The benefits to an internal site search

Site Search is an integral part of a businesses website. It aids the navigation for consumers to search the products and services on your website. The whole reason why a business needs a site search is so customers can find accurately find what they are looking. Site search has become the norm for most customers, so every businesses website is expected to have one. 

I have read an article by Graham Charlton about site search for e-commerce, where he covers the following points. 

Graham detailed that there are certain reasons why any retailer needs to have site search on their website. Having site search present on a website can lead to an increase in sales. If you think you are looking on a website to buy a DVD, for example. You can find the DVD on this website and there is not a site search, then you are likely to go to a retailer that does have a site search where you can find the DVD you want. It could suggest other products that the customer had no thought of, which could lead to a higher transaction value, ending in increased sales. This would also lead to an increased conversion rate. It's all good having customer come to your website, however the aim of the game is for them to convert and purchase something. This could lead to an increased relationship with that customer, as they would remember how user-friendly that website was and they are more likely to return to your website to buy.

Graham also went into detail on the best ways to show your search box:

• Visibility of your search box - most commonly placed at the top of the page, part of the header so it is always available to customers to search whatever part of the website they are on.
• Make it easy to find
• Ensure the search box is labelled effectively - use of colours and text used in the search box
• Text in the box should make customers aware of things like what they can type in the search box, as well as what part of the website they are searching. This text should disappear when searchers start typing.
• The use of auto correct can help the customer find something they aren't sure the name of. 

Some additional benefits that I had thought of that would make a site search worthwhile is the amount of data you would be able to get hold off from the site search. You could use all of the search terms that people add into your site search and use them to improve your own sites SEO, but also SEO on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo!. This is brought up in Ornaith Killen's article detailing four reasons why site search is vital for online retailers. However, one other benefit that was brought up was that zero result searches can be of great help to a business. It may uncover new search terms for specific products and you can add it into your algorithm/search keywords, but it could also uncover new trends for a business. If a lot of people are searching for a specific product, then maybe it is time to stock that product as it is so popular. 

Importance of a Mobile-Friendly Website

There are a variety of reasons why having a mobile-friendly website will benefit a business in today's climate. This blog will take you through the reasons why you should have a mobile friendly website and reasoning why I believe a responsive design website is best.

To begin, why should a business have a mobile website?  Well, we're moving away from the tradition of using desktop computers to look at websites, and moving towards a mobile way of life. A lot of people now look at a lot of things on their smartphones or tablets for convenience. This is known as the post-pc era. Scott (2011: pg 204) stated that organisations without a mobile-friendly website will miss out on opportunities to sell their products. From my own experiences, I would agree with this statement. I do not enjoy having to zoom in and scroll left and right to try and find a product. It it much easier for a website to fit to my mobile phone screen and just have to scroll up and down. Mobile contributed £18bn in retail sales in 2013 (Ratcliff, 2013), another reason why a business would benefit from a mobile-friendly website. If you do not have a mobile-friendly website then you are more likely to find your customers deciding to do business with your competition, who do have a mobile friendly website. 

Now you have found the reasons that you should have a mobile-friendly website, you now have to decide what type of website you will go for. Now, Ganji (2013) details four different ways to design your mobile website. A basic one which just details basic information about your business in a very basic format. Another form of mobile website is a customer mobile site. This is a specific mobile built website with e-commerce features. The next type of mobile site you could have is a responsive design. This type of website reacts to what device you are using. The last type of mobile website design is going for a full native app. Something that is permanent on a phone, that will need to be downloaded on to the phone (I know you all know what an App is really). 

From analysing the four types and looking further into certain types, I believe a responsive design website is the best option for a multi-channel business. As i briefly described earlier, a responsive design website scales the website to the device it is being used on. This give the business flexibility over all devices, e.g. mobile phones, tablet and desktop. Even though there is a decline in the use of desktop pc's in today world, there still are a large amount of people who use desktop. Below is a graph that shows the use of multi-platform in retail. (source: Bosomworth, 2014)

This diagram shows the use of PC is declining, but the use of multi-platforms is increasing. This trend seems to be something that will go on seeing as mobile is becoming an ever-more popular form of shopping for consumers due to ease. 

Francis (2014) stated that Google seems to favour responsive design websites, so this would benefit any business in the way of SEO and Mobile SEO. It would also combat the high bounce rate of a business as the consumer would prefer a website that scales to the device they are using, and not having to navigate themselves via zooming etc, increasing customer satisfaction. 

To conclude, mobile is of increasing importance to businesses as it is becoming the preferred platform for consumers, due to the convenience. To ensure customer experience is at its highest over all platform, Responsive design website would be the best mobile design, in my eyes. 

Sources used:

Bosomworth, D. (2014) Mobile Marketing Statistics 2014 [Online] <http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/> [Accessed 23/04/2014]

—Francis, H. (2014) 4 SEO benefits of Responsive Web design [Online] <http://www.searchenginejournal.com/4-seo-benefits-responsive-web-design/92807/> [Accessed 07/04/2014] 

Ganji, A. (2013) 'comparing four types of mobile websites. Which is right for you?' [Online] <http://www.neonrain.com/blog/comparing-four-types-mobile-sites-which-right-you> [Accessed 23/04/2014]

Ratcliff, C. (2014). ‘Mobile influenced £18bn of UK retail sales in 2013’ [Online] <http://econsultancy.com/blog/64060-mobile-influenced-18bn-of-uk-retail-sales-in-2013> [accessed 23/04/2014]

SCOTT, D. M. (2011) THE NEW RULES OF MARKETING AND PR JOHN WILEY & SONS: NEW JERSEY