| Google Site Search comments
The site search feature (above right, with gdi-solutions.com
selected), provides a quick and easy way to access any content on the
hundreds of pages on this website according to the latest "crawling" and
indexing of this site by Google.
The search results are therefore limited to content
published on this site, but of course that includes pages with links to
specific economic development organizations and professional service
providers, and especially to features such as GUIDE Network Surveys, GUIDE
Area Profiles, GUIDE Service Profiles, and other content.
For example, a search for "Utah" will also turn up the
GUIDE Network Survey for Green River, Wyoming because there are references
to Utah (proximity to Salt Lake City). Similarly, the Jacksonville IL
listing should readily turn up in searches for St. Louis as well as for
Chicago or Springfield or Illinois, or for the highways or railroads which
serve the area.
This also provides a fast and easy way to validate that
Google has already crawled new pages or updated content, whether or not the
results are showing up at a high level among Google search results on the
Internet at the time.
Participants in our work now have an easy way to check
that our content about their areas is readily available through Google - not
only through our internal site search feature, but on the larger Google
internet searches (where, like anything else on the web, it may be harder to
find the specific content of interest among so many matches, unlike the
short list of very relevant results on our site). The search results
come from the same source.
This also means that some content on this site, or new
content in particular, may not always show up on the Site Search. This
enables us to check for such omissions and, if necessary, request that the
relevant pages be crawled by Google again for the updates. We usually
find that Google picks up such changes already on our site within a matter
of days, without any need for action on our part, but this provides a simple
way to check. |
Unlike most
site-specific search features, this provides the same functionality and
"look and feel" as Google searches on the Internet (including the delivery
of ads by Google).
Because of the extensive market knowledge and contacts we
have organized and openly shared through 3+ years of research work and 15
years of experience in this niche market, the net effect is like having a
Google search which is limited to the economic development organizations
(EDO's) and professional service providers or information resources which we
have identified. This provides highly relevant search results for any
visitors to our site.
At the same time, the ads which show up with search
queries should reflect the current population of Google advertisers which
are relevant to this field, although irrelevant ads will also turn up as
usual.
In any case, the key point is that this Site Search
feature makes it very easy to find any content on this site through a fast,
powerful, and very intuitive search engine interface. It should be
very easy for any visitor to quickly find any content of potential interest.
This also demonstrates the importance of careful selection
of content and keywords in the preparation of GUIDE Service Profiles, Area
Profiles, and Surveys. These one-page executive summary presentations
become a very easy-to-find focal point for content about the service or
location, with contact details and relevant links for more details.
We
do not exercise control over the Google ads which may appear with the
results for either type of search, nor do we profit in any way by the
presence or use of such ads on this site. Such advertising is
controlled entirely by Google's handling of the search and results. |
| "Site-flavored" Custom Search
The "site-flavored" search (above left) varies from the usual
Google Internet search (above right, with the Internet button selection)
because various topic categories have been excluded from the search.
For example, a general search for a state or a particular
keyword or phrase might turn up many irrelevant results, while the
site-flavored search should focus more on business content rather than other
topics so that there are fewer irrelevant search results.
The "flavor" categories are very broad at this time, and
the product is still in a "beta test" stage, but over time this may provide
a useful way to tailor Internet searches so that the results for users of
this website are more relevant to their expected interests. In effect,
the context of known content on this site can "flavor" how Google ranks the
relevance of search results (and ads) for users of this search feature, so
that the results would be far more likely to be relevant to their interests
than a standard Google search. |
Google Internet Search
The standard Google Search (above, with Internet chosen) should deliver the
same results as anywhere else. This provides a convenient way to
search for relevant matches beyond the content on this website, including
relevant ads.
As the content of this website grows, the Site Search
(limited to gdi-solutions.com) should effectively become like an extremely
relevant "site flavored" custom search. The latter relies on broad
generalizations about what is likely to be relevant to the interests of our
users, whereas the presentation of content and links on this site reflects
known interests and very high relevance to professionals in this niche
market.
The combination of these three Search options is therefore
a very powerful tool. |
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