6 Quick Tips on Using Site Search Data to Improve Your Bottom Line

On average, nearly a third of e-commerce shoppers use the website’s internal search engine to find what they are looking for. Additionally, since they are likely to be in the late stages of the buying process and have a specific intent, site search users are more likely to convert. These are a couple of reasons why site search statistics can be a treasure trove of valuable data. Here are a few hands-on tips on how you can capitalise on this information.  

1. Search Trends

Search trends are very important for virtually all e-commerce businesses. They will tell you when it’s time to stock more (or less) of a particular product. Some search trends are seasonal and predictable, while others may appear for reasons that are difficult or virtually impossible to pinpoint. Keeping track of upward as well as downward trends will help you manage your stocks more efficiently.

2. Marketing-Related Insights

Are your customers searching in unexpected ways, using different phrases or synonyms when they are looking for a particular product? If so, it might be a good idea to adjust your PPC advertising (e.g. to improve you AdWords quality score and CTR) and SEO efforts (e.g. adding new pages or tweaking your HTML titles) accordingly, to better align your marketing with your customers’ language. 

3. Product-Query Relevance Rank

An important, but rarely provided insight, is how specific products rank in terms of relevance for a given search term and how that rank order changes over time. Search engines built on concepts of Deep Learning and Machine Learning - like Loop54 - will strive to interpret the intended meaning of a search query and provide the most relevant results in the most relevant order for each individual user (i.e. because increased relevance translates into increased conversion rates). Understanding what products are most relevant to a given search query can help guide other decisions related to online and in-store navigation, promotion and merchandizing - particularly if there are seasonal changes.

Often search behavior changes throughout the year are your earliest indicator that seasonality is taking affect and that its time to reflect those desires elsewhere in your store. For example, perhaps you always assumed mid-July was the best time to start promoting the fall line of a particular brand, but when looking at trends in product rank for searches of that brand you realize that customers are engaging with the fall line much earlier than expected (i.e. fall products are ranking higher in results earlier than expected). Search is often your best real-time pulse on the shifting demands of your customers. 

4. Conversion Rate and Average Order Value (AOV) 

If your conversion rates and/or AOV are higher from search visits, you may want to consider a redesign that encourages your visitors to use your search functionality. In fact, most experts agree that both of these vital KPIs are generally better from search visits, so you may want to promote your search box in any event.    

5. Find and Fix Navigational Issues

On which pages are most site searches initiated? Again, there is certainly nothing wrong with promoting your site search functionality. However, if certain pages show an uncharacteristically large amount of initiated searches, it could point to problems with your site’s navigation and product categorisation

6. Minimise Your Null-Result Rate

Site search result pages that turns up blank – particularly due to typos or synonyms that aren’t recognized – should be eliminated at all costs (below 5% should be the goal). This problem is minimized when using a self-learning search engine. But even if you use your ecommerce platform’s built-in search feature, it might be possible to reduce null-results by improving your product meta data.

As a Loop54 customer, you will have access to a lot of search-related insights and analytics, but to track the entire customer journey, a full analytics suite such as Google Analytics is also recommended.