Getting CX right with Sitecore Search

By Jill Grozalsky Roberson, VP of Digital Marketing, Velir

No matter how user friendly a website is, onsite search is a critical component to ensuring site visitors are able to find what they are looking for from an organization and that they have a satisfactory visit where they can accomplish what they set out to do.

Yes, users oftentimes want to browse your site and have the information unfold organically. However, we as consumers can be impatient. We want to find what we are looking for ASAP with as few clicks or detours as possible. Plus, it should be noted that according to Forrester, online visitors who use the search box on a site are 2x-3x more likely to convert than non-searchers.

That is why the addition of the Sitecore Search product to Sitecore's cloud-native, composable portfolio is so exciting, as it gives organizations a guaranteed way to meet customer needs and streamline journeys.

Sitecore Search lifts CX

Sitecore Search helps to further enhance the customer experience on websites or applications because it gives visitors complete control of their experience as they try to find relevant information, products, or services within a site.

As an AI-powered search engine, Sitecore Search can predict search intent and display individualized results with a personalized search experience. It also provides insights around engagement with keywords, themes, and overall content performance.

While there is no question as to the role that search plays individually, it is important to understand how a strong onsite search can help improve the overall digital customer experience for target audiences. Let's take a look …

Improved navigation

Onsite search simplifies the navigation process for users by allowing them to directly find what they are looking for. Instead of browsing and potentially not discovering what they want, users can enter their query and quickly access the desired content or products.

This reduces the time and effort required to find information, enhancing overall user satisfaction. With Sitecore Search, teams not only have the flexibility to tailor and personalize search results, but it also provides teams with search behavior data that can inform future content creation or UX/IA improvements.

Faster, more relevant results

A robust onsite search engine will deliver fast and accurate search results. When customers can easily find what they're looking for, they are more likely to have a positive experience. Sitecore Search employs techniques like relevance ranking, auto-complete suggestions, and faceted filtering to provide site visitors with highly relevant results, ensuring they can find what they’re looking for.

Personalization

Sitecore Search can be leveraged to personalize the customer experience and augment additional optimization strategies. By analyzing user search behavior, businesses can gain insights into user preferences, interests, and intent. This data can be used to deliver personalized search results, recommendations, or targeted promotions, creating a more tailored and relevant experience for each individual visitor.

Enhanced engagement and conversion

When customers can easily find the right content, they are more likely to engage with it, explore more pages, and make a purchase. Effective onsite search helps reduce bounce rates and improves conversion rates by providing users with a seamless and efficient search experience. It enables businesses to showcase relevant products or content, leading to longer time on site and increased revenue.

As marketers, we are piecing together first-party data and third-party data, trying different tools, all with the goal of understanding how to improve communication with audiences. With Sitecore Search, you don’t have to wonder what a user is up to when they visit your website.

So, if you are looking for a way to optimize engagement and conversions on an existing site or exploring rebuilding/redesigning a digital experience, securing a strong onsite search tool should be top of mind as a way to deliver something extraordinary for your users.

To learn more about Sitecore Search, visit the product page where you can watch a guided demo of the all the features and functionality of the AI-powered solution that surfaces hyper-relevant content for your website visitors.