I just stumbled across SeoMike’s take on Google’s CSEs.
While the article I wrote about using Google’s Custom Search Engines is still valid, here are some more points to ponder.
Pattern limits and the way around them
A normal CSE has a 500 entry limit for every contributor. That means you can add 500 URL patterns. Those patterns might be one page, a site or the subtraction of a site. (Yes, subtractions count against the limit)
Needless to say, you might run into this limit easily, especially with the CSE directory I have outlined in my earlier post.
Possible Solutions
- Add more contibutors to your CSEs, thus lifting the limit.
- Use a hosted CSE.
The CSE creation process is tedious
Well, yes. Lots of clicking and copy and paste does not make this a nice experience
Possible Solutions
- Use the XML specification to create your CSE.
…..
How can I react to a user coming from a Search Engine?
There is no “normal” way to do this with a CSE.
Possible solution
- Using the Hosted CSE approach, you can use dynamic variables to cater to your visitors. This is outlined in the Custom Search documentation provided by google.
To make this short(er):
Host the CSE and use the Google CSE XML to create your search engine.
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