Site search - or not?

[sparky_t]

Hi everyone,

I wondered if I could get some thoughts on this.

I'm currently looking at a large expansion on my site, and have considered the idea of putting a site search facility on it. Is it a good idea? Is it nessacary? Do you use one?

And if the answer is yes - what do I use?

Thanks

Sparky_t

[tikanet]

I don't know how extensively you're intending to expand your site, but Google offers to provide internal site search capability. Here's (http://www.augustana.edu/search/) an example of their service in action. If you want to know more, this (http://www.google.com/services/customsitesearch.html) is the link.

There are other ways to accomplish internal search functionality, but they require a backend capability that can be somewhat tricky and potentially more costly up front than many find makes ROI sense.

[minstrel]

I tried a lot of them before I settled on Atomz. Even in preference to Google, because of the stats they provide about who is entering what to search your site. The service is fast, customizable, and free for up to 500 pages per website.

More info:
http://www.atomz.com/

[cyanide]

I tried a lot of them before I settled on Atomz
It's pretty important to test out a few to make sure it's what you are looking for and it's functional.
I've seen many of them and alot are pretty brutal.

It's not enough, the simple fact that you have a search box. It has to work well, with relevant, easy-to-read results.

Although I've never tried it, Atomz looks pretty good.

[softwaresubmit]

You might try the Google free stuff from http://www.google.com/services/free.html

It might work for you.

[minstrel]

You might try the Google free stuff from http://www.google.com/services/free.html

The problem with the free Google site search service is that you don't have access to reports about how many people are searching your site and for what. That's why I settled on AtomZ over all the other choices I tried. I can go to the site and see what words and phrases are being entered to search my site, and additionally what pages AtomZ served up for that search. These features have been invaluable to me in terms of finding useful keywords as well as content - I have added content based on what visitors were looking for and didn't find, and I have also added keywords with common mis-spellings that I hadn't thought of (for example, "dysmia" entered for dysthymia, a form of chronic mild depression - not an error I would have come up with on my own). Alternatively, you can instruct AtomZ to recognize certain words as "synonyms", e.g., "dysmia = dysthymia" if you don't want to add a million low frequency keywords.

I don't want to sound like an infomercial for AtomZ and I assure you I have no connection with that company at all other than being a user of their services, but the service is extremely customizable and very efficient, once you know how to specify the appropriate options for your site.

[softwaresubmit]

I haven't tried AtomZ yet, but from what you say about them, this service is very useful and I will sure look into it.

I wrote about free Google site search to help sparky_t choose the solution that suits him best.