SimilarSiteSearch SimilarSiteSearch

Tips & Tools

SimilarSiteSearch is capable of doing searches like:
similar to cnn.com but more progressive in the USA, or more conservative
similar sites to yelp.com in French and must be in Paris
sites like amazon.com in UK that must sell electronics
sites like alibaba.com for India
learning sites for children

1. Highlight of Features:

• Find similar sites in different languages and countries. Can find German sites that are similar to an English site. Can also find English sites in UK that are similar to a French site! Of course, default is to find similar sites in the same language and country.

• Find websites by keywords with language and country options. Keywords will be translated into target language for searching. For example, you can find comics sites in many languages. You can also find universities sites in UK or India. Supports Must and Must Not queries.

• Hybrid search by mixing URL and keywords. For example, nytimes.com +chicago(https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q=nytimes.com+%2Bchicago) finds similar sites to nytimes.com in Chicago.

• Safe Search mode which filters links to adult sites.

• Easy website submission and fast indexing. Users can contribute by suggesting, voting, and rating.

2. Searching for similar websites by URL:

Basic Search
Enter the website address or URL in the search box. You can also use direct link in this format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/{url}. Replace {url} with websites like youtube.com or craigslist.org.

Searching for similar websites in different languages
You can find a similar websites in different languages than the URL using the following format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/{url}/LC={LanguageCode}. Replace {LanguageCode} with language code. For example, https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/amazon.com/LC=fr finds a list of French sites that are similar to amazon.com.

Searching for similar websites in different countries
You can find a similar websites in different countries than the URL using the format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/{url}/CC={CountryCode}. Replace {CountryCode} with two letter country code. For example, https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/amazon.com/CC=uk finds a list of sites in UK that are similar to amazon.com. Right now, this feature only works for English sites.

Combining language and country
You can combine Language and Country with this format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/{url}/LC={LanguageCode}&CC={CountryCode}. For example, https://www.similarsitesearch.com/alternatives-to/google.de/LC=en&CC=au finds a list of English and Australian similar sites to German site google.de.

3. Searching for websites by Keywords:

You provide a powerful website search engine through keyword search.

Basic Search
Enter a keyword or topic in the search box. You can also use direct link in this format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/tag/{topic}/. Replace {topic} with news, shopping, or anything you can think of. SimilarSiteSearch's algorithm tries to understand users' intention by analyzing the search terms. For example, if youtube is entered, it determines that intention is to find similar sites to youtube.com. Therefore, a list of similar sites to youtube.com will be returned. To force SimilarSiteSearch to find websites with youtube as topic, you will need to use the direct link: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/tag/youtube/.

Limit search results by Language and Country
You can use LC option to limit the language and CC option to limit the country with this format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q={keywords}&LC={LanguageCode}&CC={CountryCode}. For example, https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q=politics+blog&T=1&CC=ca&LC=en finds a list of politic blogs in English and in Canada. (T=1 forces keyword search).

Advanced Search
Use prefix + to force include a keyword and use prefix - to force exclude a keyword. For example: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q=%2Btech+-politics&LC=en finds a list of English websites about tech but not politics. (+ is encoded to %2B in URL). You can also boost the importance of some keywords with suffix ^{num}. For example, https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q=NYC^100++restaurant&T=1&LC=en ranks sites that more NYC related higher in search result.

Translation and Spell Checking
SimilarSiteSearch will translate keywords into the destination language to show broader results. For example, news will be translated into Greek ειδήσεις if news is searched with LC=el option set. Use TR option to enable (TR=1) or disable (TR=0) keyword translation. By default, spell checking is enabled. To disable use search option SC=0.

Searching for top sites by language:
You can use link in this format: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/language/{LanguageCode}. Replace {LanguageCode} with language code. For example https://www.similarsitesearch.com/language/ru/ returns top Russian sites, and https://www.similarsitesearch.com/language/zh-CN/ returns top Chinese Simplified sites. We have implemented SimilarSiteSearch in multiple languages. Please go to our homepage to check out.

4. Search by mixing URL and Keywords:

Use the following format to mix URL and Keywords: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q={URL}+{Keywords}&T=1. Add prefix "+" for must have keywords. Add prefix "-" for must NOT have keywords. For example, https://www.similarsitesearch.com/search/?q=amazon.com+%2Belectronics+-books&LC=en&T=1 finds English sites like amazon.com but not for books and must include electronics.

5. Submitting a site:

Go to our API page for details.

6. Safe Search and Safe Mode:

When Safe Search is enabled, SimilarSiteSearch will avoid displaying links to websites that may contain adult content. To turn it on, use following url: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/safesearchon.php . To turn it off, use: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/safesearchoff.php . A cookie will be set on your browser to remember your decision. You may use query option SafeSearch=[0|1] to turn it off/on for each individual query, which will override your cookie value.

To avoid users accidentally clicking on links to websites that may contain adult contents, we will display a warning before such links are showed to users when the safe mode is turned on. The default value for safe mode is on. To turn it off, click on the link in safe mode warning page. To turn it back on, use the following link: https://www.similarsitesearch.com/safemodeon.php

7. Bookmarklet:

Bookmarklet is a convenient way of finding similar sites to the current page you are viewing (instead of typing it in the search box). DRAG this link SimilarSiteSearch to your browser's bookmarks toolbar. When you want to find similar sites to the current page you are visiting, just click on the SimilarSiteSearch icon you dragged to the bookmarks bar. Read this Wikipedia article to learn more about bookmarklet.