SITE SEARCH
By. Jordan Burleson
Digital Marketing Strategist

BENEFITS OF SITE SEARCH

HAVE YOU EVER
Searched for something online?
Clicked a link to a promising website
Land on a webpage that doesn’t quite
answer your questions?

HAVE YOU EVER
Navigated to a site that you know had good
information but cant find it through the
sites navigation?

WHY YOU NEED SITE SEARCH
 According to a recent
Econsultancy blog on
site search
● Visitor's convert at 4.63%
vs. websites’ average of
2.77%

WHY YOU NEED SITE SEARCH
 The average website has over
50 pages or more.
 Finding what you need with
similar content on multiple
pages can be tricky.
 Search engines don’t always
get your searches on the
right page.

SITE SEARCH BENEFITS YOUR CONSUMERS

SITE SEARCH HELPS VISITORS
 Stay longer on the site
 Find what they are looking for
 Make transactions
 Micro-Conversions
 Contact you
 Encourage repeat transactions

Many consumers today
will go straight to the
site search before
navigating for an
answer.

SITE SEARCH IS BENEFICIAL BECAUSE
 It satisfies the “ I want it now” problem for today's
searchers
 Consumers expect site search on today’s websites
 It also reduces bounce and exit rates
 Increase time on site
 It can suggest related content the searcher may be
interested in

SITE SEARCH IS GREAT FOR ECOMMERCE

DID YOU KNOW?
 On ecommerce sites, up to 30% of users will use the
search box to show intent to buy.
 All by typing searches for product names, product
codes and product categories.
 Ecommerce sites can take advantage of filtering options
to narrow down “Clothing” to “Men’s” and then even
further to “Dress Pants.”

WHERE SHOULD SITE SEARCH BOXES GO?

WHERE SHOULD SITE SEARCH GO?
 Site search boxes should be
placed in a prominent
position on the page and
visible throughout the entire
site.
 Ideally the site search bar
should be positioned near
the top navigation.

 By using text in the search box before the area is
clicked, you can help give search parameters and advice
to help users to click.
 Make sure the text disappears when users click the
search box. This can provide a poor user experience if
they have to manually delete text.

BENEFITS OF AUTO-SUGGEST IN SITE SEARCH
 Saves time in the search
process
 Avoids incorrect spellings
 Ensures consumers
receive better search
results

SITE SEARCH BENEFITS FOR ECOMMERCE
 Improved Sales- Effective searches
allow shoppers to easily find
products when they want to make a
a purchase
 Increased Time on Site- Easier site
search means deeper navigation
into site
 Customer Retention & Loyalty-
Satisfied customers = Return
customers and positive reviews

SITE SEARCH ALLOWS BETTER ANALYTICS

HOW DO YOU PROVE SITE SEARCH’S WORTH?
 Our preferred Analytics partner, Google Analytics, offers
a site search analysis feature.
 The site search analysis feature will allow you to dig
deeper into the mind of your consumers and improve
your website.

HOW TO SET UP SITE SEARCH
 Click the Admin tab at the
top right of any screen in
Analytics and click the
account that contains the
profile you want to set up
Site Search for.
 Use the Profile menu to
select the profile you want
then click the Profile Settings
sub-tab.

HOW TO SET UP SITE SEARCH CONT.
 Under Site Search Settings, select Do
Track Site Search.
 In the Query Parameter field, enter the
word or words that designate an
internal query parameter, such as
“term,search,query”. Sometimes the
word is just a letter, such as “s” or “q”.
Enter up to five parameters, separated
by commas. For information about
identifying query parameters, see
Identifying Search and Query
Parameters for Your Site.
 Select whether or not you want Google
Analytics to strip the query parameter
from your URL. Note that this strips
only the parameters you provided, and
not any other parameters in the same
URL. This has the same functionality as
excluding URL Query Parameters in
your Main Profile: if you strip the
query parameters from your Site
Search Profile, you don’t have to
exclude them again from your Main
Profile.

HOW TO SET UP SITE SEARCH CONT.
 Click Apply

HOW TO SET UP SITE SEARCH CONT.
 Select whether or not
you use categories,
such as drop-down
menus to refine a site
search.
● If you select No, you are
finished. Click Save Changes.
 If you select Yes:
● In the Category Parameter field,
enter the letters that designate an
internal query category such as
‘cat, qc,’.
● Select whether or not you want
Google Analytics to strip the
category parameters from your URL.
Note that this strips only the
parameters you provided, and not
any other parameters in the same
URL. This has the same functionality
as excluding URL Query Parameters
in your Main Profile: if you strip the
category parameters from your Site
Search Profile, you don’t have to
exclude them again from your Main
Profile.

TRACKING SITE SEARCH
Usage Report
Shows you how many people
use the site search feature vs.
those that do not.
It also gives you insight into
what percent of search users
make a purchase so you can
compare ROI.

SITE SEARCH: USAGE REPORT

SITE SEARCH: TERMS
 This report shows you what
keywords people are using,
what items they may not be
able to find within your site
navigation
 This gives insight into what
products are missing and
keywords that need more
focus

SUMMARY
 A great site search software can help you:
● Retain customers
● Increase sales
● Track under-performing pages and keywords

HOW TO GET STARTED
Beacon recommends two great options for integrating site
search into your ecommerce platform.
 Google’s Custom Search which provides has a free and inexpensive option for
small and medium sized businesses
 Nextopia, a partner of Beacon which offers an affordable option for larger
businesses and support integration through a variety of platforms