Think of how easy and natural it has become to use Google as a gateway to navigating the internet. Whether it is a simple math problem, a topic you’re interested in, or the latest news, sites like Google, Amazon, Netflix and iTunes have made searching so easy that we’ve come to expect it to be a very smooth experience, across every site we encounter.
Many retailers don’t consider that their search is meant to perform the same way as Google, because after all, Google is a search engine and they are retailers. But Google search has changed our collective behavior and expectations as online shoppers, and we can apply some of that logic to online stores in order to increase revenue and improve UX. In this article, we will cover how you can optimize your sales through Magento, using the Magento advanced search extension.
In an advanced technological environment, where customers are used to search yielding super-accurate results, even one mistake in calibration can lead to customer frustration which, in turn, translates into abandonment. Whether it’s Magento or another leading e-commerce platform, no matter how many products are displayed on a store’s home page, people will typically search for their desired products in order to purchase online. In fact, buyers are 90% more likely to use search than those merely browsing. In light of this, it’s safe to conclude that companies lose revenue when people don’t find what they are looking for.
How effective are your Magento search results?
Although different site search techniques and tactics can be applied to any e-commerce platform with similar capabilities, Magento has some unique, fundamental features to help you improve your search results. One of the amazing features that Magento e-commerce offers that other e-commerce platforms in the market space do not, is the ability to control and modify your search results page, however, this feature is by no means perfect and can’t be compared with the advanced business intelligence and merchandising features of many enterprise e-commerce platforms.
When you first set up your site, you probably spent several days or weeks organizing its structure, design and navigation. But have you ever spent time optimizing your search results in Magento? Most retailers or site owners will answer NO, at least not beyond the original set-up of product data and attributes. Given that Magento gives online retailers the advantage of actually controlling search results, so you should invest more time optimizing these results than organizing the various categories. You should note, however, that this is not a one-time fix. You’ll need to continually set aside time to re-evaluate these results with the goal of continuous improvement and sales growth generated from searches on your site.
- Search terms
Now, you’ll need to run a little research of your own. Unwind and rethink your product and store from a buyers perspective. Now, start searching!
In an online store powered by Magento, open your dashboard. This will give you insight into what your customers search for the most. This information can be infinitely useful in terms of adjusting your on-site search and even optimizing your site categories. You may find that loads of customers search for an item you haven’t thought about or haven’t titled correctly. Use these insights to get new ideas to improve product pages and enhance your business in different ways.
- Synonyms
If you feel you’re done with data collection and gathered sufficient relevant search queries your customers have used, you already have quite a bit to work with. If you pay attention, you’ll find that different users have used different words than the ones you have used to describe products in your online store – often leading them to get zero results when searching. And, if a customer doesn’t find the result he expects, or gets no results, it can lead to abandonment, decreasing your conversion rate and negatively impacting user-experience.
You now have the ball in your court. You can completely change product names if you wish, to queries users have repeatedly performed on your site. Alternatively, you can stick to your guns and still get the best out of it by setting up synonym enabled search. Open your online store’s dashboard and add new terms which different customers have typed for products they were looking for, and tag products with synonymous words that come up in search insights.
- Like or full text?
When it comes to on-site search, Like or Full search is a simple option that can easily solve one of the biggest mishaps. Different users are used to typing differently, but they share one common goal – they’re interesting in buying your product. It is a lengthy and painstaking procedure to create synonyms for each term, but luckily, Magento offers an easy, out of the box solution that you can set up on your own.
- Search attributes
To finish setting up your product catalogue and prepare it to deliver results for your customers, there is one more interesting feature you should become familiar with. This feature lets you decide where Magento search results will be displayed, and if you want results that show specific characteristics such as size or color, you can easily do so by tweaking the attributes. Moreover, using this tool, it’s easy to set up descriptions to show as part of your search results, helping users determine whether the result is relevant to their needs even before they click.
Search is one of the most important features for any e-commerce website, irrespective of the industry, size or nature. Search helps people find the products they are looking for and complete the purchase quicker. Given that nowadays, search has become the predominant method for users to navigate e-commerce websites, it’s time for retailers to step-up their game. While site architecture and navigation tools are also important, an e-commerce website cannot survive only on them alone, and it is essential to implement a top-notch search functionality, complete with all the bells and whistles, too.
