How To Optimize On-site Search And Make Your Magento Store Better?

By Author: Shailesh Gajjar
Total Articles: 107
Comment this article

You have spent money on paid search results. You have delegated your resources for organic search. You have put in efforts to email existing customers in the hopes of improving revenue. But are the efforts turning futile? Is the bounce rate on your website abysmal? Well, one problem that customers may be facing is the difficulty in finding desired products on your website. If the website search is excruciating, tiring and downright frustrating, customers will leave your website.

How to make Product Search Simpler for Customers?

In the past, Magento 1 offered standard options such as “like”, “full-text” and “combined” search types to modify the search results on the website.
Magento 2 Open Source comes only with full-text MySQL search engine. The problem is that "full-text" search method is not proving to be particularly useful for stores with a large product catalog. If you are using the Enterprise edition, you still have many options to fine tune the search results. The available Elasticsearch integration with the latest Magento 2.3.2 version is rather basic and you definitely need additional help in the form of extensions to make your e-commerce store better.

In order to make on-site search better, your goals should consist of the following things:

>>More Relevant Results

>>Accept Misspellings, Minor Errors and Synonyms

>>Auto-complete/Auto-Suggest Features

>>Show Matching Products and Categories in the Search Popup

>>Show Recent Searches in the Popup

>>Display Popular Products when the Search Result is Empty

>>In order to attract Customers, you can display Suggested Terms/Popular Products in the Search-Box.

If you are using Magento 2 and need to set search type as “Like” or “combined”, the basic Magento functionality will prove to be limited. You will need an extension in the form of Magento 2 Ajax Quick search module. Make sure that the extension is compatible with default Magento Elasticsearch for more relevant search results in near real-time. By using the extension, you will be able to show exact matching results or even set the results for synonyms and misspellings.

The extension will help you to figure out what the customers are typing and then auto-suggest results immediately. Thus, it will help you in achieving all the goals mentioned above. You can even show category pages and CMS pages along with product pages and deliver exactly what your customer needs. You can also edit the appearance of the search box and show popular products to customers.

Are there any other ways of improving On-Site Search?

1. When Customers do not know the exact Product Name

Other than the search-box, customers should be able to filter products on the basis of multiple attributes. It is useful when customers do not know the name of the product and want to make a decision on the basis of product features.

You can introduce Ajax-based layered navigation to your website. Allow customers to multi-select different attributes and filter the catalog so that they can find what they need to buy. If you use an advanced Magento 2 layered navigation extension, you will be able to filter products in real-time. You can use the module to display multiple categories and sub-categories in different ways.

Another alternative is the YMM Product Parts Finder. If you are in the business of selling products that are identified by a few characteristics such as Year, Make, Model, etc., you can create drop-down filters to help customers make the purchase.

2. Brand-Savvy Customers

Are your customers brand-savvy? Do they prefer buying products from a specific brand? Do customers want to see brand logos on each product page? Well, in such a situation, you should offer the Shop by Brand feature to your customers. Filter products by brand and create SEO-friendly URLs for each brand page. You can set a brand slider and showcase brand logos on CMS pages or any other page you want. You can also set up a ‘Featured Brands’ section on the home page. If customers want to search a specific brand in the search box, they will be able to get instant results.

Magento Website Search: Improve Sales Instantly

By making the website search user-friendly and more relevant, you will be able to deliver exactly what your customers need. By eliminating inaccurate product results, customers will find the required product quickly and thus, enjoy the shopping process on your website. It means increased sales and increased revenue.

Are you ready to make website search faster and more accurate? Use top-rated Magento 2 Ajax Quick Search extension to improve the search features on your Magento e-commerce store. You can even install the Magento 2 Shop by Brands extension and allow buyers to filter products on the basis of brands.

I am a specialist in Magento extension development. I have helped several store-owners in achieving their business goals with custom Magento extensions and plugins. Connect with me to know more about incredible Magento modules that will take your business to the pinnacle of success.