Turn off address bar search

In Safari 6 - I know have a single search/address bar. I like it mostly, although as I'm developing sites locally, when I type in a local address such as site.local it searches Google for site.local,

I'm wondering if I can config it to look at the local DNS first, or turn this search off.

Here are a couple of things to try:

1. Start typing in the Smart Search Field. In the dropdown menu which appears, there should be a Go to Site option.

(Image from Apple Support Communities).

2. Try Matt Swain's AnySearch Safari Extension.

AnySearch allows you to use any custom search engine you want - not just the three that Safari allows by default. Alternatively, it allows you to disable the search functionality completely, returning to the Safari 5 functionality of only allowing web addresses.

Something else to try: add a forward slash at the end of the URL (so instead, type site.local/).

I do this at work sometimes when trying to access intranet sites. It usually forces the browser to load that resource rather than search. Has worked for me in Chrome and Firefox too.