Here’s something you don’t see every day: hand-drawn artwork turned into search queries.

Wolfram|Alpha has rolled out a new home page that features nearly 300 icons surrounding the traditional search box.

The company says each icon is hand-drawn and represents an “interactive starting point” to help users understand better the types of data and answers that Wolfram|Alpha offers. Clicking any icon creates a pop-up that previews what the search term is, and then clicking again does the search itself.

It’s a pretty clever way to introduce new visitors to using Wolfram|Alpha — certainly different from the standard video demos that many websites offer to new users.

If you’re a regular Wolfram|Alpha user that’s already set a custom background for the home page, you’ll have to go into settings and change that in order to see the new home page.

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Wolfram Alpha

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

Connect with the author via: Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn