It’s no secret that the default WordPress search engine leaves much to be desired.
It prioritizes recency over relevancy, which makes for some odd results at times. And to make matters worse, some themes display full posts instead of traditional results. I find that to be limiting for the user experience.
So the best remedy for this is to incorporate Google Custom Search into your WordPress site.
Yes, there are plugins that will improve the default search (i.e. Relevanssi) but if you are an AdSense member, you might as well use GCS so you can generate revenue from ads that are displaying in the results.
Not Many Adopters
I’ve noticed a lot of people use the GCS search box on their sites, but they host the search results on Google.com. This is not ideal because you don’t want people leaving your site when they perform a search.
However, I understand the choice. When Google updated GCS in 2011, they complicated the process, so many just found it easier to just use the remotely hosted results.
Well, hopefully I can simplify the process for you.
Here’s a tutorial that will show you how to setup a self-hosted WordPress search results page so you can display the results on your own site and you’ll learn how to associate the engine with your Google AdSense account.
Enjoy!
Email subbies can view the video here.
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