# Ecommerce site search — best practices to help customers find your products Adobe Experience Cloud Team 01-17-2023 Site search is a critical feature on ecommerce sites, but one that is easily overlooked by marketers and developers. In fact, a [Google Cloud study](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SdZmQpS0DPZxMeUKE4fK6GkrzjRHc9yEbG3RYIGgUhs/edit#slide=id.gcb6bae22f0_1_6029) revealed that the search function is the most common way that consumers find products on a retail site, and that bad site search functionality cost U.S. retailers about $333 billion dollars in a single year. Your ecommerce site needs great search capabilities. This post will explain everything you need to know to improve your ecommerce site search so customers find what they need, make a purchase, and leave your site happy. ## What is ecommerce site search? **Ecommerce site search is an on-site search engine that allows visitors to easily find specific products or information on your site.** It filters the items on your site using the keywords your customer’s input and provides either the product they’re looking for or a recommendation based on the search. There are four basic query types a customer might make on an ecommerce site. - **Exact search** is a search for an exact product name or model number. For example, a buyer may know they want a _Sony A7 IV_ camera and search for exactly that term. - **Product type search** is a more general product search. The customer may search for “camera,” because they don’t know which one they want yet. - **Problem-based search** is a search for a solution to a problem. For example, a customer might query “mosquito repellant” to decide if they want a spray, a sticker, or a candle. - **Non-product search** is a search for information that is not product-related, such as store hours or shipping rates. Your ecommerce store should be able to answer every one of these search query types. ## Why site search matters Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, you can’t be around to answer questions that ecommerce customers have. There are no sales representatives on the floor to ask if shoppers can find what they need. Good site search is often the difference between a sale and a bounce, but the benefits of a streamlined search feature are felt several times over. ### Higher conversion rates Helping customers find precisely what they want, or recommending a product that helps with whatever problem they have, leads to sales. You’ve worked hard to get customers on your website, so don’t let them get frustrated and then leave. Give them what they came looking for and lead them to your checkout. According to [Econsultancy](https://econsultancy.com/helpful-site-search-brands/), customers who use site search are “two to four times more likely to convert.” ### Easy access to customer data Every search query is a potential data point for your business. You can use analytical software to study trends in what customers are searching for and then optimize your site around that information. ### Simple customer personalization You can easily [personalize](/content/blog/basics/personalization/index.html) your customer’s shopping experience once they’ve entered a query. One query is enough data to immediately personalize product recommendations and show off related items that were purchased by other users who searched the same term. The data collected can also be stored in their customer profile for future content personalization. Those insights can help target emails, product offers, future site visits, and more. ### Quality customer experience Customers like frictionless shopping experiences, and nothing is better than finding exactly what they’re searching for. A good site search lets you create the best ecommerce customer experience possible. Customer satisfaction will be high if they can immediately find what they want through your site search. ## Ecommerce site search best practices Take the time and effort to implement the following practices and you’ll keep people coming back to your site. As you implement and improve your site search, remember to monitor how users are engaging with it so you can keep optimizing the experience. ### 1. Make it easy to find Site search is a helpful tool, but not if the customer has to go searching for the search box itself. Make sure the search bar is in a clear, prominent place and that it stands out. Keep it above the fold and preferably in one of the top corners of the screen. ### 2. Design it well An effective site search box should be designed to make its purpose and functionality clear. - **Put placeholder text** in the box as a hint to visitors to write their queries there. Many websites use the word “Search” as a prompt. Some give a creative explanation or clever example as a placeholder. Old Navy’s search box has rotating text to suggest “pants,” knit tops,” “back to school” items, and more. - **Include a familiar search icon** such as a magnifying glass to clearly indicate what the box is for. - **Add a clickable** _**Search**_ **or** _**Go**_ **button**, even if most users will probably just hit _Enter_ on their keyboards to search. - **Make sure that the search box is long enough** to accommodate most searches on your site. If you’re worried about everything fitting, then make the search box expandable. ### 3. Provide relevant and timely results The worst search experience is when the results have nothing to do with their search. For example, a customer looking for a style of eyewear doesn’t want to land on a page full of champagne flutes and beer mugs just because their query included “glasses.” Make sure the results you provide are relevant, even if that means you can’t push a particular product. Your best search results should show up right at the top of the page. The less you make the customer scroll the better. To ensure this: - **Tag products accurately and consistently.** Practice relevant keyword research, closely tying what people search for with the products you offer. Write unique product titles and meta descriptions, and include the brand name, model number, and other pertinent information. - **Rank products to match customer expectations.** Customers want to see your bestsellers and best-reviewed products first. ### 4. Enable auto-complete and error correction Incorporating auto-complete in your search bar guides customers toward the best query and saves them the time of having to type out the entire keyword. Customers appreciate efficiency and this also helps reduce search input errors. Don’t overwhelm the customer with potential options though. Simply offer a few to help them in the right direction. Autocomplete is especially helpful in subtly steering people away from items you don’t carry to something you do have in stock. For example, [Ruggable](https://ruggable.com/) sells Persian, Moroccan, and Scandinavian rugs but not Turkish. If a user starts typing “Turkish” the search tool auto-suggests _turquoise_ rugs instead. ### 5. Don’t allow a search to return nothing Many sites still produce “No results found,” which creates a terrible customer experience. Don’t reward your customer’s search efforts with a dead end. Even if their search yields no _direct_ results, populate the page with product suggestions to lead them toward alternatives. ### 6. Let customers filter and customize on the results page The search bar is only the beginning of a great site search. Give shoppers multiple customization options so they can dial in precisely what they want. This is also a great way to personalize the customer experience. Allow customers to filter based on size, color, product type, price range, and anything else that may be relevant to your products. Narrowing down a simple site search query with filters is a much smoother customer experience than requiring users to craft specific search terms. It also lets you demonstrate what _other_ products and options you have available that they may not have considered. ### 7. Use language your customers use It’s easy to get caught up in industry slang, highly technical product names, or the new category your brand created — but don’t prioritize those in your search results. Instead, use the language that your customers are using. Most people, for example, don’t search for “remote backup” storage, but rather _cloud_ storage. Read customer forums and reviews to see how people actually describe your products and regularly review the terms that they _do_ query. ### 8. Refine site search through analytics The longer you run your ecommerce site, the better your search results should get. Every search is a new data point that you can use to refine your existing site search capabilities. ### 9. Optimize for mobile According to [Statista](https://www.statista.com/topics/1185/mobile-commerce/), smartphones are now the main device for retail traffic and purchases. And yet plenty of customers still browse ecommerce sites on mobile only to find them unusable. Adapt your site search for mobile audiences to avoid losing potential customers. ### 10. Include relevant images, graphics, and buttons on results pages Images and graphics are a great way to grab the attention of a high-intent customer and prove that a product is just what they’re seeking. Your results page should be eye-catching. ### 11. Provide the right details The search results page should provide the details that customers need to make an initial decision about a product. The [product details page](/content/blog/basics/learn-about-product-detail-pages/index.html) will have more, but there should be a few key pieces of information immediately available. - **Identifying details**. List the price, colors, sizes, and anything else a customer _needs to know_ to make a purchase. - **Ratings.** Use social proof to help the customer make purchasing decisions. A product star rating or “Best seller” label is an instantly recognizable and easy way to show customers what they want to know. - **Deals**. If the item is on sale or comes with free shipping, show it off. ### 12. Invest in software Many of the techniques presented here are easily achievable using search software. The right tech solution can provide sophisticated AI and analytics geared around ecommerce. ## Getting started with ecommerce site search The quickest way to make your ecommerce customers happy is to connect them directly with the products they came to your site to find. Thankfully, with the search software available today you can easily set yourself up for success. If you’re optimizing an existing search function, start by making sure it’s easy to find. You might even do some user testing to see how people engage with the search function on your site. Whether you’re just getting started or are ready to scale up, [Adobe Commerce](/content/products/magento/magento-commerce.html) is the ecommerce platform you need to create personalized commerce experiences. Live Search combines industry-leading AI with your catalog of data to deliver lightning-fast search results and personalized results on every shopper query.