Add A FREE Search Engine To Your Website

Believe it or not, it isn’t hard to add a search engine to your website. And there are various FREE ways to do it, some requiring no technical expertise.

1. Use Google Technology

If you want to partner with the best in search, then you should opt for Google. Google has a free service which will enable you to easily add a search engine to your website, just by adding a few lines of HTML to a web page.

The free version is branded. This means that you’ll have a little Google logo to the right of the search field. However, you can remove this branding if you opt for the paid version.

Click here for more information and implementation details.

2. Other Search Engines

If Google is not your flavor, you can also use free services provided by other search engines.

Yahoo did have a simple and easy-to-use search engine called Search Builder, but this will be shut down in October. It has been replaced by Search Monkey, which requires a bit more technical expertise to implement.

Live offers a simple site search engine for websites and blogs. Get information on there program here.

3. Go Open Source

If you haven’t yet built a website and are still in the planning stages, it might be a good idea to consider an open source software application. Many of these packages — such as Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress — all come bundled with great search functionality. Not to mention, these packages are also free.

4. Roll Up Your Sleeves and Dig into Code

While the options above will work great for any website, sometimes a greater degree of customization is necessary. For example, you might want to have a search engine that really looks like it is a part of your website, and not an add-on element. To do this, you will need to get your hands dirty, or hire a developer.

Use an API

Both Google Custom Search and Yahoo Search Monkey have advanced options and an API (Application Programming Interface) for developers. This means that you can build a search engine completely tailored to your needs, all while using great search technology.

Self-Hosted Solution

Additionally, there are search engines that enable you to host the dynamic code and databases on your own website. One such service is I Search, which is driven by PHP and MySQL. Like all of the other services, there is a free branded version and an unbranded paid version. More information can be found here.

In-House Solution

Finally, if you website is database driven, you could also consider building your own site search engine. This will give you the greatest degree of customization and will avoid any ongoing fees that you might pay for an unbranded search engine.

In addition to the options above, there are many other free services that you can use such as Fusion Bot, Free Find, and Pico Search.

Given how many options there are, there is no excuse not to add search to your website. After all, statistics indicate that visitors are more likely to use and revisit your website when information is easily accessible.