The document discusses ways to improve internal search experiences on websites. It provides tips for measuring search behavior metrics like keywords, click-through rates, and conversion rates to understand how users are interacting with the search functionality. The document also recommends testing minor changes regularly, like updating snippets or the search results page design, to continuously enhance the search user experience. Additionally, it suggests using search query and behavior data to identify content gaps and drive the creation of new pages to better satisfy user search intents.
What is Google Search Console and What is it provide?
Understanding & Optimizing Onsite Search
1. OPTIMIZE YOUR ONSITE SEARCH
Help your customers find exactly what they’re looking for.
HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
JP Sherman
Search & Findability Manager at Red Hat
Follow me: @jpsherman
2. EXISTENTIALIST CONSIDERATIONS
Who am I?
Why am I here?
HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
I first got involved in search technology in 1997 for US Army Special Operations PSYOP
(Airborne)
I studied Biology & Anthropology with a focus in behavioral science.
I’ve worked for large agencies & small agencies
I’ve worked as an in-house SEO
I helped build a startup that was a search engine for video games
Now, I run search & findability for Red Hat
3. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Search is a Journey that Starts Internally
When Successful, It Ends With the
Searcher Having More Than They
Started With
4. BUT FIRST, A SHOW OF HANDS
How many people regularly use search data to make decisions?
SEO/ PPC Onsite Search
5. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
1: http://bit.ly/1swVhSM
Why is Onsite Search So Important?
Users who use your site-search are:
Already engaged
Think you have something they want
Demonstrated a basic level of trust
Actively Looking
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
6. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
1: http://bit.ly/1swVhSM
Why is Onsite Search So Important?
Users who find what they’re looking for:
Are more likely to return
Are more likely to add to cart
Are more likely to consume your content
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
7. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
1: http://bit.ly/1swVhSM
Why is Onsite Search So Important?
Users who DON’T find what they’re looking for:
Know Google is one click away
Remember the “miss” more than the “hit”
Less likely to browse your site
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
8. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
1: http://bit.ly/1swVhSM
Statistics on Internal Search
Across the industry, 30 % of visitors use
internal search ¹
For information & knowledge based sites,
that percent can be significantly higher.
9. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Customers who make an internal search are 5x to 6x
more
likely to convert
When compared to customers who make no search.
Statistics on Internal Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
10. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Statistics on Internal Search
Only 15% of Companies Have
Dedicated Resources to Improve
Internal Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
11. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Search Behavior is the Foundation
12. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Search Behavior Is Always On
Active Search Passive Search
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Understanding Search Behavior
Search Initiates with Desire
Which Expresses Itself as a Query
This Creates an Expectation of Value
Value is Measured Against Internal Criteria for Acceptance
14. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Understanding Search Behavior
People simultaneously process acceptance and rejection criteria.
For every single result on the SERP
15. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Understanding Search Behavior
Each Result is Measured Against These Search Criteria
16. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Understanding Search Behavior
The Searcher Accepts or Rejects Results
Based on Internal Criteria, Influenced by Results of that Search
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KEY TAKEAWAY
Improving Internal Search Starts With
Creating an Immediate Perception of Value
of Your Content
Through Titles, Metadata & Microdata
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
18. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Measuring Search Behavior
Measurement Leads to Understanding
Understanding Leads to Control
Control Leads to Improvement
- H. James Harrington (paraphrased)
19. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Measuring Search Behavior
Search behavior serves as context for search as
measurable actions
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Measuring Search Behavior
Measuring Search Behavior Falls Under 3 Categories
Query
Acceptance
Rejection
21. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Understanding Search Behavior
Acceptance
Identify the Conditions that Trigger Acceptance
22. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Understanding Search Behavior
Rejection
Identify the Conditions that Result in a Failure State.
23. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Understanding Search Behavior
Termination
The Searcher Accepts or Rejects the Results.
This Behavior is Based on the Internal Criteria, Influenced by the
Results of that Search
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Measuring Search Behavior
Intuition is a fine starting point…. until you get data
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Measuring Search Behavior
The measurements are simple to understand, but it’s the nuance that tells the story
● Data is the cast of characters in the story ● What these characters (data) do IS the story.
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Measuring Search Behavior
Questions to Avoid Data Overload
Let’s Start Where We Always Start
Keywords
But don’t think of them as just words - they’re vehicles
through which intent is expressed
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
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Measuring Search Behavior
Questions to Avoid Data Overload
Which keywords and content drive the most engagement?
Priorities:
Define engagement to support key objectives
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Measuring Search Behavior
What are your top converting keywords and content?
Priorities:
Use this set as your control group for experimentation
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Fun Things to do with Onsite Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
For users who have made a conversion
where onsite search was a part of the
pathway…
Follow up with them with an email about
related items. (maybe add a discount code?)
30. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Measuring Search Behavior
Keywords
High Freq/ Low
Intent
Low Freq/ High
Intent
Long Tail Unicorns
Popular but
vague keywords
Rare but specific
keywords
Specific terms >
3 or 4 words
Queries that happen
once in a given time-
frame
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Measuring Search Behavior
Keywords
High Frequency/
Low Intent
Low Frequency/
High Intent
Long Tail
Unicorns
Clicks
Conversions
No Clicks
Position
CTR
Conversion
Rate
Consumption
Rate
Keyword Types Metrics Calculated Metrics
Negative CTR
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Measuring Search Behavior
Keywords High Freq/ Low Intent
Example Queries:
● Bikes
● Software
● Smart phones
● College
● Finland
● Books
● Laptops
● Elections
This is the top of the
funnel search behavior.
User Intent Isn’t Specific
● Information
● Ideas
● Knowledge
● Type Selection
● Familiarity
● Definitions
● Topic Review
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Measuring Search Behavior
Keywords Low Freq/ High Intent
Example Queries:
● Download latest iTunes
● Stream The Clash
● Pictures of cats in baskets
● Vietnamese food near me
● Spicy vegan taco recipes
● Supernatural monsters that
drink human blood
● Latin name for ring-tailed
lemur
● What does coulrophobia
mean?
There is no ambiguity in
the searchers’ intent.
User Intent Is Specific
● Take an action
● View specific thing
● Learn specific thing
● List based content
● Answers to a
specific question
34. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Measuring Search Behavior
Keywords Unicorns
Unicorns are keywords that appear once in a given time-
frame.
● On average, 50% to 60% of queries are unicorns
● Unicorn queries are useful to gain quick wins. For
queries that make sense, the identification of a
unicorn can lead to content that will immediately fulfill
that search.
● One caveat, unicorn terms can frequently be typos,
nonsense words or long copied/ pasted text
35. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Measuring Search Behavior
Metrics CTR CTR in on-site search measures clicks from SERP
● CTR’s are a great way to
measure the overall
success of your on-site
search
● Sometimes, you might see
a CTR on a keyword
greater than 100%
● This means that the user
has opened up links in new
tabs.
36. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Fun Things to do with Onsite Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
For users who have made an onsite
search…
Cookie them as a distinct re-marketing
campaign
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WHAT’S A GOOD CTR FOR ONSITE SEARCH?
Users have very high expectations… (thanks Google)
CTR < 85% CTR > 85%
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Measuring Search Behavior
Metrics Conversion Rate Consumption Ratevs
Conversions
A quantifiable action taken.
Conversions can be purchases, sign-
ups, downloads or something else.
Always binary.
Consumptions
A qualitative measurement of content.
It’s is a spectrum that measures how
much of the content has been
consumed.
39. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
When Measured, Search Failure is
Awesome
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Measuring Search Failure
There are 9 Other Results
There are 9 Other Results Other than the One Clicked
41. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
WHEN SERPS FAIL
Searches will fail, your customers will look for strange things - help them out a bit.
Users will experience a search failure.
Giving users a way to refine, tips to search
again, a place for feedback will improve
the search experience.
Users w/out assistance re-searched 33%
Users w/ assistance re-searched 59%
42. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
WHEN SERPS FAIL
Searches will fail, your customers will look for strange things - help them out a bit.
Metrics
No Clicks
Failure
means you
can ask for
more
information
!
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AUTOSUGGEST CAN HELP FILTER INTENT
The SERP & the Snippet Can be Magnetic to Clicks When Showing Value
Starting with the Search
Experience
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EVEN WHEN THE USER DOESN’T KNOW
“CORRECT” PHRASE
The SERP & the Snippet Can be Magnetic to Clicks When Showing Value
Auto-Suggest
Customer Focused
Immediately gives the user options
helping fix any “wonky” searches
Business Focused
You can add keymatches or suggestions
based off of the query entered
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AUTOSUGGEST CAN HELP FILTER INTENT
The SERP & the Snippet Can be Magnetic to Clicks When Showing Value
Searches w/out
autosuggest
Having
autosuggest can
increase CTR &
Conversion
CTR: 42%
CR: 3.9%
46. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
AUTOSUGGEST CAN HELP FILTER INTENT
The SERP & the Snippet Can be Magnetic to Clicks When Showing Value
Searches w/
autosuggest
Having
autosuggest can
increase CTR &
Conversion
CTR: 57%
CR: 5.1%
47. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Fun Things to do with Onsite Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
For queries that have either zero or anemic
results...
Send that information to your content team
to develop new content ideas.
48. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
CONTEXTUALIZE INFORMATION IN THE UI
If the search results aren’t perfect, adding contextual information in the UI can help the user
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KNOWLEDGE GRAPHS CAN
CONTEXTUALIZE
The SERP & the Snippet Can be Magnetic to Clicks When Showing Value
Knowledge Graphs
High Volume/ Low
Intent
Allows the user to
immediately focus on
what their intent is
when it’s not clear in
the query.
50. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
TEN BLUE LINKS MAY NOT EVEN WORK
Some products lend themselves to be more visual, or more comparative.
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BLENDED SEARCH RESULTS
Just display all the things
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OF COURSE, I’M GOING TO TELL YOU TO
TEST IT
Naturally… but what do I look at to see if it’s a good test?
CTR
Conversion
Rate
Accessed
Content
Watch These Metrics
Refinements
Does the experimental group have a higher CTR? Implying Value
Are there more purchases or other conversion events?
Does more content get viewed after a search is performed?
Do people perform less searches after an initial search?
Mobile Is there a significant difference in these metrics from mobile devices?
53. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
KEY TAKEAWAYS TO IMPROVE ONSITE
SEARCH
Make a plan, make a change every month, measure it & repeat.
It’s not that hard
Change the Snippet
Change the SERP design
Add Contextual Information
Measure, Measure, Measure
Don’t forget, mobile is unique
54. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
Fun Things to do with Onsite Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
For queries that consistently get no clicks...
Send that information to your SEO team to
make sure they find you when they ditch you
& go to Google.
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Improving Search
Improving Resolution & Detail
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Making Search Better
Master the Basics of Measuring Search
1. Practical Exercises
○ Use Popular Search Terms for Featuring
○ Hyper Localize Your Internal Search
○ Discover Content Gaps from Failed Search
Improving Resolution: 8 Bit
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Making Search Better
Intermediate Mastery
- Measure the Time from Query to Conversion
- Create Conversion Events for Content
- Test UI Changes in SERP (pictures, schema, fonts, colors)
Improving Resolution: 32 Bit
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Making Search Better
Mastery as Integration
- Create Search-Oriented Microdata into Content
- Use Personalization and Other Data to Bias Results
- Integrate Search Data in CMS
Improving Resolution: 128 Bit
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Fun Things to do with Onsite Search
Shameless “Twitter
Moment” Plug
Are there geographical patterns to your
customers’ behavior?
Boost relevant content via IP location
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The Barriers to Entry Are Minimal
Using Data to Improve Internal Search Starts With Data You’re Most
Likely Collecting.
Visualizing Iterations as Resolution Helps
- Start With the Data You Already Collect
- Refine That Data With Greater Accuracy
- Turn Data Into Intelligence That Can Be Connected, Integrated &
Shared
61. HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM INTERNAL SEARCH FOLLOW ME @JPSHERMAN
WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE A SEARCH DEV
TEAM?
Onsite Search is proving its value over & over - there are options
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Thank You
Questions?
Comments?
Reach out to me on Twitter, I’d be thrilled to chat more
@jpsherman
Notes de l'éditeur
Good morning, my name is JP Sherman and I’m the search and findablity manager for the Customer Portal at Red Hat.
Today I’m going to be talking about how to get better data, better information and turn those into action items.
Good morning, my name is JP Sherman and I’m the search and findablity manager for the Customer Portal at Red Hat.
Today I’m going to be talking about how to get better data, better information and turn those into action items.
Search is something inherent that we do. We are always searching either passively or actively - the result of a successful search is obtaining something that we want.
First, I wanted to lay some groundwork on how internal search is currently being used.
On average, of all the visitors to your site, 30% of those people, if there’s a way to search for something, will use your search.
The fact that they’re searching has turned these people from passive viewers to engaged and active potential consumers. They have already passed through discovering you and are now in an active state of selection.
First, I wanted to lay some groundwork on how internal search is currently being used.
On average, of all the visitors to your site, 30% of those people, if there’s a way to search for something, will use your search.
The fact that they’re searching has turned these people from passive viewers to engaged and active potential consumers. They have already passed through discovering you and are now in an active state of selection.
First, I wanted to lay some groundwork on how internal search is currently being used.
On average, of all the visitors to your site, 30% of those people, if there’s a way to search for something, will use your search.
The fact that they’re searching has turned these people from passive viewers to engaged and active potential consumers. They have already passed through discovering you and are now in an active state of selection.
First, I wanted to lay some groundwork on how internal search is currently being used.
On average, of all the visitors to your site, 30% of those people, if there’s a way to search for something, will use your search.
The fact that they’re searching has turned these people from passive viewers to engaged and active potential consumers. They have already passed through discovering you and are now in an active state of selection.
First, I wanted to lay some groundwork on how internal search is currently being used.
On average, of all the visitors to your site, 30% of those people, if there’s a way to search for something, will use your search.
The fact that they’re searching has turned these people from passive viewers to engaged and active potential consumers. They have already passed through discovering you and are now in an active state of selection.
searchers are much more likely to perform a conversion event - if they can find what they want.
Internal seach tends to be overlooked and under utilized. most of the time, internal search is used superficially and not as a rich source of information about your customers.
For our purposes, there are two types of search behaviors – active and passive search.
Active Search
We’re looking for a specific something & when found, active search ends.
Passive Search
A scanning behavior that can quickly identify something of interest or value
Search is a program that’s always running on our brains’ taskbar
Search starts with desire.
When the search results show up,
we have the capacity to quickly process acceptance and rejection criteria at the same time, very quickly for each result.
this is a subset of “reading for the web” type behavior.
users scan the information
- title
- meta-description
- link
- microdata/ rich snippets
each of these elements are analyzed quickly for acceptance or rejection.
search is judged by how quickly that internal acceptance criteria are met.
results that meet acceptance or potential acceptance criteria have the highest potential for a click
it’s critical to understand that search is a complex interplay of internal pressures, expectations and criteria -
met with an algorithmically determined prediction of intent
based on a query that is generally short, filled with bad grammar and sometimes ambiguous
and with each search, not just the results, but the overall quality of our search is judged by how well those expectations are met.
it’s critical to understand that search is a complex interplay of internal pressures, expectations and criteria -
met with an algorithmically determined prediction of intent
based on a query that is generally short, filled with bad grammar and sometimes ambiguous
and with each search, not just the results, but the overall quality of our search is judged by how well those expectations are met.
“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement.
If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it.
If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it.
If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.”
- H. James Harrington
While understanding the behavior is critical as a first step, measuring search begins the process of making it better. The challenge with measurement is that there is a lot of data out there, but very little processing of that data, turning it into something useful.
This data comes from your CMS, your analytics and if you’re running enterprise search, from search platforms like the GSA or SOLR.
Result conforms to a pre-existing expectation
Induces an emotion (clickbait exploits this)
Creates a perception of value
Creates trust that an answer is behind the click
Result conveys unintelligible or irrelevant information
Result is at the wrong place in the discovery process
Value is hidden or non-existent
Query confusion resulting in irrelevant results
This is the point of termination - the user has done one of three actions
- clicked on a result
- left the search environment
while refining the keyword is technically a termination of that search event, it still remains a part of the overall search behavior.
not all searches are good searches.
my favorite part of analyzing search is when things break.
- weird results
- unexpected keywords
- results that result in zero content
- queries that just don’t gain clicks
failure is seriously the best part.
On your SERP, if you measure the position and click, you’re not collecting 90% of information available
The results that aren’t clicked can be seen as impressions. Measuring that will reveal content that ranks but, for some reason, isn’t clicked
Action Items
- Incorporate High Value Keywords into Page Elements
- Create Seasonal Keyword Trend Lists, Use Them in SEM Efforts
- Create Great Content from Relevant Null-Result Keywords
Action Items
- Experiment With Relevancy, UI/ UX, Metadata, Microdata to Influence Time Metric
- Compare Refined Keywords w/ Initial Keywords for Greater Content/ Conversion Accuracy
- Create Content Related Conversions to Determine “Search Success”
- Metadata & Microdata Provide the Contextual Information to Improve Relationships in Search
- The Combination of Data Can Enhance Suggested Search, User Experience & Findability
- Show Creators the Queries that Drive Engagement