As mentioned in our earlier post, we’re starting a new series of tips here on our blog for improving your site search, as part of our new whitepaper “The Big Book of Site Search Tips” that’s now available. Here is the first batch of tips for you to consider. We’ll be back with another batch of tips next Tuesday…
- Offer a search box, not a search link – Search boxes are easier to find and use. They make it easier for people to search with fewer clicks. The search box has become iconic, thanks to the popularity of Google, so the presence of a box telegraphs the availability of search easily and quickly.
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- Make sure your search box is large enough to contain long search phrases – Design the size of your search box to meet the needs of your site visitors. For instance, if visitors on your site use long keywords to search, make sure the box can display the entire term so they can easily see what they typed. Short or small search boxes make it hard to read a long search term, which will increase the likelihood that site visitors will spell it incorrectly.
- Test different positions for the search box, and note which positions generate the most search traffic – SLI Systems customer Black Forest Décor took this approach, moving its search box from the right-hand upper corner of its site to the center. The online home décor retailer made other changes at the same time, including increasing the size of the search box. The company found that site search revenue per customer increased 84% and the conversion rate increased 34%.
Download the Big Book of Site Search Tips here.
