Google Blog Search Module

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Ranked #265 in Squidoo Tips, #32,083 overall

One of my new favorite modules

I love to make a lens better by using google blogsearch. The content changes - which makes your lens more interesting.

As an added bonus you get an easy way to check out what other people are saying about a topic you are interested in. Which means you can go and join the conversation :)

Finding the google blogsearch module 

  1. Go to Add Modules, like you do with every module you want to find

  2. Go to Search (A-Z)

  3. Find the G for Google (not B for Blogs)

  4. Click Google Blog Search


That's it. No short cuts to this one.

Adding Blogs Search to your lens. - the options 

Do check out your options. To make google blog search search blogs you will have to set the settings to blogs. The default is news.

The default setting is to only have one result, and to only show the headline.

I usually prefer to set the settings to:

  • 3 results (4 is the maximum)

  • include descriptions

  • update frequency: once a day (only with topics with a lot of news does updating more often make sense)

Any questions about the Google Blog Search Module 

Ask any questions you might have about this module.

Lensmaster

Gailnikki wrote...

thanks for the tip, I've just tried it- another awesome Squidoo goody!

ReplyPosted July 04, 2009

Lensmaster

Fatih wrote...

Thank you bunches it was so easy.....5star*****s

ReplyPosted June 08, 2009

Lensmaster

spirituality wrote...

in reply to MikeMoore Depends on what you want it to do - pull info from blogs or from news... I'd just try it out and see what comes up. You can always change it later. But I do have to say, on most of my lenses I use the blog setting. On some I have both though - one for news, one for blogs.

ReplyPosted May 02, 2009

Lensmaster

MikeMoore wrote...

Nice. Thanks for leaving this link in the SquidU forum. I never even knew this module existed. Should I set it to news or blog? Other than that, I've added the module to my Squidoo blog lens as per your suggestion. Thanks a lot!

ReplyPosted May 02, 2009

Blog search in google blog search 

Yes - it's self evident - you can use google blog search to search blogs... :)
Official Google Blog: New Blog Search tools: Feeds, Hot Queries ...
Ever since the new Google Blog Search homepage launched, we've been fielding requests for a myriad of different features. Today we're happy to announce the launch of our most requested feature: RSS and Atom feeds. ...
Google Blog Search Sees Twitter Trends & Raises With Blog Search ...
A lot of the innovation in search these days is all about What's happening right now? Twitter is the poster child where real-time search is concerned, and.
Google Blog Search Gets More Like Other Google Search Tools
Google Blog Search has just added a few features that users of other GoogleGoogle services are likely familiar with. First, you can now subscribe to any.
Google Blog Search Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Last fall Google launched a revamped version of its Blog Search, converting the site's frontpage into a automated news portal similar to sites ...
Powered by Google

News search in google blog search 

It's the default setting that google blog search will return results from the news. Don't ask me why. Anyhow: the following is the result from searching the latest news about 'google blog search'.
Twitter Time For Google Blog Search? Not Quite
First, the new Google Blog Search has gotten a touch of the Twitter treatment with the Hot Queries and Latest Posts features. Google says these tools are ...
Google updates apps and blog search
Firms looking for more precise and informed search results might also enjoy the additions to Google's Blog search tool which offers the ability to view ...
Google Updates Product to Play Nice with Microsoft
In a blog post Tuesday, Google said it had ?worked closely with Microsoft? to address the issue. ?The Windows Desktop Search feature now works, ...
Michael Jackson Mania Breaks Search Records on Google, Yahoo
Google reported an unprecedented number of mobile searches, with five of its top 20 searches having to do with Michael Jackson. And Yahoo, in a blog post, ...
Powered by Google

So - what search term do you put in? 

Some google search tips I use a lot

Google blog search works just like ordinary google search. This means that it's pretty tolerant of what you type.

Generally - for your lenses - you just want the theme of your lens.

You can try out the following variations. Say your subject is 'Blue Ribbons'...

  1. Type "blue ribbons"
    This will mean that only blogs using the two words in exactly that order, with nothing in between will show up.
  2. Type blue ribbons
    This will turn up blogs which might be talking about ribbons on some blue dress they were making - not necessarily using BLUE ribbons, just something about blue is on the page.


I usually get good results without the quotes, but if that gives you results that don't fit your theme - trying the quotes just might fix it.

Using the google blog search module to showcase your blog 

Sometimes you just want your latest blogposts to show up on a lens. You can use the RSS module for that, but the blog search module will work as well.

You do the following to get your own blog posts to show up in this module:

1) you set the module to blogs
2) you set the module to the amount of posts you want
3) you set the module to search for the title of your blog. For instance my "Religion and Spirituality lenses (and more)"
NB Make sure you use those quotes: if you're announcing this as your own blog, you don't want other people's blogposts showing up.

You might be tempted to use the URL (http://spirituality.squidtop.com/ for instance) as a search term, but that method doesn't work for some reason.

See below for the result.

Of course this only works for blogs that actually get indexed by google. If yours isn't, make sure you link to it from a relevant lens (for instance).

This means that you can use the blog search module to check if your blog is being indexed.

Do make sure to remember though: the automatically generated links to your lens in the blog search module DO NOT count as links for google SEO. So make sure you also put in a normal link to your blog somewhere.

Blog Posts from Google 

Religion and Spirituality lenses (and more) ยป Bras, skincare, make ...
Personal blog of Christo Rufinus. Free wordpress themes and blogger templates.
Powered by Google

What did you think of this explanation? 

Lensmaster

Tobbie wrote...

Great idea for keeping your lens fresh.... Thanks for the tip!

ReplyPosted March 11, 2009

Lensmaster

StephanieManning wrote...

As always, another great lens by you! Great work! 5*

ReplyPosted March 09, 2009

Lensmaster

Ener-G wrote...

Hey, great lens! Thanks for telling me about it. I finally learned why I couldn't get my own blog to work (I was using the url). Will definitely add this to the Module Mentor lens!

ReplyPosted February 07, 2009

Lensmaster

Ener-G wrote...

Hey, great lens! Thanks for telling me about it. I finally learned why I couldn't get my own blog to work (I was using the url). Will definitely add this to the Module Mentor lens!

ReplyPosted February 07, 2009

Lensmaster

tandemonimom wrote...

Great lens! I just discovered Google Blog Search a few days ago, so this explanation is very helpful! Congrats on making Giant 100 Club - you deserve it!

ReplyPosted January 15, 2009

 
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