How to Build an Internal Search Into Your Website
Search engines simplify the process of looking for information. Website owners can increase the value and usefulness of their own websites with an internal search engine. This type of engine naturally increases the number of page views per visitor every time someone uses the search box. Fortunately, many free services make it possible to incorporate this feature. An owner enters just a few details and pastes a script into his own website to deploy an internal search engine.
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Instructions
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CrazyRhino
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1
Access the CrazyRhino registration page. CrazyRhino is a remotely hosted internal search engine. The CrazyRhino server saves your own server resources by performing the searches for you. Fill out the registration form and log in to get started.
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2
Click "Index" in your account. The site will visit and index your website's pages. This is necessary to perform the searches when visitors use the search engine at your site. Check your email to confirm completion of the indexing process.
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3
Click "HTML Code" in your CrazyRhino account. Copy the code and paste it into your Web pages in the place where you would like the search box to appear. When a visitor uses the search box, CrazyRhino returns the search results for pages containing the keywords entered by the visitor.
FreeFind
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4
Register with your website and email address on the home page of FreeFind. This is another service for creating an internal search for websites.
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5
Wait for an email. Follow the instructions to access the FreeFind control center.
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Select an account type. The FreeFind free search engine is limited to sites with 64MB. You can check in your hosting control panel to see how much storage your site is using. There are paid options that vary from about $5 to $79 per month, as of October 2011.
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Click the "Build Index" tab and follow the instructions to get FreeFind to index your website for search functionality.
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8
Click the "HTML" tab. Copy the HTML and put it in the desired place in your Web pages where you want to deploy the search box for your site search engine.
Google Custom Search
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9
Click on the "Create a Custom Search Engine" button on the Google Custom Search home page. This is not the normal Google search engine. It is a site search engine only for internal searches of your website's own pages.
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Fill out your website details on the next page. Select the free or paid edition. The free edition has ads on your pages. As of October 2011, the paid edition is $100 per year for up to 20,000 queries, $250 for up to 50,000 queries, $750 for up to 150,000 queries and $2,000 for up to 500,000 queries.
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Select the search-page design in step two and get the HTML code in step three. Take that code and put it in your pages to display the search box for your internal search.
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Tips & Warnings
Nowadays, blogging and Content Management Systems (CMS) typically have a built-in site search engine. If you install WordPress for blogging or a CMS like Drupal or Joomla, just complete the basic installation to incorporate a search box for internal search. Many Web hosts even offer a one-click installation process for these blogging and CMS software systems.
References
Resources
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