user will click on an ad rather than an unpaid listing on the search results page.)
But your users will leave your site at some point anyway. Why shouldn’t you try to make money when they do click away? Even if Search doesn’t bring you huge amounts of money, you should still use it as an added revenue source and to bring extra functionality to your users. I look at it this way. If a visitor doesn’t find what they want on my site, I’d prefer that they leave some change in the “tip jar” on the way out the door!
7.4 Home Page Searching
One way to increase your revenues from searching is to encourage your users to use your site as their home page.
Many users have Google as their home page. If you’re offering the same
service as Google, using their search box and delivering their results, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be searching from your page — and giving you revenue from the ads.
Just encourage your users, especially users with Google as their home page, to switch to you, and you’ll be able to make the most of your search function and your ads.
7.5 Customizing Your Search Google lets you customize the search box to match your site in the same way that you can customize your ad units. But a different principle applies here:
you want to prevent your ads from looking like ads; you want your search box to look like a search box.
You can certainly make the box look like part of your site so that it looks attractive but as I said, keep the button grey.
People trust Google to deliver results that they want. If the search box
reminds them of Google, they’re more likely to use it than go to Google.com and search from there.
7.6 An Innovative Search Script
Bob Rankin of www.tourbus.com shares a custom-made javascript that
allows you to suggest additional search terms for your users. Note that is a violation of Google’s Terms of Service to modify the search code. However, this script is independent of the search code, though it does dabble with the input.
Simply replace ABC, DEF and GHI in the script below with whatever search terms you wish to provide as suggestions for your visitors.
// change forms[0] to forms[n] as needed.
Suggested Searches
Click a highlighted word below, then press the Search button.
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