Webinar recap: The language of search

Last week’s webinar took a deep dive into the topic of on-site search — the crucial feature that drives one third of eCommerce revenue, according to the MarketLive Performance Index. As discussed in our prior post, most merchants recognize the need for improvement with on-site search to boost relevance and generate even more sales using this potentially versatile tool.

While the webinar covered a range of topics, from determining whether faceted search is right for you to best practices for mobile search, there was an overarching theme — the importance of context and language. The on-site search tool shouldn’t merely generate a page of product listings as a results set; rather, on-site search should orient users to how the results set was generated, guide them to options for narrowing or expanding the range of products they view, and even suggest non-product content as an alternative. In particular, on-site search should:

Prominently place spelling corrections. Users now expect search mechanisms to assist them with alternatives for commonly-misspelled terms, and account for errors from shoppers using tablets and smartphones that rely on tapping rather than typing – such as hitting letters adjacent to the intended target. Spell out the alternatives clearly in prominent type, as Helzberg Jewelers does with its spelling correction feature. Shoppers can click any of the alternate terms or browse top probable matches.

If an automatic redirect is used, explain it. Whenever the on-site search tool overrides the usual functionality, shoppers should be alerted to that fact with a prominent flag. For example, if shoppers enter a term that returns just one match, then many search tools are set to link directly to that product rather than displaying a nearly empty results page — but a special flag should appear so shoppers know why they landed there. Similarly, if a term exactly matches a product category, it’s fine to link directly to that category — but give shoppers the option to see items in a search results set instead, as Sears does with its food processor page. The message highlighted in yellow lets shoppers know they’ve been redirected, with the option to view result without the redirect.

Maximize the communicative value of facets. We’ve all been on sites whose faceted search tools complicate, rather than simplify, the product discovery process. To avoid overwhelming shoppers, it’s crucial to fine-tune faceted search so the tool communicates effectively and efficiently. Merchants should:

• Use data to create a usable set of facets. Study existing internal search logs to determine which product attributes shoppers already search for, and what keyword terms they use – don’t assume insider industry terms are commonly used by consumers.
• Display the number of product matches for each attribute, so shoppers don’t have to select each to see how many results are available.  This addition is especially important in the mobile environment, where shoppers receiving a large results set will invariably rely on facets to zero in quickly on the right products. Outdoor retailer REI’s mobile search returns the same full results set as on the eCommerce site — but gives shoppers drop-down options along with the number of matches for each for a quick shortcut to a more manageable list of products.

Highlight the availability of non-product content. Customer service content such as shipping information, buying guides and lifestyle content should all be searchable — and the on-site search results page should offer clearly-labeled links to that content alongside the products that match a shopper’s keyword terms. Online jeweler Blue Nile uses the heading “Education and Guidance Results” to set off its rich content from the results set — easing access for shoppers who need more information before selecting products.

Download the Webinar replay and whitepaper for more on-site search strategies. Meantime, how have you tweaked your on-site search presentation and functionality to better orient shoppers?