Use an internal search engine on your e-commerce site
Having a search bar on a company’s website is an increasingly important part of a successful digital strategy. This feature offers many benefits.
The terms that consumers type into the search box on a company’s website can give the company insight into user behavior and provide valuable data from which to learn.
When used successfully, this information can increase conversions and improve customer retention.
What is a search engine?
Search engines allow users to search for content on the Internet using keywords. Although the market is dominated by a few (Google, Bing, etc.), there are many other little-known search engines that people can use. When a user enters a query into a search engine, they get a results page (SERP) that ranks the pages found in order of relevance. The way this ranking is done differs between search engines.
What is an internal search engine on an e-commerce site?
The principle is the same as for a classic search engine. Except that this time, instead of searching for content on the Internet, the search will be performed only within the e-commerce site in question.
When a customer is on your website, he or she is either looking for information, or maybe even in a purchasing process (action phase). Depending on the services or products you sell, your site contains more or less pages. The customer in question will therefore have to search, using your navigation menu, for the product or service that interests him. But if this takes too much time, or if the customer path is not obvious, then there is a great risk that the customer will lose interest or change his mind. The main goal of integrating an internal search engine on your e-commerce site is to help the customer to find directly what he is looking for and to avoid losing sales.
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How does it work?
When customers arrive on a website, they will be looking to find something specific. That’s why your internal search engine must be visible at first glance. Ideally, it should be placed at the top of the page, as an image is often read by following a Z-shape, starting at the top left and ending at the bottom right.
The search field is supposed to provide relevant results and therefore promote the search option as a preferred choice.
The expected result is direct access to the product detail page.
According to an Econsultancy blog study on internal search engines of e-commerce sites: “The conversion rate of visitors was 4.63%, compared to an average of 2.77% for websites, which is 1.8 times more effective. As a result, visitors using search contributed 13.8% of revenue.“
On-site search conversion rates can be up to 50% higher than average.
What are the benefits of an internal search engine?
Users aren’t the only ones who benefit from personalized site search. Providing powerful search functionality is a crucial way to stay competitive in a world where users have very high expectations for their search experience.
Harvest valuable data for the company:
Indeed, to know exactly what customers type in the search bar is an important source of information for the company. Whether it is the reference of a model, (example: washing machine), or a brand (example: Electrolux, Siemens …), or a color (example: black, gray …) or even an option (example: washing, drying, silent …), this information will be able to be used in the marketing strategy and for the natural referencing of the website
Provide better relevance for each search:
Relevance is probably the number one quality targeted. It is composed of two things, matching and ranking. To do this, on-site search must be tolerant of user errors such as typos and alternative wording. On-site search must also be truly adaptive, taking into account factors such as natural language characteristics and partial word matches, in order to ensure that results are found for every search. Ranking ensures that the best matches appear at the top of the results.
Improve the customer experience:
There’s nothing worse for a user than a long list of unsorted results. With custom search, businesses can get to their desired results faster. Companies can also use filters to create an intuitive interface for complex searches. On the Internet, customers want their needs met as quickly as possible. They also want to have an engaging experience. Internal site search can help you do both. When you leverage the potential of on-site personalized search, your customers get more relevant and personalized results instantly. This increases user satisfaction, strengthens brand loyalty and increases the likelihood of customer return.
Conclusion
Adding a search engine improves the navigation of your website. By providing your visitors with another way to locate items on your site, you increase the likelihood that they will find your site useful and purchase your products and services.
Entrust the addition of an “internal search engine” functionality to Bocasay, a global IT development company with dedicated expertise in the development of search engines from their Vietnam offshore development center service.