Having your very own search engine for your site will enable your visitors to quickly and easily find just what they're looking for, without having to navigate through numerous menus or wade through long lists of options. Your users can just type in a few keywords for what interests them, and within seconds they are shown to the exact pages on your website that are relevant.

Usability studies show us that more than half of all web users are search-dominant, meaning that they will go straight to the search box when they enter your site, rather than try to find information following your navigation links. They are not interested in looking around the site but rather in finding what they want as fast as possible. If you lack the know how, I suggest outsourcing this feature and hire a professional. Another alternative is to go with a "free service", but they subsequently pollute your site with their ads which can effectively ruin your image.

Make the search function easily available from every page on your site.

Try to include a search box in the page itself, instead of just a text link that takes a visitor to a search page. The search box shape is easily recognizable and users will find it much faster than a text link. If you don't want to use a search box in all your pages, use a search box in your homepage and a link to the search page from your interior pages.

Place the search box in a consistent an easy to find location across your site. Based on the observation of numerous important websites, the preferred location for the search box seems to be the top right corner of the page.

Try to make the search box wide enough (between 25 and 35 characters) to accommodate longer queries.

Label the search button next to the search box with the word "Search" (no need to get too fancy or creative with phrases like "Take me there" or "Go!". Keep it simple.)

Finally, please note that installing search functionality is no excuse for designing a poor navigation architecture. Don't forget the other half of your visitors, who are likely to follow links rather than search. Users want to know where they are within your website at all times, and like to find their way around easily.

To include a "breadcrumb trail" next to the top of the page, where you can show your visitors the complete path to the current page, starting with your homepage (for example: home -> archive -> June 03 -> Web Design Tips ).

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Adding Search Functionality To Your Site

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