Now that local or “on-site” search capability has become more pervasive, the ability for online shoppers to locate desired products and services has increased manifold. Instead of spending time and effort browsing through a website, online shoppers can simply type in a few keywords and —abracadabra— the product or service they are seeking appears right in front of them! As a result, online shoppers have become increasingly dependant on local site search functionalities.
Given both the popularity of on-site search and the short time most visitors spend on a website, it is imperative for online merchants to provide better site search capabilities. In this article, we provide you with tips to improve overall site search experience of your visitors.
Improving the Site Search Experience
Today’s site search tools have moved much beyond a simple text box that search only through HTML Meta data. Site search functionalities have evolved to provide a visitor with accurate results and provide greater flexibility to define a search term.
Make Site Search Customizable
Online buyers have come to expect both simple (full text) and advanced search capabilities on ecommerce sites. An advanced search feature typically allows user to search based on specific criteria’s like price, weight, and manufacturer.
A well-crafted and comprehensive advanced search can be used to guide customers more effectively. For example, a visitor looking to buy a Toyota costing $10,000, should be able to select Toyota on the advanced search page and define a price range of $8-12K. The result of such well defined search would save a customer the ordeal of scrolling through a list of non-related products.
Make Site Search Relevant
Similarly, if a customer searching an online gift website for "rose flowers" is returned results related to "Sunflower cosmetics," it’s very likely that visitor would leave the store with a bad impression about that entire online business. Thus, it is mandatory to build a relevant search capability that does not return irrelevant results.
Make Site Search Fast
Many shoppers consider site search as the fastest way to reach to the desired product. The last thing they want is to have the search results being displayed at a slow pace. Make sure that the site search engine is fast enough to process and retrieve any search results quickly, even incase of websites with large number of products.
Make Site Search Informative
Search results should provide precise information about a product and allow visitors to make buying decision without visiting the individual product page. Important information that should be displayed in search results are product name and its price.
Site Search Functionality Paramount for Web Merchants
If you’re currently looking for a ready-made ecommerce solution, make sure that you fully understand its search functionality, assuming it is available. Look for a shopping cart that provides powerful search settings, so that you can control the requirements for search results, as your business grows. (Note: GoECart’s new site search capability is robust and comprehensive. See “Know Your GoECart” in this month’s eNewsletter.)
