In your Google AdSense
account you can create not
only AdSense for Content
ads but also AdSense for
Search. If it is placed in our
account, then it means that
we can make revenue from
this type of ads also.
Indeed, AdSense says:
"Offer your users site
search or web search while
earning revenue from ads
relevant to their search
terms."
Well, some webmasters
place the Google search
field on their websites and
allow searching the entire
web. I have never
understood this and
believed this to be a kind
of "Google love" that
forces webmaster to
promote their favorite
search engine. Until I have
got AdSense account
myself and read what
Google says about site
search and revenues.
Suddenly the search field
began to make sense.
Free search engine for the
website?
The original Google search
field can be placed on your
website and used to search
only on the pages of your
own website. No other
websites are considered
and displayed in the search
results. It sounds like a
dream, being alone in the
world, no competitors and
the entire Google targets
only your website :) Ahh ….
Well, in this narrowed
search results Google will
display AdSense ads similar
to the ad placement on
the Google official start
page. It means that if your
visitor uses the search field
on your website, goes
through the search results
and clicks on the ad,
Google shares with you.
Do I need any search on
the website?
Definitely, yes. You need
search field on the website
if you would like to track
your individual site search
statistics. This is indeed very
valuable information. It
gives a direct access to the
high wanted long-tail
keywords! You can get the
most from your visitors and
your website, if you exactly
know what and how
literally your visitors search.
Hint, hint! This is a kind of
free individual keyword
tool with the huge
resources for new ideas.
Before you implement the
Google site search (Google
says also "custom search")
let us see the Pros and
Cons of those search fields
and decide if they suit our
website.
Pros of Google custom
search
Save your server
performance . Proprietary
search modules can
produce considerable load
on your web hosting while
people search on your
website. If you have large
website that is regularly
accessed by Google bot
and instantly indexed you
should use Google custom
search instead of the any
custom search module
built into your program.
Proprietary search
modules are only half as
effective as Google
search . Normally, built-in
modules would not use
word stemming, means if I
look for search tips I am
probably also interested in
searching tips and most
searched tips and so on.
Secondly, Google ranks
your website pages exactly
the same way it does with
the entire web. The the
most relevant page is
displayed at the top of the
search results. If we are
honest, no proprietary
module can substitute
Google's power and
algorythm.
Cons of Google custom
search
You website should be
entirely indexed in
Google. The pages that are
not indexed cannot be
found with Google what is
somehow obvious. If you
have a new website and
Google visits you once a
week, the pages added and
created between the
Google visits are not yet
indexed and not included
in the site search.
Only little control over
the look and feel of the
search results . The
settings are similar to the
usual AdSense ads, so that
you can change colors and
to some extend control the
width of the search result
area.
Search statistics is
insufficient . Google shows
you not all searches but
only "the most popular
queries". This is due to
Google's requirement to
protect your users' privacy.
This means the most
valuable part, long tail
keywords would be
probably omitted from the
stats.
The revenue of AdSense
for Search is very poor .
There are two reasons for
it. First, Google shares only
51% of the revenues made
on the site search in
contrary to the AdSense in
Content ads. Second, the
performed searches are
entirely beyond your
control. If your visitor uses
the site search field to
search for jokes and free
SMS services, you cannot
do anything against it, even
if your website targets auto
insurance or network
security.
Now, decide whether to
use the search field or not.
For small to middle
websites where the pages
can be easily found
through navigation
structure I recommend
using proprietary built-in
search modules of your
website creation tool. Be
sure, that your search
module tracks and saves
every query for you. For
the large websites, use
Google custom search to
stay away from the
performance issues related
with searching large
databases.
See all 7 photos
AdSense for search - start
to configure your custom
search engine (click to
enlarge)
How to create a search
engine for website for
free and even get paid
Log into your AdSense
account, select the tab
AdSense Setup. And click
on the link AdSense for
Search.
1. Leave the search type
to Only sites I
select. Normally you
will not offer the
same the Google
already offers,
namely "entire
web" :).
2. Specify the URL or
URLs (one per line)
of the websites or
parts of the websites,
e. g. hubs or lenses
that should be
included into the
search. For example:
http://
myfirstwebsite.com
http://
mysecondwebsite.
com
http://
www.hubpages.com/
hub/myhub1
3. Specify the main
keywords of your
website to tune ads
and search results.
These must not be
your targeted
keywords, just
general terms to
help Google. If visitor
searches for
windows, should he
be served with ads
from home
improvement or with
IT-related ads? Tell
Google what are the
main keywords of
your website.
More options (click to
enlarge)
More Options
Continue with extended
options.
1. Site language is the
primary language of
your website. Google
is able to serve
queries in every
language. However,
the language you
specify here will have
impact on the search
button description.
Should the button
description be
Search, Suche or
Recherche?
2. Site encoding is
technical information
that you are
probably not aware
of. Google tries to
recognize this
information from the
URL(s) your have
specify for the
search. If you would
like to know what
your encoding is,
follow these simple
steps provided by
Google to figure out
the encoding of your
website. If you are
not sure leave the
value as is.
3. Choose the country
for the search results.
For example, if you
choose Germany, the
results will be
displayed from the
domain google.de,
for France google.fr
and so on.
4. You can add channel
to track the number
of queries made
through different site
engines (if you have
many) and separate
the earnings. If you
do not create or
choose an existing
channel, it will be
created
automatically in the
last step.
5. If you allow to search
only on your website
and have the entire
control of the
website content (no
user generated
content or texts
parsed from RSS
feed) you can
uncheck this option.
This way you ensure
that every page of
your website is
included in the
search.
Click on Coninue>>.
Customize the look and
feel of search field
On the next pages you will
define the look and feel of
two elements: search field
and search results. You can
(and should) place the
search field on every page
of your website. It is
recommended to have the
search at the top and (if
required) at the very
bottom of the page. Yes,
you are allowed to place
two search fields on a
single page according to
Google TOS.
AdSense for search -
customize the search
button (click to enlarge)
In this step you define how
the search button should
look like (1) to blend it
with the website. In the
sample area you can
preview the field and the
button. In Text box length
(2) you specify how long
the query (not the field)
can be. In my case if
someone tries to enter
more than 31 characters in
the search field he will not
succeed.
Click on Continue>>
Show search results within
the own website at the
place of primary content
(click on enlarge)
Customize the look and
feel of search results
If you add Google search
field on your website it
would be smart if the
search results are also
displayed within your
website and not on the
usual Google site (even if
they are still narrowed to
your domain only). Imagine
that the search results are
displayed on an ordinary
page of your website at the
place where normally your
main content is. The site
navigation and all other
elements should stay at
their places, only the
primary content is replaced
by the search results.
How to open results
within your own site?
If you would like to open
results as shown above
within your content follow
the steps below.
1. Create a new page in
your website. If you
use CMS or Blogging
tool, create a new
page as you usually
do it and write as
content
"PLACEHOLDER FOR
SEARCH RESULTS".
We will replace this
holder later. Save the
page.
1a. Alternatively, you
can also create a
static HTML page and
write as the content
"PLACEHOLDER FOR
SEARCH RESULTS".
Save the page and
upload it to your
web space.
2. Type the address of
the newly created
page in your browser
address bar. It should
look like any other
page of your website
and you should see
"PLACEHOLDER FOR
SEARCH RESULTS" at
the place of the
primary content.
3. Copy the URL of this
page from the
address bar and
paste into the field
below Open results
within my own site.
AdSense for Search -
customize the look and
feel of search results and
Google ads (click to
enlarge)
1. If you do not like to
blend search results
into your website,
you can choose first
or second option. In
this case you do not
need to create any
special page.
2. Customize the width
of the area where
the search results will
be displayed. This
value should be
greater than or equal
to 795 px.
Unfortunately, you
cannot define here
width in percentage.
This is one of the
cons I have told you
above.
3. Choose location of
the ads on the search
results. Remember,
you cannot opt out!
You can change the
location ads later if
you would like to
optimize the
placement or make
an experiment.
4. Now, blend the ads
colors to the website.
These values can be
also changed after
you have created
your search engine.
Press Continue >>.
AdSense for Search - Give
your website search engine
a name
Save your site search
engine and get Code
Check the box that you
agree to Google AdSense
TOS. Similar to the
AdSense in Content ads
you are not allowed
to change the code,
encourage your visitors
to click on the ads in the
search results
drive traffic from PPC
programs to your search
results
or manipulate the
behavior of this search
engine in any way.
Give your search engine a
name and click on Submit
and Get Code.
AdSense for Search - just
copy and paste ready code
(click to enlarge)
Copy and paste the codes
for the search field and
search results
If you do not blend search
results in your page, you
will get only one code (1)
and can ignore the
instructions for the second
box.
1. Code for the search
field . Copy the first
code and paste it all
your pages or
templates at the
place where you
would like to see the
Google search field.
Remember, that you
are allowed to add 2
fields if you like. Use
the same code for
both fields.
2. Code for the search
result page . Copy
the code from the
second box, open the
page you have
created for the
search results and
replace
"PLACEHOLDER FOR
SEARCH RESULTS"
with this code.
Tada!!! You are ready. Save
your pages and test your
brand new site search
created with the most
sophisticated search
technology :)
If you would like to change
colours or customize any
other behavior of your
search engine, click on the
tab AdSense Setup in your
Google AdSense account
and select the link
Manage Ads below the
tab. In the list of the ads,
find your search engine
and click on Edit to change
what you like.
Can I have my own free
search engine, please?
Yes. With this method
advanced webmaster can
even program their "own"
Google, e. g.
CleverGoogle :)
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Comments
SEO IT! 3 months ago
Excellent and informative
article! I was not aware I
could set it to search all of
my URLS. Thanks! :)
apnakohat 3 days ago
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