The importance of a good search bar for B2B sites
Any frequent web user has experienced websites with good search bars and bad search bars. SLI Systems Australia vice president, Mark Brixton shares the importance of having a good search bar and what you can do to have a search bar that will maximise your company’s revenue.
If you want your website to stand out in the world of B2B businesses, start with search. Your search box, where your customers type their wants and needs is often a missed opportunity to wow them and gain valuable insights.
Your B2B audience might be researching vendors and suppliers at work, but at the end of the day they are normal consumers and savvy online shoppers. They expect a sophisticated user experience without roadblocks and a seamless search experience. When you consider which of your site visitors are the most important to win, hands down, the answer is ‘searchers.’
Treat searchers right, and your bottom line will benefit. Here is how site search can turn your B2B audience into a buyer:
Provide relevant results
The first thing your site search should do is provide relevant results. Visitors on a B2B site aren’t shopping for the fun of it. They want to find what they need fast. After all, time is money.
If people quickly move from search to navigation or leave your site altogether, your site search isn’t doing its job.
Showcase your expertise
You’ve created a virtual library of case studies, blogs, consumer guides and videos – all with the hope of educating and converting your prospects into customers. But can they find any of it?
Be open to possibilities
A good search bar will allow users to can enter a “key word, item# or model#” into the search box – a confidence-boosting move that makes users feel they can’t go wrong. Smart search will allow you to create appropriate synonyms and tune your results so that visitors find what they are looking for, even if they type it in slightly different ways. Technical specifications and measurements are a great example.
Be mobile friendly
You’ve already heard the news. Google’s new algorithm makes it mandatory for websites to play nice with smartphones and tablets. Imagine the person at a job site searching for information (remind me again, how do we install this window?) or for a replacement part (does the nearest store have one in stock?). The more you convey valuable information to the mobile shopper, the more valuable you are to them.
Listen up
That magical search box is talking to you, so listen and use this information to get ahead. The search box is where your customers tell you exactly what they want in their own words. Advanced site search will give you the ability to easily pull reports and spot trends. Use this data to tailor your merchandising efforts.
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