Welcome, Google Searcher [Support Thread]

A new module called "Welcome, Google Searcher" has been added to the downloads area:

http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&cPath=40_60&products_id=763

Welcome Google Searcher identifies page views originating from Google SERPs and dynamically builds a Zen Cart search link based on the Google Search keywords used. You can see examples of it in the wild at

http://www.thatsoftwareguy.com/zencart_welcome_google_searcher.html

You will need to verify that your cart has been indexed by Google prior to deploying this module. Simply type

 site:<https://www.your-site-name.com>

into the Google search box. Of course you should add /shop-directory to the URL above if you have put it in a subdirectory.

Good luck,
That Software Guy

hey swguy! I love all your mods, and i think this can be a very very valuable addition to the cart, but before installing this i have a qüestion:
Do you think this mod can alterate the serps after the visit of google bot?
And how about the searchings at the shop than adwords bot do regularly?
Maybe google think that this is black hat?

This does not alter the SERPs in any way - there's nothing "black hat" about it - it just guides people to using your built-in search capabilities which may reveal a greater depth of product than would be indicated by a Google result. It saves them the step of having to retype their query in the search box, and may increase conversion because of that. That's all.

Good luck,
Scott

I´m absolutely sure that your mod will increase conversion factor, and i think it´s a great idea, but i´m very carefull about anything that involves google and the possibility to damage my serps...

Lately google is doing a lot of "intelligent" serachings at my site. I expect this can increase rankings of my site and i don´t know what will happens when google finds the mod...

Wow. More than a year since the last response. Not sure why as this is a really cool addon.

I'm wondering if you could give me a tip on how to remove certain words from the keywords used? I'm seeing searches for 'off road decals' which doesn't provide any results. A search of 'off road' without the 'decals' keyword shows the desired results.

I'd like to be able to filter out 'decal','decals','sticker','stickers', and 'vinyl' . Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Look at includes/templates/custom/common/tpl_main_page.php at line 145. Check $key for the values you want to throw away and just continue if you get one.

Much better! Thanks!

Good suggestion; I'll add this idea to my big fun list of things to do an add this to the next rev of this contribution.

Hi swguy, I have been trying to embed the Google Custom Search tool into my site at https://www.mermagica.com. The code that google provides for this is as follows:

I embedded this form into tpl_header.php of my Zen Cart (it's commented out right now)
The issue is that IE and Firefox throw Security errors as soon as I go to any secure page on my site (i.e. - during and after logging in or during checkout).

I've thought about only showing the search on non-secure pages like all pages except Account Sign In, Checkout, Payment, but there's another issue. Let's say a user comes to my site and is browsing a product page and then decides to sign up or sign in. After the person signs in Zen Cart returns them to the page they were viewing but with the https url flavor.

Example:

1. Viewing:
   http://www.mermagica.com/store
2. User Sign In to Store
3. Zen Cart returns to
   https://www.mermagica.com/store/index.php?main_page=index
   (which would throw the same error as above)

I really want to use the google search because it's SO much better than the one with Zen Cart, so any help you could provide would be great. I'm happy to donate for your time as well.

Please reply with your thoughts/ideas.

Thought I would post the answer...
http://groups.google.com/group/google-custom-search-cse-and-your-site/msg/4cd12c0a42922dc4?pli=1

Have a good one!
:clap:

Hello.
I use this great contribution. But i have problem with diacritic words in searching. For example if i have word dřez the google searcher this interprate like this: dĹ™ez.
Please. Can you help me with this?
Thank you

Welcome Google Searcher has been updated to interoperate correctly with php 5.3.

In an earlier post from a couple years ago, you mentioned that line 145 of tpl_main_page.php could be modified to weed out unwanted search terms.

My line 145 shows:
$keywords = '';

I've noticed a few oddities that manage to pass through Google, like:
²®
but confound my Zen-Cart search engine so that no further items are located.

Is there a means to add these characters so that they can be ignored?

Great mod, BTW - thanks!

Hi, im getting results like this

Welcome, Google Searcher! We see you arrived searching for: &esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0cdyqfjaa&url=http://########################rytv.com/store/gold_earrings.html&ei=vojntovdg87orqe71_sida&usg=afqjcnf0h8bmmxrcytmu91vcjbxwxvz-rg&sig2=2yg0fs3bofya6bknt65fga
Click here to search our entire site for these keywords

just like the demo site is showing currently.

Could you please help?

Thank you

hmm.... can't dup. Google is operating differently for you for some reason.

I hadn't brought up the odd search stuff, but since you passed on my question and instead answered fjtv's post but said you couldn't duplicate the oddities mentioned, here's one from a search today on my site:

Welcome, Google Searcher! We see you arrived searching for: &esrc=s&source=productsearch&cd=11&ved=0ckgbeimimao&url=http://www.[domain].com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4256¤cy=usd&ctbm=shop&ei=qlhoto_6eyzbggek7r3ydq&usg=afqjcnh9_dc4hqmb4--ra2x-iv-9b8pdaq&sig2=5duwqyxoz4a_wcuidnptnw
Click here to search our entire site for these keywords

I chalked those up to something on Google's end, but if it helps to get a more informative answer, I'm all for helping.

oregongardener:

In an earlier post from a couple years ago, you mentioned that line 145 of tpl_main_page.php could be modified to weed out unwanted search terms.

My line 145 shows:
$keywords = '';

Line 145 in the first version is line 149 in the second.
(The way to figure things like this out is to download the prior version and look at it.)

It's this block:

   foreach ($key_arr as $key) { 
      if (empty($key)) continue;
      $key = preg_replace($unStrictReplace, '', $key);
      $noquotekey = preg_replace($quoteReplace, '%', $key);
      if (empty($search_keywords)) { 
         $search_keywords = $noquotekey; 
         $keywords = $key; 
      } else { 
         $search_keywords = $search_keywords . '+' . $noquotekey; 
         $keywords = $keywords . ' ' . $key; 
      }   
   }   

So both of you: please print out what you get in this loop and figure out what you need to filter out.

@oregongardener - to strip off oddball characters, read about preg_replace and iconv.

Hi, anyone has solution? Pardon as i dont have php knowledge. Thanks

The problem with Google Searcher's result is that Google is sending two different query types to your site (you can see this if you look at your logs) and Google Searcher is only using one decoding format, when 2 are needed.

We are working to modify the code being used so it will translate what Google is sending correctly. A preg_replace or preg_match is not going to do the job. The solution is a regex expression.

Hello, I installed your module (thank you for the contribution) but it says this when they enter my site: Welcome, Google Searcher! We see you arrived searching for: tps://www.google.com/
Click here to search our entire site for these keywords
Sorry, the product was not found.

I used the example of wwrepair.com drain pump and when I clicked on the link that pulled up it brought to my page BUT instead of showing the drain pump in the search it said tps://www.google.com/

What should I do differently?