TulipTools Internet Business Owners and Online Sellers Community

Quote:To find the right solution, e-commerce companies in the market for a site search vendor should ask the following questions:

  1. Are the results relevant? The single most important thing about search is that it returns relevant results -- meaning the results actually mirror what the site visitor seeks. (Sounds obvious, but too many search solutions offer results that are totally off the mark.)

      This is the Google effect in action. A 2006 study from Jupiter Research and iProspect found that almost two-thirds of search engine users surveyed expected to find what they were looking for in the first page of search results. A full 90 percent expected to find the relevant item within the first three pages of results.

      Consumers have very little patience for a search that doesn't deliver the finely honed search results they've come to expect. The best solutions "learn" from search activity, meaning they leverage information about search queries, the keywords used, and the resulting items that site visitors actually click on. This greatly improves the chance that your visiting customer will find the item they're looking for within the first page of results -- increasing the likelihood of a purchase...