Site Search - Capitalizing on a
Common Tool | |
With vast information at our fingertips, it's easy to understand the value of a good search tool. E-mail applications have search features allowing us to find topics in an e-mail received a year ago. Operating systems include search capability helping us find files on our network. Search engines sift through clutter on the web to deliver information we're looking for, whether research for a report or the phone number of a local supplier. These tools have become an indispensable part of business.
Does your web site have search capability?
As your web site grows, it becomes more difficult for visitors to find specific content. Although good site architecture and clear navigation help, broad categories found on the home page often do not clearly delineate specific products or topics which the visitor is looking for. Having a site search service available on the home page and throughout the site provides the site visitor with a helpful and familiar tool they can use to find what they need.
Adding Search Capability to Your Site
Third-party search services typically provide better value over custom development--they have a wide variety of features and can be quickly and seamlessly integrated. The service is usually licensed on an annual basis and varies in price from free to thousands of dollars depending on the particular service, features and size of your site. Importantly, free services typically include text advertisements from the major search engines at the top of the search results page--in this case, free is not a good price. Unless you are not concerned about links to competitors' sites appearing on your site, paying for a level of service that will not render text advertisements is a sound business decision.
How it Works
The search service indexes information under a specific domain in the same manner as the major search engines; i.e., page content, page titles and meta information within www.yoursite.com. The service is integrated by adding a search box to pages on your site along with code which submits search terms to the service. Relevant page links are delivered to the user via the third party site or within a results page on your site depending on the type of service.
Features
The main features to look for include:
Site Indexing-Usefulness of the tool is only as good as relevance of the results. Is the site frequently indexed and done automatically? What content is being indexed? Is ancillary content (i.e., PDF files) included?
Reporting-Reports show what visitors are searching for on your site and provides you the opportunity to make this content more readily available. Does the service provide reporting?
Integration-User experience should be consistent with your site. Are the feature and results seamlessly integrated (i.e., consistent navigation and branding elements as the rest of your site)? If not, are elements of your brand included or does it appear a third party is providing the results? Are the results quick to display?
The frequency with which this tool is used on your web site will depend on your traffic, audience and depth of content. Importantly, as "search" has become part of our vernacular the use of search tools has become commonplace. Make sure this tool is available to the site visitors who may need it.
If you have questions about search services or would like to add this feature to your site, please contact Pop Art Sales at (503) 242-4292 ext. 111.