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vB Google Search Cloud - SEO · **Released**: 05-09-2008

Simple Search Cloud Script by Dan Fletcher
vBulletin Integration by NeutralizeR

vB Google Search Cloud

Simple Search Cloud

A search cloud is like a tag cloud, that you find on blogs- except instead of showing a cloud of tags, it shows a cloud of search terms used to access the site.

It shows different searches visitors have used to get to your website. The more people that searched for a particular term- the bigger that term will appear in the cloud.

This script is easy to install, particularly if you have a PHP based website (like a blog, a script, a forum, etc).

It will increase your page views (because it encourages customers to explore more), and is also great for SEO.

More about search clouds...

One of the best ways to get targeted traffic to your website is through the search engines. And how much traffic you get will be based on how high you appear in the search engine rankings. So it is important to spend some of your marketing time trying to improve your search engine rankings. There are many ways to do this, but the two main ways are changing the text on your website, and increasing the links to your website.

You also need to look at the actual links on your website- make sure you link to your important pages, and use good anchor text (which is the text that your link appears as, eg a link to bluewidgets.com might appear as "blue widgets", so "blue widgets is the anchor text"). A great way to optimize your internal links is to use a "search cloud". A search cloud appears on your website (often on the side), and is a large list of words. Each word is a link, and they are all different sizes. Each word is something that someone searched for when they came to your website. If a lot of people search for a certain word, then that word will appear bigger in the cloud.

Search clouds help with your search engine rankings, because they ensure that you have internal links with the anchor text that people are actually searching for. Often people will guess what anchor text they should use- but they often get it wrong. A search cloud solves this problem- because it?s based on live results based on what people actually searched for. Lets say that you get some traffic for the search phrase "blue widgets". If someone visits your site after searching for "blue widgets", then the search cloud will now show "blue widgets", with a link to the relevant page. Now you have extra links to "blue widgets", you are more likely to rank higher for that term.

There are other benefits to search clouds as well. They can help lead your customers to your more important pages. If someone searches for "red widget", and then sees that the biggest phrase in your search cloud is for "blue widgets", they instantly know that your site is popular for blue widgets, and may go and visit the page. Search clouds also encourage visitors to explore your, which will help increase the average page views per visitor. This can mean more income, whether it?s in the form of extra sales, or more revenue from advertising. You can usually add a search cloud quite easily to your website.

Dan Fletcher

vBulletin Integration

Shorthly, vB Google Search Cloud product will fully integrate Simple Search Cloud script with your forum.
The default script didn't work for me so i changed some variables and added a function to display the hits of each search term + make-up for vBulletin.

Installation Instructions

1-) Upload search_cloud.php to your forum root.
2-) Import the product-vbgooglesearchcloud.xml.
3-) Put $searchcloud in any template you want to display your search cloud. e.g. footer

Upgrade Instructions

- (This step is for v1.0.3 only - Uninstall vB Google Search Cloud product.)

- Overwrite search_cloud.php with the new one.
- Import product-vbgooglesearchcloud.xml.

Optional

Open search_cloud.php and change these lines if needed:

PHP Code:


			
    // Variables you can set (if you want), but the defaults are fine.

    var $m_minFont     = 75;   // The minimum font size. No keywords will be smaller than this. This is a %
    var $m_maxFont     = 150;  // The maximum font size. No keywords will be bigger than this. This is a %
    var $m_averageFont = 100;   // The font size of an average searhced for keyword. This is a %
    var $m_maxEntries  = 100;   // Maximum number of entries displayed in the cloud
    var $m_showCount   = 0;    // Whether counts are shown along with each entry

    var $m_blackList   = array();   // list of disallowed words. An example is commented out below...
    //var $m_blackList   = array("sex","boob","cheatz");

Template
If you want to change something in the template > Search Templates > searchcloud

vBadvanced CMPS Integration

vBa CMPS > Add Module > Template Module

Module Title: Search Cloud
Template to Include: adv_portal_searchcloud
Template Content:

HTML Code:

<tr>
<td class="$bgclass" style="text-align:justify">
$vbsearchcloud
</td>
</tr>

Use Module Wrapper Template: Yes

Open vBadvanced Main Options and add vbsearchcloud to Portal Output Global Variables box.

Versions
v1.0.0 - May 10 2008
-First release
v1.0.1 - May 10 2008
-Fixed uncached template bug
v1.0.2 - May 15 2008
-Fixed security issue
-Added option to disable/enable hit counts
-Added blacklist option to disallow specific words
v1.0.3 - May 15 2008
-Changed mySQL variables so you don't have to enter the db details
v1.0.4 - May 16 2008
-Fixed bug: hit counts don't work
v1.0.5 - May 19 2008
-Added PHP 4 compatibility
-Small template changes

Demo
http://www.msxlabs.org/forum/

vmacedonia · #**112** 05-21-2008, 09:47 PM

Why most searched text isn't made with bigger font size, all the text phrases are the same?

Is this line in the PHP file have anything to do with the problem?

Code:

$datas[kw]=iconv("utf-8","Windows-1251",$datas[kw]);

NeutralizeR · #**113** 05-21-2008, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vmacedonia

Why most searched text isn't made with bigger font size, all the text phrases are the same?

Is this line in the PHP file have anything to do with the problem?

Code:

$datas[kw]=iconv("utf-8","Windows-1251",$datas[kw]);

No.

Check your google_searches table. Check the hit counts there...

vmacedonia · #**114** 05-21-2008, 10:32 PM

I have added that code before the line:

Code:

if ($a > 0.8)

like in version 1.0.1.

Is this correct for the new version or the code must be on another place?

NeutralizeR · #**115** 05-21-2008, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vmacedonia

I have added that code before the line:

Code:

if ($a > 0.8)

like in version 1.0.1.

Is this correct for the new version or the code must be on another place?

It's correct.

RobParker · #**116** 05-25-2008, 02:12 PM

Installed fine, only problem I've having is if the word you search for is too long it messes up the width of my style. Is there a way to fix the width easily to force the text to shrink if it doesn't fit in the column?

NeutralizeR · #**117** 05-25-2008, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobParker

Installed fine, only problem I've having is if the word you search for is too long it messes up the width of my style. Is there a way to fix the width easily to force the text to shrink if it doesn't fit in the column?

Try this in searchcloud template:
http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/cs...t/wordwrap.htm

Amenadiel · #**118** 05-28-2008, 01:21 AM

I suggest a little fix.

I was receiving this weird SQL error on my mail (it's VB's way to alert me when something goes wrong)

Code:

Database error in vBulletin 3.7.0:

Invalid SQL:
INSERT into vb_google_searches VALUES ('pavilion tx1332 drivers xp                                                                                                                                                                \"megaupload.com/\"|\"badongo.com/file/\"|\"rapidshare.com/files\"|\"mediafire.com/?\"|\"gigasize.com/get.php\"|\"seriesyonkis.com/\"','http://www.chw.net/foro/showthread.php?t=150369\',1);

MySQL Error   : Duplicate entry 'pavilion tx1332 drivers xp                                      ' for key 1
Error Number  : 1062
Request Date  : Tuesday, May 27th 2008 @ 04:10:48 PM
Error Date    : Tuesday, May 27th 2008 @ 04:10:48 PM
Script        : http://www.chw.net/foro/aqui-tienen-los-driver-del-tx1330la-t150369.html
Referrer      : http://www.google.es/custom?cx=005259712913702778262:h0v4n2t74pm&cof=GFNT%3A%23444444%3BGALT%3A%23444444%3BCX%3ADaleYa%252Ecom%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BFORID%3A0%3BT%3A%236600FF%3BALC%3A%23330000%3BLC%3A%23330000%3BGIMP%3A%23444444%3BBGC%3A%23DFE5FC%3BAH%3Aleft&q=pavilion+tx1332+drivers+xp++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"megaupload.com/"|"badongo.com/file/"|"rapidshare.com/files"|"mediafire.com/?"|"gigasize.com/get.php"|"seriesyonkis.com/"&btnG=B%C3%BAsqueda&cx=005259712913702778262%3Ah0v4n2t74pm
IP Address    : 190.198.248.43
Username      : Unregistered
Classname     : vB_Database_MySQLi
MySQL Version :

After a bit of tinkering, I found out that the field kw on the vb_google_searches table is 255 chars long, so two strings of, let's say, 260 chars, whose 255 first chars are identical, would trigger a duplicate key error. ?Why? Because the search_cloud script will check for a 260 chars $search variable without finding coincidences.

Ok, perhaps I'm not explaining myself enough, but if you guys get this error, I solved it cropping the $search variable to 254 chars.

In search_cloud.php find

Code:

$this->_logHit(strtolower($search),$pageURL);

add BEFORE

Code:

$search=substr($search,0,254);

and that's it

NeutralizeR · #**119** 05-28-2008, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amenadiel

I suggest a little fix.

I was receiving this weird SQL error on my mail (it's VB's way to alert me when something goes wrong)

Code:

Database error in vBulletin 3.7.0:

Invalid SQL:
INSERT into vb_google_searches VALUES ('pavilion tx1332 drivers xp                                                                                                                                                                \"megaupload.com/\"|\"badongo.com/file/\"|\"rapidshare.com/files\"|\"mediafire.com/?\"|\"gigasize.com/get.php\"|\"seriesyonkis.com/\"','http://www.chw.net/foro/showthread.php?t=150369\',1);

MySQL Error   : Duplicate entry 'pavilion tx1332 drivers xp                                      ' for key 1
Error Number  : 1062
Request Date  : Tuesday, May 27th 2008 @ 04:10:48 PM
Error Date    : Tuesday, May 27th 2008 @ 04:10:48 PM
Script        : http://www.chw.net/foro/aqui-tienen-los-driver-del-tx1330la-t150369.html
Referrer      : http://www.google.es/custom?cx=005259712913702778262:h0v4n2t74pm&cof=GFNT%3A%23444444%3BGALT%3A%23444444%3BCX%3ADaleYa%252Ecom%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BFORID%3A0%3BT%3A%236600FF%3BALC%3A%23330000%3BLC%3A%23330000%3BGIMP%3A%23444444%3BBGC%3A%23DFE5FC%3BAH%3Aleft&q=pavilion+tx1332+drivers+xp++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"megaupload.com/"|"badongo.com/file/"|"rapidshare.com/files"|"mediafire.com/?"|"gigasize.com/get.php"|"seriesyonkis.com/"&btnG=B%C3%BAsqueda&cx=005259712913702778262%3Ah0v4n2t74pm
IP Address    : 190.198.248.43
Username      : Unregistered
Classname     : vB_Database_MySQLi
MySQL Version :

After a bit of tinkering, I found out that the field kw on the vb_google_searches table is 255 chars long, so two strings of, let's say, 260 chars, whose 255 first chars are identical, would trigger a duplicate key error. ?Why? Because the search_cloud script will check for a 260 chars $search variable without finding coincidences.

Ok, perhaps I'm not explaining myself enough, but if you guys get this error, I solved it cropping the $search variable to 254 chars.

In search_cloud.php find

Code:

$this->_logHit(strtolower($search),$pageURL);

add BEFORE

Code:

$search=substr($search,0,254);

and that's it

Yes, i'd add that search limiting in the next version. Thanks.

ade5675 · #**120** 05-31-2008, 03:59 AM

I don't know where all the errors and questions are coming from. This hack is great.

It works in 3.6.8
Thanks for this, NeutralizeR :up:

INSTALLED!!

saotome · #**121** 06-02-2008, 05:52 AM

installed, reserved. thanks

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