Promoting search results: now easier with Google Site Search

Studies consistently show that good website search keeps people "on site" longer and improves conversion rates when it's time for business. But even without the evidence, common sense suggests that people get more satisfaction out of their web experience when they find what they're looking for – the information that's most relevant to their search. Algorithms do a great job with this, but sometimes, site owners and admins know their customers – and their content – well enough to think beyond the algorithm and help searchers find that one link that delivers the goods.

That's where Google Site Search Promotions – the latest enhancement to Google Site Search – comes in, starting today.

Google Site Search Promotions allows website owners and admins to create special results that appear as the first result to a user's search, and define the search terms for triggering those results. That raises a specific page, or URL to the top of the search results when those search terms are used, presenting viewers with a more detailed, illustrated link that stands out among the other results. Any URL can be promoted – it doesn't need to be specified as an included site or page in your Sites tab.

Promotions are easy to manage, simply by creating and uploading a promotions file or using the promotions page in the GSS control panel. You can include of a brief description and image for each promotion, and you can add or edit these additional items as well as appearance elements such as border and background color, just by using the Promotion Design Settings menu.

As this screenshot shows, Promotions make it easier to highlight key events, announcements, services or product launches on your visitors' search results. In this example, eHealthInsurance.com's administrator "promoted" the most relevant link, added an image and a two-line description, and enabled the most relevant search result to be displayed first.

Although this functionality has been available to GSS users through subscribed links, today's changes make promoting the best links more speedy and intuitive, and allow admins to add multiple promotions for the same query.

Stay tuned to this blog for upcoming enhancements to Google Site Search (and more). We hope you like the business results that this new Promotions feature delivers.

Posted by Nitin Mangtani, Lead Product Manager, Google Enterprise Search