In the competitive world of e-commerce, search engines are the battleground. Businesses are adopting strategies and techniques that will enable them to overtake their competitors and land at the very top of the search results.
SEO, or search engine optimisation, is a necessary step toward visibility. When a digital storefront receives high traffic organically and sustainably because of its place on the search results, it can boost profit.
There is another aspect of the web that is equally important but does not get as much attention as search engines: on-site search. On every website, from Facebook to Amazon, there is a little text box where consumers can type keywords and find what they are looking for.
However, one study found that only 15% of businesses dedicated a portion of their resources toward optimising the on-site search. The majority either folded the feature into other online measurement responsibilities or ignored it altogether.
On-site search drive sales just as much as a responsive web design, site speed, quality content, and other features needed to improve a website.
On-Site Search Equals Conversion
When a consumer performs an on-site search, it is a clear sign of intent to purchase. Based on observation, the revenue is typically much higher among website visitors who did an on-site search compared to those who did not. According to one research, on average, the conversion rate among consumers that did on-site search was 4.63% — double the overall e-commerce conversion rate.
Up to 30% of a website’s visitors perform an on-site search.
Consumers use the on-site search function in order to look for a specific topic, category, or product. Without an on-site search, website visitors are doomed to browsing every web page one-by-one. Your goal as an entrepreneur is to give potential customers exactly what they want with a single click.
Now that the importance of on-page search in e-commerce has been established, here are four ways to optimise it.
Organise Your Catalogue
Sifting through dozens of merchandise takes so much time. To find what they are looking for, consumers use the on-site search function, type the keyword, and easily find what they need. This would not be possible if the contents of the website are not defined and categorised.
The business should be able to identify individual attributes of all products, create descriptors for each one, and use these details to group them. By categorising products correctly, you enable the on-site search function to present a selection of relevant search results to the keyword the consumer used.
SEO may involve numbers and phrases in addition to keywords. The on-site search function should be able to handle any combination that a potential customer may enter on the text box.
Display Descriptive Results
The search results should be presented in a manner that is easy to navigate and understand. You will have to make a decision about a couple of factors, including a ranking system based on relevancy or price and the number of results that will be displayed per page.
Text might turn customers away, so give them good-quality images that provide a preview of each product.
Find Out What Consumers are Looking For
Over time, you will be able to have a collection of keywords that users type when they perform an on-site search. You may notice quite a lot of common misspellings and grammatical errors. You may also find certain keywords that consumers are looking for but may not have been used as a descriptor for any of your products.
These insights will help better refine the on-site search function. By adding these queries, whether correct or incorrect, the consumer will still be able to find the exact product that they are looking for, click add to cart, and then complete the purchase.
E-commerce is a highly competitive business. However, it is also highly rewarding. Many businesses find themselves flourishing online as traditional retail starts to decline. The internet is providing ease, convenience, and speed. To succeed in this online marketplace, entrepreneurs should be able to utilise every strategy and technique available at their disposal.
