Imagine going through every page of your site to find something. That would be tiring and time-consuming. Instead, finding a feature that allows you to type in a keyword or phrase and get instant results would be great.

Site searches are becoming increasingly important for businesses. According to Google, site searches account for almost half of all searches performed on their network. These searches are helpful for eCommerce sites because they provide customers instant access to information they need.

A site search feature makes it easier for visitors to find what they want. Not only does it save time, but it also helps improve their online user experience. Here’s how a site search feature can boost your online user experience.

1. Make your Search Bar Visible

A search box is a common user interface element that helps users locate information on a webpage. A site search feature should be placed at the top of the page so that users can easily access it. This way, they don’t need to leave the page to look for it. This increases user retention rates by allowing them to browse your site and resources for specific information quickly.

Ideally, make your site search feature stand out from the rest of the website to draw the visitor’s attention. If visitors have to look for your search bar, you are yet to optimize the user experience. Make the search bar unique while still complementing your website’s look.

2. Include Intelligent Search

Imagine typing one thing into the search bar and receiving search suggestions that don’t answer your query. This shows that the company has not included an intelligent search in its site search feature. As such, they miss out on potential sales and traffic. An intelligent search allows the site search to generate the right search suggestions and interesting pop-ups that make the visitor do unplanned searches.

It also saves visitors time, enhances user experience, and signposts products to users who may not know the correct spelling or name of the product they are looking for. In addition, it lets you adjust the search suggestion rules to change what visitors see.

These suggestions can be from previous searches, suggesting the most relevant products based on the query, or displaying your popular products. If visitors can find what they are looking for quickly and effortlessly, your site search user experience is top-notch.

3. Include Semantic Search

Semantic search allows you to understand search intent rather than responding to the query. This feature makes the difference between searching for an exact keyword like a product name and receiving meaningful results by searching for a general phrase. In addition, semantic search allows your site search feature to understand synonyms, boosting user experience. So, invest in a site search solution that will enable you to set up custom synonyms.

Conclusion

Investing in an efficient site search solution is among the most underappreciated practices for user experience optimization of your website. Your goal should be to provide users with a seamless site search that allows them to easily and quickly find the products they want and convert them into customers. Of course, the easier it is to find specific products on your site, the higher the conversion rate.