Optimizing the internal search function is not often the first thing people think of when improving webshops. And that is incomprehensible when you consider that many of your visitors rely on the search bar to find a specific item in your virtual store. Whereas previously people opted for an easy way out with Google Website Search just to have something on their site, today the internal search function is a key pillar of a high-quality webshop. In this blog, we will tell you more about it!
Site in Google Search
Let's go back to the time when sites in Google Search were still very common. Visitors to a specific webshop could enter search queries and continue their search on your website. However, this changed at the beginning of 2018, because in that year the search engine giant converted every site in Google Search to Google Custom Search. This transition was not without changes, because from that moment on, pages belonging to your competitors could become visible on your domain. Undesirable! First of all, because it does not contribute to improved conversions, but also because the layout cannot be tweaked to match your branding.
Search tools
Fortunately, changes often lead to good things, such as the rise of search tools. Search tools are aids that you can implement on your website to cater to the visitor.
Example. You own a sneaker webshop and sell hundreds of different models. If a potential customer had to navigate through the menu structure to find their ideal shoe, they would face a complicated search. However, if you implement one of the search tools, the chance of a match between visitor and product is much greater. Such an internal search function links the best results to the words entered, thereby achieving a better match.
3 reasons for an internal search function
Are you still not fully convinced of the opportunities an internal search function brings after our plea? Then we will briefly list the opportunities for you below:
- Revenue-increasing: the internal search function has a positive impact on your revenue. Research shows that visitors convert significantly faster with a good internal search function than when it is absent.
- Time-saving: the internal search function also has a time-saving function. Your customer service team needs to answer the phone less often to answer questions, because the customer will presumably find what they are looking for on your website faster.
- Reflective: finally, search tools offer reflection on your content. You gain a better understanding of which pages are found effectively due to the right content and what is still missing.