A recent study by Bazaarvoice of 30,000 website users showed that those using a search engine tuned to match the natural language of the user "converted 60% more often, spent 50% more, and viewed 82% more pages than search visitors to other pages".

This type of study reflects the importance of search engines within websites, but why are so few search engines effective?

To answer this question, the first step is to deliver a Findability Study.

This post explains the factors that form part of this analysis.

Search engine or find engine?

All search engines can search, but not all can actually find what the user is looking for. Users who don't find will often abandon the site and go elsewhere. A search failure is a lost opportunity, and in many cases (especially in e-commerce) it is a lost customer.

How do we transform the search engine into a powerful tool to help locate the relevant product or information?

The key is the analysis of user behaviour. This seems obvious, but the majority of search engines that we use on a daily basis fail to do so. Analysing how often and when users search is not sufficient, the important thing is to know how they search and adapt the search engine to meet their needs.

Using natural language

One of the most critical aspects of the relationship between search engines and users is the language used. Users use a natural and colloquial langauge that doesn't always coincide with the catalogue description. For example, they may search "concerts", "support" or "discounts" which correspond to content tagged as "shows", "subsidies" and "sales".

Another aspect to consider is the help the search engine offers to the user as they search. There are many times the user doesn't know exactly how to write something. This has happened to me, when I first discovered the books of the Swedish author Camilla Läckberg it took me ages to find any information on her books (as you can imagine, I didn't spell the surname correctly first time, nor second. Nor third). The objective of a good search engine is to reduce the time and effort between the user and the information or product they're looking for.

Joined-up marketing

The search engine must also form part of the marketing plan and be aware of corporate promotions and communications. For example, sometimes users will search for the name of a famous person associated with an advertising campaign and find nothing because no one joined up the two ends - another opportunity lost. It's vital to anticipate user search behaviour - especially if the organization is spending money on associating a celebrity with their brand - and content or useful search results must be presented so the user always gets an answer to their search question.

Beyond the catalogue

The reason these things get missed is that they are beyond the catalogue. As in the example above, if a famous person is advertising your product, the product has its row in your database, but the famous name isn't included. The same goes for other aspects beyond the catalogue such as delivery details, returns policy, support information and store locations.

A good example is Bankia just enter the four-digit code for any branch in the search box (for example 1024) and the search engine displays a map with address and other branches in the same area.

A good site doesn't just sell directly, it supports the whole business.

Too much information

Another risk is that the search engine offers too many results, increasing the likelihood of the results not being appropriate. There is the possibility of the search engine offering too much information. Many sites have a very large catalogue with possibly millions of items, and the user can feel saturated with so much information and not find what they really want. In these cases it is useful to offer tools to help refine searches or search within distinct catalogue areas.

Findability Study

All of these example are within a the Findability Study. Its objective is to elucidate the specific steps necessary to maximize the potential of the corporate search engine, ensuring it converts site visitors to customers.