Apture: Search Made Easy

Apture is a new way of enhancing your experience on the internet. Browsing through a blog or article on the web, I often find myself needing more information. Typically I'd open another browser window and Google a definition or look for an image, or look for another blog or article on the same topic.

Apture makes the search process much easier, and it allows you to stay on the same original page. This is great for me, the use, but it's also great for the blogger. Anyone who blogs or writes articles for the internet wants to keep the attention of their visitors - going offsite to search for more information greatly decreases the likelihood that the visitor will return.

So, I'm experimenting with Apture, and so far, I'm impressed. Apture.com provides a very short line of code which you copy and paste into the template of your blog or the body of your webpage. The html code activates a link to Apture's search capabilities as soon as someone visits the webpage. The service is free to install and use, and very easy to add to any webpage.

For the visitor, using Apture is easy. As soon as you begin to scroll down the page, a simple, inobtrusive search bar appears at the top of the page. You can enter any search terms or keywords into the search box, and the results are shown at the side of the webpage.

It's even easier to simply highlight any word or phrase on the webpage. A search button appears just above the text. Click on the search button and the results box will open up.

It's fast, convenient, free, and effective. Look for the Apture badge on the websites you visit. I hope it catches on. It's a good enhancement.

BTW: I created the screenshot and added comments using a browser-based addon called Explain and Send Screenshots. Not a very imaginative name, but it sure makes it easy to capture all or part of a webpage as an image, crop, add comments and graphics, and save as an image.