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Why Internal Search Is Important for Your Website
January 20, 2023
9 min
Working in a highly competitive business environment, companies cannot lose any opportunity to increase their traffic and conversion rate. For this purpose, also make sure that your website has an internal site search.
The internal site search function is on the list of the most important on-page SEO tools for any website. No matter how comfortable and easy-to-navigate your site interface is, your visitors want a fast and direct way to find the exact product, service, or information they’re looking for. At the same time, customers that already know what they are looking for demonstrate much higher conversion compared to those that are just browsing.
On the contrary, if you do not provide the possibility of an internal search, your visitors are likely to leave the website.
Spoiler: Setting up an internal site search is not a complicated process. However, the ROI of effective side search is definitely worth the time and effort for setting up the internal search on your site.
Once we’ve decided on the importance of an effective internal search, let’s view the requirements for it.
Keep in mind that the major function of internal search is helping your website visitors to find products or services they are actually searching for. That is why the relevance of the internal website search is the major priority.
Internal search relevance is the level of accuracy of the relationship between the search query typed in the website search bar and the given search results.
The search results need to be accurate, appropriate and have structured data. Put yourself in the shoes of your buyer persona, consider their purchase behavior, and take into account different stages of the consumer purchase journey.
Also, consider that website visitors may misspell words and phrases when entering the query in the site search bar. That is why you need to make sure that you offer them possible results that are close to the keyword they are looking for. It will maximize your chances to turn leads into paying customers.
Visuality is another important requirement for effective internal search. It needs to be easy for your website visitors to find a search box. Make the visual search as clear as possible! A good place for the internal search bar is the top right or top middle of the landing page.
Below is an example of the search box placement of our client concert.ua. By the way, look at how we increased organic traffic by 117% by optimizing the main pages of the brand’s site.
Also, don’t forget that 73% of retail eCommerce sales are made from mobile. That is why the website search needs to be available and work well on smartphones and tablets. The search box needs to be well-visible on different devices. Usually, the top middle is the most effective place for it on the mobile version of the website.
We also recommend benefiting from advanced technologies. Make your internal search powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. They will enable autocomplete and proper search suggestions for your customers promptly and with accuracy. On one hand, autocomplete search queries improve the user’s experience on the website. On the other hand, they also increase the conversion rate.
We have already included voice search on the list of the main SEO trends in 2023. Let me remind you that voice search has great potential. More than 40% of all US customers are actively using it for online shopping. Don’t miss the opportunity and enable your internal website search with voice recognition.
You may also find updated information on digital audio ads in our blog article.
Another beneficial tip for your effective internal search is adding visual results. Make the suggestions for search queries appear not only in the form of written lists but also as product images. The visual search also will improve the speed and quality of converting leads to customers.
Undoubtedly, an opportunity to set filters and customize facets is on the list of key internal search requirements. Filters allow website visitors to narrow down their searches, which makes the internal search process easier and more effective.
Of course, there might appear a situation when your site has no relevant result for the search query. By displaying a simple “No results” message, you’re likely to motivate your lead to bounce from the website.
We recommend showing them products that meet the broader meaning of their search query. What is more, you may also offer them the website’s best-selling positions. Try to maximize the session duration and interest your leads with alternative products.
Adding the site search is definitely a win-win situation which is beneficial for customers and businesses. Let’s view both sides of the medal.
Effectiveness is one of the most important benefits for customers. Internal search on the website allows visitors to quickly and conveniently find the desired product or service. That is why more than 30% of visitors use a site search box when the one is offered. They have no need to scroll down pages of the catalogs. As a result, shopping becomes more efficient and pleasant.
Let’s view this question even more strategically. A good user experience on the website increases the chance of your customers coming back to you again and again. Consumers’ loyalty grows, and revenue enhances. It’s that great?
One of the main advantages of the internal search for a business is brilliant insights about customers. Internal search allows an understanding of what visitors are searching for. It benefits the strategic, marketing, and inventory planning of your eCommerce. Google Analytics site search report provides you with structured data and meaningful insights. Analyze what queries your visitors are looking for and take maximum benefits from the data.
As we’ve mentioned before, due to the proper setup of the internal website search and autocomplete search queries, you may offer your prospects additional products. It allows for increasing sales and generating more revenue. For instance, the Bloomreach report states that 15% of customers who use site search account for 45 percent of e-commerce revenue.
Finally, the major benefit of the internal search for businesses is a higher conversion rate. According to the research of eConsultancy, the average conversion rate across all websites is 2.77%. On the contrary, site search users converted at 4.63%. It deals with the fact that people that are typing in a search query already know what they want and, usually, are ready to buy. Your task is to make the search and buying process as comfortable as possible.
So, if you still do not have an internal search on your website, hurry up in order not to miss available opportunities.
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