Visitors who use e-commerce site search bars are typically highly purchase-driven. Yet, many retailers treat search as an afterthought, resulting in lost sales and fewer long-term customers.
E-commerce site search is a simple yet highly beneficial approach to keeping interested customers locked in. In this blog, you’ll learn how to truly benefit from site search with 17 practical tactics that can make your site a revenue engine.
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1. Make the search box easy to spot.
- People who use on-site search convert at about 4.6% vs ~2.8% site average, with e-commerce site search optimization increasing conversion rates by 43%.
- However, if shoppers can’t find the search bar, they can’t use it.
- Place the search bar in the top center of your website with contrasting colors or an outline, and make it stand out.
2. Enable Autocomplete and Error Correction
- Autocomplete can lift sales by up to 24%, helping customers complete searches smoothly.
- Assist shoppers with typing suggestions. Use autocomplete suggestions to prevent dead ends and help customers find the right terms. Your site should also “guess” misspellings and partial words to cut search time and frustration.
3. Avoid Dead Ends
- When a query matches nothing exactly, show something relevant instead of an empty page. Use synonyms, related items, or category suggestions. Even an FAQ or live chat link can help.
- Implement synonym rules (e.g., “couch” = “sofa”) and leverage AI to auto-generate similar terms.
- Continually analyze top zero-result queries and feed the search engine new related content.
4. Speak Your Customer’s Language
- Customers search the way they think. Use familiar words in product titles and metadata. Don’t make shoppers guess technical terms. If people say “Velcro,” don’t insist on “hook and loop.”
- Check search logs regularly for unexpected terms that might be good to add to your list of synonym rules.
5. Personalize Search Results for Each Shopper
- Leverage what you know about the visitor. Tailor site search rankings by past purchases, location, or browsing behavior, etc., to show the most relevant products first.
- Pushing the right products up the list can be a major boost for your business. Personalized recommendations can easily account for around 26% of revenue.
6. Suggest Related Items and Cross-Sells
- After showing exact matches, display complementary categories or trending items. For instance, if someone searches “camping tent,” list related gear like “sleeping bags” or “camping lights.” This mimics Google’s related searches and keeps people engaged.
- Encourage cross-sells on the search page by suggesting upgrade bundles or accessories to increase average order value.
7. Optimize Search for Mobile Shoppers
- Use simple mobile UX tweaks to prevent frustrated taps and loss of customers.
- On phones and tablets, space is tight. Design the mobile search interface differently from desktop to account for smaller screens.
- Use a prominent search icon or even autofocus the search box on mobile.
- Ensure the autocomplete dropdown is easy to scroll on a small screen.
8. Offer Advanced Filtering
- Empower shoppers to narrow results. Filters (size, color, brand, price) should be clearly visible on the search results page.
- Offer flexible sorting. Include “Best Match,” price low-to-high, bestsellers, and ratings, etc. Giving these controls improves user experience and sales.
9. Optimize Product Data and Metadata for SERP
- Enrich your metadata with keywords and details. Ensure each product has a clear title, detailed description, and tags for every relevant attribute. Include all common terms shoppers use for each item.
- Tools like Google’s Search Console or your e-commerce site search logs reveal the exact phrases shoppers use. Incorporate those wherever possible.
10. Show Rich Results
- Let shoppers see products at a glance. Include thumbnails, brief specs, ratings, etc., right in the search results.
- Improve your visual cues. Choose the most convincing images for the search results with colored buttons for options like “Add to cart.”
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11. Include Non-Product Search (Content & FAQs)
- Not all visitors are ready to buy, and some are purely researching. Ensure FAQs, guides, and blog posts come up for question-like searches.
- The goal here is to make sure that a user seeking instructions isn’t met with “no results,” and can easily land upon a video or blog post instead.
12. Monitor and Learn from Search Analytics
- Treat search data as a goldmine. Look at search usage rate, zero-result rate, and search-to-purchase conversion. Use results to make quick improvements.
- Regularly pull your top search queries and see if they all produce good search results.
- Note searches for items you don’t carry to guide future product decisions.
- Pro tip: Connect site search to Google Analytics for deeper insights. Amazon sellers can also tap into the new Search Query Performance in SP-API to track exact keyword performance, impression share, and shopper intent
13. Leverage Search Insights to Boost SEO
- Queries often highlight what customers want most. Use them to improve your entire site. For example, if 3% of your searches are for “lightweight hiking shoes,” write a blog or category page about choosing hiking shoes.
- Optimizing for frequent search terms makes your site appear in Google results for those words. It’s free advertising for popular items.
14. Embrace AI and Natural-Language Search
- Consider adding an NLP-powered search or even a simple chatbot for voice/text conversational queries. This ensures that someone searching for “headphones under $100 for running” can actually find what they’re looking for.
- Amazon’s ecosystem has doubled down on voice commerce via Alexa, so optimizing your store search for voice-style queries prepares you for where e-commerce is headed.
15. Keep Inventory and Catalog in Sync
- e-Commerce site search and your sales rely on accurate stock and product details. Avoid missed sales with consistent data using inventory software (like SellerChamp’s inventory sync tools) so that what shoppers find is actually available.
- Ensure your listings (titles, SKUs, descriptions) are identical across channels. A master product database prevents confusion on your end. Amazon’s SP-API now enforces stricter real-time catalog and inventory syncing.
16. Continuously Test and Refine
- Don’t “set and forget” your site search. A/B test different layouts, prompts, and ranking rules to see what works.
- Ask real customers or employees to test the search. Their feedback can uncover pain points an analytics dashboard might miss.
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17. Ensure Fast, Reliable Performance
- Slow search is a killer. If the results page lags, shoppers will abandon the search.
- Choose a search engine or plugin known for speed. Keeping page load times under 3 seconds prevents over 53%+ of mobile users from bouncing off e-commerce sites.
- Automate reindexing so new products are searchable immediately. A seamless, fast search reflects your overall professionalism, keeping customers engaged.
