I bet you thought this was a post about search engine optimization. I’m sorry to disappoint you. But I do have other articles you can read on that later. For this post it’s all about users searching on your website. The most common place users use this feature is on sites with many articles and free resources. But they also use it on eCommerce sites.
Results Page
Have you searched on your site to see what the results page looks like? If it’s not designed, call us. If it is take note of what the page produces based on the query. This is the prime focus of the search experience. Also many users judge the websites quality of value based on the results from a search.
If you results page is not relevant to the query this frustrates users. Thus creating negative emotions toward your brand and leaving your website. You can read part 3 about emotional design on that. For now here’s some examples of sites with great search pages.
Autocomplete
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Something we’ve gotten numb to when using the search engines. First created to help people with disabilities increase their typing speed. Autocomplete has changed how we enter search terms and their synonyms. Predictive searching has improved user experience and increased sales on shop sites. This function is available across many platforms today. And uses from text editors to search queries on your favorite search engine.
Filter Options
If you run a store website, you’ll want to have a filter based on manufacturer, price and even color sometimes. This helps users find what they are looking for. The best filters are well designed ones, not ones that work. UX Design is not about how it looks, but how it works – to paraphrase Steve Jobs.
If it’s fun to use, then it’s interactive and does what you want. It keeps your visitors engaged. Forms are always needed on a website and well designed forms capture attention. Which in turn captures a potential lead for sales to follow up with.
Layout of Pages
Choosing well which view your users are met with is key. Is it a list view of results? Or is it a grid view? A lot of this depends on the type of results you display. Shop websites generally use a grid view. Unless there is a lot of supporting context required to go with the results. Such as lengthy product descriptions, or reviews.
To see how we helped a recent client achieve better results online with their new website, download the case study below. If you are stuck wondering if your website is up to date and performing well, we can do a 1 time review and get you a quote to get better results.
