New Features for Google Custom Search Expands Boundaries of SEO
Google custom search is a Google application that allows you to create a customized search engine for your own website. In celebration of the feature’s one year anniversary, Google has added several new features to its Custom Search application—Custom Search Themes, Structured Custom Search and Custom Search Wikipedia skin—creating new SEO opportunities for Web masters.
The Custom Search Themes allow you to choose from many different layouts and styles for your search results that can be selected and enabled instantly on your website. These Custom Themes provide maximum design flexibility, enabling you to customize every aspect of your site and optimize branding efforts.
The new Structured Custom Search has added attributes, such as Thumbnails and Actions that will be displayed in the search results. Thumbnails give a graphical glimpse into the site and Actions, such as “Download” and “Fullscreen View,” are utilized to enhance click through rates. These links provide calls-to-action for readers and can be defined and customized for each site, adding a unique look to the search results.
Furthermore, you can now filter search results based on specific attributes as determined by the metadata you provide. In years past the inability to “structure” or filter the results often meant on-site searchers were sent to an intermediate page that left them a click or more away from a result that would have fulfilled their query. The new Structured Search feature, if setup correctly, mitigates the chances that one will be sent to an intermediary page, instead returning the most relevant result possible.
Wikipedia Custom Search Skin allows searchers to use Google Search within Wikipedia for other relevant articles related to the topic queried. This radically increases convenience, especially within Wikipedia pages with many links, making the research process faster.
For example, if you are on the NASA page within Wikipedia and perform a search on the word “Mars,” Google onsite search will return results presented in three tabbed groups: All Wikipedia Pages, Linked Wikipedia Pages and Linked Non-Wikipedia Pages. The first tab, All Wikipedia Pages, lists all of the existing Wikipedia articles that match the searcher’s query. The last two tabs provide relevant results that are linked from the NASA Wikipedia page, for example, information on planets, solar system, etc.
Overall, the new additions to Google’s Custom Search allows for a more focused and customized searching experience, creating better opportunities for not only Web browsers, but also Web masters looking to maximize their site’s usability.
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