Google Analytics Attacks Internal Search

Do you have a 'search' box on your website? If so, you have a great opportunity to get inside the minds of your visitors. You can "listen" to their thinking as they go through your site.

Google Analytics released a nifty feature called Site Search that lets you track what people type into the search box on your website. In the past, you had to be an in-depth Google Analytics user, use custom scripts, or buy expensive analytics software like NetTracker or WebTrends to keep up with this information. But no longer. GA's Site Search provides everything you need -- bundled in a relatively painless setup process. In this article we'll explore:

Why is tracking internal searches important?

What people search to get to your website (in Google, MSN, Yahoo) and what they search when they are on your website are vastly different.

Note how the results for external searches are broader categories. The searches for items inside your site are much more specific. They are looking for a specific resource on your website.

Here are 6 reasons why you need to pay attention to internal searches:

1. Know Your User
Seeing what people are searching while they are on your website gives you clues into how your user thinks, what they are looking for, and even what they perceive your website can offer them. This anecdotal information is critical for learning who your audience is so you can best serve them.

2. Navigation Gaps
This feature can reveal gaps in your navigation structure. Your users will often try to find what they are looking for by using normal navigation. When that fails, they will resort to the internal search. If you see words repeated often--especially words tied to a specific product or resource that you offer, this is a clue that you need to:

Consider including that resource in your overall navigation.
Highlight the resource on your website home page--using the exact wording that people are entering in their search box.

3. Hints for Common Misspellings
You can find specific misspellings that people make for your resources. Those misspellings can then be incorporated into your Search Engine Optimization campaigns and Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns.

4. Customize Your Search Results
Knowing what people are searching for can allow you to display specific products or services that meet their needs. One organization had a high number of internal searches for the term "modesty." We set up a system that would automatically display products tied to "modesty" at the top of the page--before the standard search results were displayed.

5. Find Gaps in your Search Results
It is a good practice to view the actual results your end users see for the words they enter. If your end users are seeing articles and products that don't connect with their search terms, you may need to tweak your search engine to provide more relevent results.

6. Assist in Purchasing Keywords
Site Search can give you hints for other words to include in your Pay Per Click advertising campaigns.

What are some of the features that Google's site search provides?

Most importantly, it shows you the terms and frequency for what people are searching.

Google search tems

This is useful for all of the reasons stated previously.

Other useful information that Google provides:

Percent visits from searches

Percent of visits that used Site Search. If you have a high percentage of people using Site Search, chances are high that your site navigation needs some help (see #2 above).

Percent Search Exits shows you how many people leave your site after conducting a website search. A high number here tells you that the results that you are providing are not relevent enough to keep people around. You need to adjust your search engine to give more relevent results (see #5 above).

Search Depth. This shows you how many pages people visited on your site after they completed their search. This number is rather mis-leading. You would think that the higher the number the better (people are sticking around longer). However, think about how the web is used. Often, if a user is looking for a specific resource, once it is found, they are on to another site. So, a high number here could indicate that people are having a hard time finding relevent results (see #5 above).

"Start Pages" shows which pages people are on when they initiate the search. If you see a consistent pattern between the start page and a specific keyword, this is a clue you could use to promote specific resources on that page.

There is a wealth of other information available from the Site Search, but the items mentioned will give you a great start in listening to your users.

How can I set it up on my website?

For starters, there are several assumptions:

You DO have a site search box on your website.
You will need to configure it to send the search results as a "get" method, NOT "post" method e.g.
<form action="/search-results" method="get">
This will allow the results of your search to be displayed in the results URL. e.g. "http://www.5qcommunications.com/search-results?searchfor=blog"
You have Google Analytics set up and receiving data from your website.

Once these are in place, simply log into Google Analytics and view your site reports. You'll see a new option in the menu:

Now you just need to walk through the steps found in the Google Helps and you should be all set.

Happy "listening" to your users. If you have other creative ways you've used the Site Search results, let us know!

Google Analytics Attacks Internal Search