On the Web: What’s Your Internal Site Search Failure Rate?

1. Misspellings, synonyms, slang terms and brand names can be redirected to the appropriate product pages.
2. Alternative search terms that you haven’t yet thought of, such as “freight rates” when customers are looking for “shipping and handling,” can be redirected.
3. Products you don’t currently sell can be redirected to similar/substitute items. If you sell brand A of an item but not brand B, you can redirect to what you do sell. Of course, repeated searches for items you don’t sell should be forwarded to your merchandisers so they can decide if they want to source those items.

Fail No More
An important byproduct of your failed search report is a better understanding of what your shoppers call items and services. This helps you update menu terms and improve organic and paid search.