theMusicMan
09-27-2005, 01:49 AM
Search is Our Friend – be wise, provide sensible functionality to your users
All of us visit many different www sites as we browse the net. We probably look at a huge range of topics, and when we’re after some specific information we make significant use of the sites’ Search button to find the information we are after. Even before we have started browsing we’re likely to have used Google’s or Yahoo’s Search button. We regularly stumble across posts on forums simply saying… “Search is our friend!” etc. The irony here however is that although the Search button is probably one of the most clicked-on buttons on any www site, is also quite possibly the one we as forum or www site owners / administrators do very little about.
When a forum or www site has grown enough to contain vast amounts of content – in terms of the number of individual articles, threads or posts; or perhaps when they have grown to over a few hundred thousand items in total – you might want to give some attention to how your search functionality is presented to your visitors.
As web site owners, attracting new members and new visitors to our forums is of course very important to us, but enabling them to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for by searching our content is also vitally important. It is of course, the right thing to do in providing search functionality for your visitors and you should never remove your visitors ability to search your site - seems to me to be a ridiculous thing to do - what do you feel people would think of your site if they not able to search your site - looks a tad ridiculous eh! Believe it or not, I have recently seen this in place on a number of forums – can you imagine the BBC or CNN not having a Search button? How many visitors do you think that would that cause the loss of?
So, what can you do to enhance your search functionality? Fortunately, there are a few very easy methods allow you to provide additional search functionality for your visitors.
Add new items to the Search drop-down menu: Provide additional options for your users to select, such as Today’s Posts, Posts from last 7 Days, Posts this month, Posts excluding random area, Your posts, etc. The addition of these menu items will significantly increase the chances of your visitors finding what they are looking for. Remember, if a visitor finds what they came looking for, they are likely to come back for more.No
No results found message: If a search returns nothing, then one should try to tailor the no results found message that is presented to the user. For example; usinvBulletinin, instead of showing the rather bland, and curt default message…
“Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.”I mean come on, you need to amend this…you could use thvBulletinin Phrase ManageAdminCPCP > Languages and Phrases > Phrase Manager > Search in Phrases to amend the phrasevbphrasessearchnoresultsts] to something that is far more user friendly such as… “Sorry - there are presently no threads or posts on (your site name) that match your search criteria. You can always try again now with different search terms.<p>
If you select the Search menu, several additional options are available for you to choose from and you can perhaps look for Today's posts or even for posts from the last 7 days. This might help. We hope you find your information”
Use illustrations or images: Why not include an image in your no results message thus illustrating what the user can do. You know the saying, a picture paints… and althat.Make
Make your www site search option more visible: ervice – some of these even offer free design.
Create a Tutorial or “How-To” on searching: Open a new section called “how-to” and create tutorials with screenshots on how to do certain tasks. Using the Search Function should be one of the first tutorials you prepare for your users. Don’t make the assumption that all web site visitors know how to use your site and how to use your search functionality. Once again, you know the saying… “never assume because it makes an ass of u and me”.
So there you go; some quick and easy suggestions as to how you might significantly improve your sites’ search functionality. The world is your oyster, go and give your users what they want… enjoy.
All of us visit many different www sites as we browse the net. We probably look at a huge range of topics, and when we’re after some specific information we make significant use of the sites’ Search button to find the information we are after. Even before we have started browsing we’re likely to have used Google’s or Yahoo’s Search button. We regularly stumble across posts on forums simply saying… “Search is our friend!” etc. The irony here however is that although the Search button is probably one of the most clicked-on buttons on any www site, is also quite possibly the one we as forum or www site owners / administrators do very little about.
When a forum or www site has grown enough to contain vast amounts of content – in terms of the number of individual articles, threads or posts; or perhaps when they have grown to over a few hundred thousand items in total – you might want to give some attention to how your search functionality is presented to your visitors.
As web site owners, attracting new members and new visitors to our forums is of course very important to us, but enabling them to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for by searching our content is also vitally important. It is of course, the right thing to do in providing search functionality for your visitors and you should never remove your visitors ability to search your site - seems to me to be a ridiculous thing to do - what do you feel people would think of your site if they not able to search your site - looks a tad ridiculous eh! Believe it or not, I have recently seen this in place on a number of forums – can you imagine the BBC or CNN not having a Search button? How many visitors do you think that would that cause the loss of?
So, what can you do to enhance your search functionality? Fortunately, there are a few very easy methods allow you to provide additional search functionality for your visitors.
Add new items to the Search drop-down menu: Provide additional options for your users to select, such as Today’s Posts, Posts from last 7 Days, Posts this month, Posts excluding random area, Your posts, etc. The addition of these menu items will significantly increase the chances of your visitors finding what they are looking for. Remember, if a visitor finds what they came looking for, they are likely to come back for more.No
No results found message: If a search returns nothing, then one should try to tailor the no results found message that is presented to the user. For example; usinvBulletinin, instead of showing the rather bland, and curt default message…
“Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.”I mean come on, you need to amend this…you could use thvBulletinin Phrase ManageAdminCPCP > Languages and Phrases > Phrase Manager > Search in Phrases to amend the phrasevbphrasessearchnoresultsts] to something that is far more user friendly such as… “Sorry - there are presently no threads or posts on (your site name) that match your search criteria. You can always try again now with different search terms.<p>
If you select the Search menu, several additional options are available for you to choose from and you can perhaps look for Today's posts or even for posts from the last 7 days. This might help. We hope you find your information”
Use illustrations or images: Why not include an image in your no results message thus illustrating what the user can do. You know the saying, a picture paints… and althat.Make
Make your www site search option more visible: ervice – some of these even offer free design.
Create a Tutorial or “How-To” on searching: Open a new section called “how-to” and create tutorials with screenshots on how to do certain tasks. Using the Search Function should be one of the first tutorials you prepare for your users. Don’t make the assumption that all web site visitors know how to use your site and how to use your search functionality. Once again, you know the saying… “never assume because it makes an ass of u and me”.
So there you go; some quick and easy suggestions as to how you might significantly improve your sites’ search functionality. The world is your oyster, go and give your users what they want… enjoy.
