Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) - New Vertical Search Tools for Publishers

Have you created your own Custom Search Engine (CSE) since Google announced in late October that they had launched this tool?

[http://www.google.com/coop/cse/overview]

One of the huge benefits of the user generated Google CSE's is that they may turn up in Google OneBox results if one becomes popular enough and people choose it as a trusted source. Nobody has confirmed that yet, but it was one of the benefits of the previous generation Google Co-op "Subscribed Links" program, which is profiled after it's launch in a Danny Sullivan post at Search Engine Watch blog back on May 10th of this year when Google announced Co-op.

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060510-191214

Custom Search Engines, based on Google Co-op, until last week had required a geek's knowledge of XML to use effectively. Google CSE has simplified that tool and made it accessible to the rest of us by creating an administration control panel which eliminates the need to "code your own" subscribed links in XML documents. Now it's easy and any webmaster can create one - and if they know basic HTML - can have that CSE hosted on their own site.

http://google.com/coop/cse

When you create your own customized search engine through Google Co-op, it is possible for anyone to see customized search results drawing only from trusted sites you choose to search. This is similar to the Rollyo.com search engine, which allows you to create customized search which draws from Yahoo results, but only allows 25 sources.

Google Customized Search appears to have no limit on the number of sources and is also allowing you to incorporate AdSense into the search results so that if your custom search engine becomes popular, you can benefit from the traffic generated to your CSE. this is true of both your site-hosted version and the Google-hosted public CSE which is created simultaneously.

Rollyo sends searchers who use your Rollyo custom search engine to their site, while Google Custom Search Engine allows visitors to search from a page on your site AND see the results on your site, keeping them there, rather than sending them away to another site. It also creates a Google public CSE page simultaneously, available at a long URL with your ID embedded.

There is also a new directory which has started up (apparently in partnership with Google) in order to list quality Custom Search Engines created by site owners. They also allow you to suggest other CSE's for inclusion in their directory (free membership required). They then link directly to those searches at Google from the directory. Here's their launch press release.

http://www.customsearchguide.com/press.shtml

Chris Sherman, at SearchEngineWatch.com did a thorough overview of the new Google Custom Search Engine tool October 24 at:

http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3623765

So I happened to be writing an article about Corporate SEO Job Searches when I saw that announcement. I immediately went to Google Co-op and created my own search engine which searches all the top SEO job boards for Search Engine Optimization Employment listings. This Google CSE is an incredible tool that allows you to simultaneously filter out all the junk, while at the same time broadening your search beyond just one jobs board at a time.

What's even better is that when you use query operators like "site:jobsinsearch.com" (which is one of the source sites I included) that it returns only those results from that source. If you add a city name or state to the search box, it returns only SEO jobs offered in that city or state. There is nearly zero fluff or search engine spam remaining in the search results and you get EXACTLY what you were searching for.

I suspect that the Custom Search Engine tool will see a huge surge in popularity once people realize how powerful it can be when you use the CSE tool from trusted sites. I sincerely hope nobody figures out how to game this thing so that it can continue to improve search without polluting results.

Here's a novel idea which I incorporated into another CSE I created for my Small Business Ecommerce Tutorial at WebSite101 last week - that is to include EzineArticles.com in the list of sites searched, in this case for “Small Business Health Insurance.”

This provides quality results with resources that provide INFORMATION on the topic, rather than pure insurance sales sites. That custom search engine provides a lot of EzineArticles results mixed in with department of labor, small business administration, Kaiser Foundation, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and other trusted sites on the topic of small business.

I intend to include EzineArticles as a trusted source in other custom search engines in different topic areas on WebSite101 as well because it has a such a rich resource of available material from experts on dozens of topics and would be a valuable resource for those custom search engines in many broad topic areas.

I'm off to create some more of these things and plan on making them central features of several of my own sites. I suspect that many will create CSE's on dozens of amazing topics and can't wait to see how this affects the search landscape. Quality of resource sites included in those CSE's are critical, so are those sites filtered OUT of the results by the creators of customized search engines.

It is readily apparent from the first search engine results page how well it has been designed. I believe quality will reign here because nobody will continue to use a custom search which provides spammy results. Bad CSE's will disappear or possibly only be used by the dopes that design them, while good CSE's will flourish due to quality results generated and will likely increase in popularity and traffic.

CSE's will live or die by the results they produce. If they are designed with care and keep out the search engine spam, while showing valued and trusted sources, they will grow in popularity and traffic. It will be extremely interesting to see whether Google will favor trusted sites from these CSE's in results. How Google makes use of the long list of trusted sites and traffic and popularity figures of these custom search engines could produce huge gains in the trusted sites portion of their search algorithm.

Copyright © November 1, 2006 by Mike Banks Valentine

Mike Banks Valentine blogs about search engines and created a custom search engine on the topic of SEO Job Searches as well as a CSE on Small Business Health Insurance Information.

Produce Hefty Sales Results With These No-Cost Promo Tools

We're in a darn tough economy. Add to that the fact that writing generally is not the most lucrative of professions even in better times. So it's little wonder that the average author finds the cost and the challenge of promoting his/her book daunting.

Long months of writing. Days of intense anticipation. And at last this new gem rolls off the press. What should be time for glee often turns into somewhat of a horror with the sudden realization that the challenge is yours, not your publishers. Your plans to hire a PR firm are dashed when you see the fees they expect. You flounder when you realize you are there alone with no one to help you.

While this is particularly true for novice authors-and there are thousands of them coming out of POD houses-more experienced writers discover the old days of subsidized book tours and fancy launch parties are relics of the past. Publishers today expect YOU, the author, to pay the bill and do the work necessary to make the public aware of your masterpiece.

There is no question a quality PR firm, and there are several in our industry, can jump start your book on the path to success. But you likely don't have the thousands of dollars to retain them. Don't despair. There are ways to promote your book and build sales without breaking what little budget is available.

Writing articles on the Internet, much as I am doing right now, bears great fruit, but costs you nothing. Syndicators like EzineArticles and isnare are free to use. Yet they place your article in front of up to 40 or 50,000 readers. You add an appealing Resource Box at the end of your piece touting your book and giving full information on where to find it. You'll see your numbers grow quickly.

Reach out for quality book reviewers. Readers always pay more heed to favorable comments from an objective third party than they do to your pitch or that of your publisher. Cherry pick those you think are right from Amazon's Top 1,000 Reviewers. Head to Jim Cox's Midwest Book Review on the Internet for great advice and highly respected reviewers. Try Dan Poynter's ParaPubnewsletter for more possibilities. And you won't have to spend a penny.

Carefully dip your toe into social networking. Try Facebook because it has such a huge membership, Twitter because of its current popularity and if you have the time, LinkedIn particularly if your book deals with business or professional issues. Schedule a limited amount of time each week to keep your site updated and active, but don't let the fun of participation steal hours from your basic routine---writing.

Never overlook the incredible reach of broadcast. Radio talk shows are the activity of choice. There are many of them that deal with a wide variety of subjects, many of which will be related to the topic of your book, whether fiction or nonfiction. If your home area has a local TV station, go for it. National television is tough to crack, but it becomes a lot easier if you have a track record of regionals and lots of talk radio.

Getting booked on the air costs nothing. But it will take some effort on your part to reach and convince producers of your worth as an interviewee. There are companies that can help to place you on air. Steve Harrison's Bradley Communications, Annie Jennings PR, Rick Frischman's Planned TV Arts and Francine Silverman, author of "Talk Radio Wants You."

With the exception of broadcast, most of what I have introduced you to can be accomplished online. But don't ever forget the value of print publications. Whether you are seeking reviews from a newspaper or magazine or want to place an article, the exposure will benefit you tremendously.

Newspaper book sections have shrunk or disappeared completely. But think of the value of a review in a section of the paper that relates to your subject. Perhaps it's business or food, sports or finance, travel or the arts. Possibilities abound. The situation is similar for magazines. They are published in every imaginable field. Use directories like "Writer's Digest," published in on and offline versions or "The Wooden Horse" which I think is the best of the online directories.

There certainly are many other low cost or free promotional possibilities, but space does not allow me to cover them all. Use your imagination. Study what other authors are doing on the Web and off.

Most of all, make sure you have an active, interesting website crammed full of worthy information. (Post every article you write on your site,) Give the visitor an easy pathway to learn more about your book and hopefully to buy from a sales page on your site.

With these simple techniques and a strong website to act as a base to send material from and to receive responses, you will catapult your book to unexpectedly strong sales. But always remember: while it may take no money, it will take effort. Without real participation, no promotional program will succeed. Good luck!

Charles Jacobs is an author, book coach and writing instructor. His latest book, "The Writer Within You," has been named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR seven times. It has won gold and bronze medals. The book can be purchased at http://www.retireandwrite.com.