Got them to your site? Now what? Why your site needs a search function!

Web site owners get very focused on what will get their web sites found in the search engines. What will bring in visitors to their spanky new web site and they should get focused on that.

Of course we all want users to find our own sites and just love them.

But one should not assume that because site visitors are showing up in dribs and drabs (or droves) that they are getting what they want.

You might look at it this way:

Getting hits on your site is only 1/3 of the puzzle. In general terms you should think of your web site recipe like this:

• 1/3 Good SEO
  
• 1/3 Good content
  
• 1/3 Good understanding of site visitor's needs and wants
  

OK, Good SEO makes sense and I'll run right out and clone myself so i have enough time to always be creating good content but how the heck do i understand what the site visitor wants?????

Well there's a couple things to become familiar with once the cloning process is completed. I hear it makes you feel like half the man you used to be, but anyway I digress.

• Google Analytics
  
• Some form of site search avec reporting functions
  

BTW, Signore Web Design set's them both up when we do a web site for you!

Google analytics and Bounce rate

The first item, Google Analytics™ is a great tool that provides you with detailed unbiased information (compared to web hosting tracking tools) on site visitors activities on your site. The pinnacle of this information is the "Bounce Rate".

Bounce rate tells you how many people get to the first page on your site and high tail it out of there. It's a great indicator of weather your site is completely disgusting users or drawing them in. Believe it or not, typical bounce rate runs around 40%. Boy that seems high, but based on the ADD nature of web surfers it does sort of make sense.

The response to a bad bounce rate can vary. One of my sites GBI-Avis modular Home has a bounce rate that runs around 20%. Yahooooo! that's half the industry average. If you look at the site you'll find it's pretty enough but not flashy. No flash intro's (bad idea anyways) and screaming graphics, rollovers, etc. It does more with a focused text box (text with a bordered div around it) than you would believe. The point here, lowering bounce rate is not about "flashing up the site". It's about finding out what your visitors come to your site for and make those items stand out.

So where bounce rate lets you know there's a problem, site search helps you determine what it is.

Site Search

There are a couple of free services, atomz.com and freefind.com that we have integrated into client sites. These services provide a customizable form & customizable results page that integrate into the site but also provide statistical reporting. This allows you to see what the site visitor TRIED to find on your site. Coupled with Google Analytics you can tell if they ever found it. If a predominant portion of your visitors search your site for the same terms (and that term describes something you offer) then it's obvious your not presenting the product or service clearly enough.

To sum it up, getting them to the site wins the battle. If you don't capture them
quickly then you've lost the war.

posted by Adam Signore @ 4:59 AM