The problem with so much info on a blog, is ensuring that users can find what they are looking for. You need to integrate search options into your blog. Luckily there are a few in-your-face ways of doing just that. And remember - top right for your main search box!

Integrated Google search

Google do a search bar that can search the web and / or your site. I had one on The Pisstakers and it worked well. In fact sometimes it was easier for me to find a post from the search bar than to go to my blog editor.

Google custom search is finding new ways to integrate search for Blogger, which is quite useful.

Configure this widget on your Blogger blog and you can immediately search not just your blog posts, but across all the link lists/blogrolls you've set up on your blog and the links you've made from your posts.

Yahoo's new search platform could help blogs

Yahoo do a site search builder tool, you have to pay for it. Fortunately, they are discontinuing this idea in October 15th 2008! Good idea. I am not a believer in paying up front for search-related software. Not because I don't think people should be financially rewarded for their software, but because that pay-up-front business model is dead. In fact, what were they thinking, when you realise that Yahoo gets some pay per click or similar revenue every time you perform a search. Idiots, but not for much longer.

Search Monkey to the rescue with a whole new realm of options for search applications that no doubt will make their way onto a blog platform near you.

Search Flickr

To Yahoo's credit they also provide search results for your Flickr account. So if you enter your Flickr user ID into the Yahoo Images search box, and then copy the final URL and place that link somewhere on your blog, your users can search all your Flickr photos. Thanks to Loren Baker for that hint.

Swicki search integration

The Swicki search tool is a cloud-based search reference. You can add your own keywords, or if anyone else inputs a search term in your blog's Swicki search bar, Swicki will keep a record of it. If the keyword is relevant to your site, you can add it quite easily to the cloud. As in the Funny Tech Terms swicki, other people can contribute, which makes it a more valuable resource yet.

You can also make a bit of money from a Swicki by adding Adsense and receiving 50% of the income from a results page coming from a search on your site. And for fun, they value your Swicki based on number of searches. What's not to like.

Labels

Keyword clouds are a glorified tag or label list, a long time accepted way to fill your side bar and help visitors find items on your site. I am still unsure of the SEO implications of tags, as Google are still indexing new tags on this blog in the Supplemental Index. Up to 23 now!

Integrate RSS feed search?

RSS feeds are all the rage for searching the entire internet for relevant bloggers. At the moment you can share lists of feeds by offering your OPML files (the one that modern feed readers will generate for you under Export subscriptions options) for download.

That is a bit cumbersome and I was wondering if you could create an iFrame on your blog and link somehow to the search bar in your personal RSS feed reader? Or a clever mashup web 2.0 solution, maybe? Then your blog visitors could search for posts from all your favorite blogs using certain keywords - straight form your blog.

Twitter search results

Twitter is like a search engine these days. I have never tweeted in my life, but I know of people who do. They seem fairly balanced individuals. With a big enough following, you can ask a question and get a lot of answers. Those answers, aka search results, can be displayed on your blog.

That is the extent of what I can think of to integrate search directly into your blog. Got any more?

I have a few ideas coming up for other search options that could be placed just outside your blog.

---

Wordtracker keywords: the key to good copy.

A Small Orange web hosting offer fantastic customer support for website owners.

Need a hot friend to take your mind off those burning search engine issues? Check out Adult FriendFinder

.