to search box or not to search box

[davidjgoss87]

whilst discussing online stores, i've heard more than one person say recently "if you need a search box on your website, then your navigation isn't good enough". it's true to say that your navigation should enable a visitor to find any given product very quickly, but with the Google-ised culture of web users today i'd have thought some people would naturally go for a search box anyway if it's there no matter how intuitive the nav is. does anybody have any thoughts on this?

[movietub]

It depends on so many factors, not least your own judgemnent of what your customers will benefit from.

In my case we have around 3000 products, so our navigation structure is pretty big. So from that point of view our search box (and sperate brand search) is fairly important.

I make my best observations about what the site needs and doesnt need by using it myself. We get about 30 calls a day asking questions about products/postage/prices etc and when I want to direct the customer to a product I ALWAYS tell them to type part of its name into the search box at their end. So I assume becasue I find it easiest myself that in most cases so will they.

I should also point out that almost 50% of our customers never search the site or see the homepage. They land on the product page they want, buy, and leave!

EDIT: - I also think your friend was perhaps being a bit dramatic. Good navigation is important, yes. But I would nevber reccomend getting rid of a search box. It's an expected part of any dynamic website these days.

[edmondscommerce]

i would say not offering a search functionality would be crazy!

[The Dreaded Lurgy]

search box yes, why restrict your customers to just one method of finding what they want. Definately have the best nav system tou can but have a search box as well so it is the easiest it can be for a wide variety of people to give you there money. I have a car which is much more efficient at getting me to work but I dont chop me legs off.

[KidsBeeHappy]

different people prefer to work in different ways, some prefer keyboard, some prefer mouse. Some prefer to browse, some prefer to find out in a second or two if you have the precise product their after.

Cater for as many different types of people as possible, sell as many products as possible.

Yes, search box.

[BUCKdesigns]

Having a search box can only improve the assesibility of products and as you said some people naturally will use the search box if they are looking for something specific. Definatly go for a search box!

[fisicx]

Search box, breadcrumbs, navigation lists, quicklinks, footer links, inline links and any other possible combination.

As Sanrda sauggested, people have their own way of navigating so why restrict their options.

Obviously the person who suggested that search is a indication of poor navigation has never used a search engine or brought something from Amazon

[paretowasright]

The stats I have seen on this reckon over 50% of e-commerce site visitors use on site search if it exists. My own view is that more ease of navigation the better. The most effective on site search systems are the ones that have drill down options so you can narrow down your initial search aka Amazon. Totally agree with the other posters about brand menus, category menus, tag clouds, breadcrumb trails etc being important too.

[Place of design]

whilst discussing online stores, i've heard more than one person say recently "if you need a search box on your website, then your navigation isn't good enough". it's true to say that your navigation should enable a visitor to find any given product very quickly, but with the Google-ised culture of web users today i'd have thought some people would naturally go for a search box anyway if it's there no matter how intuitive the nav is. does anybody have any thoughts on this?
Depends on the size of your site

Example Maplins site would be a nightmare without the search

However at the other end of the scale, if you only have 10 products, the search results might look a bit stupid

[J-Wholesale]

I'd say it depends very much on what you sell. For example, if you sell technical items such as computer parts, you absolutely need a search box, as finding a part for your PC or printer would be a nightmare without it. On the other hand, if you're selling a selection of 100 rugs, then a search box would be over kill.

Search boxes work best when there is something very specific to search for, like a printer model number, the title of a book, or a brand name pair of trainers. Not so well when looking for a 'big rug' in a rug shop.

[phil battison]

We run a few different sites and the search box is not only invaluable for the customers but great for us when taking phone orders - allows us to take a product code or number and go straight to the product without having to worry about navigation. Much easier for the customer to give you a product number than the full description of an item

[iboxsecurity]

Providing you do not clutter the design absolutely without a doubt do everything you can to aid users discover your content, search box, breadcrumbs, inline links, footer links, nav bar and even suggested items they may well want to see.

[edmondscommerce]

the lines between navigation, categorisation and search are getting ever more blurry.

One of the coolest features of Magento is the so called layered navigation (think drill down search) allowing you to filter down a large selection of products into a much smaller and specific set.

[iboxsecurity]

@Joseph without a doubt magentos navigation is great we have many customers loving this form of drill down and navigational/search abilities.

[movietub]

@Joseph without a doubt magentos navigation is great we have many customers loving this form of drill down and navigational/search abilities.

I don't use magneto but we do have drill down type search filtering.

Not only does it make life easier for the user, it also puts you in the league of the big boys who have used search filters for a long time now. It's a very neat feature.

[edmondscommerce]

yep

i think my favourite implementation of decent search is the autotrader website. simply because it gives you instant feedback on the number of results so you can tweak your settings to give you a manageable number of results and THEN start browsing

[movietub]

I'll second autotrader as one of the best - in fact the best I know of.

One thing is certain, everyone agrees the OP should have a search box and stop worrying! Unless they do sell just a handful of items, which is unlikely as they did not state that.