SEO is obviously an important part of running a successful eCommerce site, but it’s far from the only thing that matters. Once you get visitors onto your site, you must ensure they can find the information they’re looking for. This is why site search features and functions matter so much.
Give These 5 Tips a Try
Site search functionality isn’t the sexiest topic, but it’s something that must be prioritized if you’re hoping to develop a successful site that satisfies the demands of the user. Here are a few practical points of discussion:
1. Develop an Intuitive Search Box
You can see an example of an autocomplete site search on BestBuy.com. As soon as you begin typing in a word, the search box returns with suggestions and products that match the query. This intuitive little feature makes it much easier for visitors to find exactly what they’re looking for.
2. Filter Product Results
For an example of proper filtering, take a look at this page from Trip.com. Start by checking out the filters in the left-hand sidebar. Visitors can filter based on price, hotel class, hotel type, and user ratings. Then at the top of the page, visitors can ask for personalized recommendations based on their needs (budget friendly, family oriented, luxury, business, etc.). These may seem like small touches, but they alter the user experience (UX) in a pretty substantial way.
3. Improve Navigation
In 2017, make sure you’re simplifying navigation. Nobody wants to deal with a complicated menu with dozens of different parent categories. Strategically label categories and consolidate as much as possible.
4. Avoid Zero Results Pages
Instead of offering zero results for a product that doesn’t exist, offer suggestions based on the type of search they ran. Don’t have anything even remotely related to their search? Show them your best selling products, or even flash sale items. You have to do something to keep visitors engaged.
5. Speed Things Up
Creating a highly functional site that’s also fast is a huge challenge – one that big companies spend thousands of dollars on each year. The key is to use as many simplified features as possible. As previously mentioned, using an autocomplete search function is a good idea. A bigger picture option is to invest in a better server that’s faster and more efficient.
Still not good enough? The next challenge is to work on removing unnecessary elements from your site and optimizing bulky images that bog things down.
Make UX a Big Priority
At the end of the day, you must couple good SEO practices with seamless UX in order to attract, engage, and convert website users. And while there are many different components of website UX, the search features you implement, play a significant role in how users process the information and content on your site.
Make UX a bigger priority, and you’ll enjoy a healthy return on your initial investment.