Request your e-shop search audit - it's free! Get a free audit

On many well-performing ecommerce websites, the site search accounts for up to 40% of total revenue.

If you seek to reach the same number on your store, you must ensure your site search converts.

This blog post will discuss the top ten site search mistakes that cost ecommerce businesses lost revenue.

43% of shoppers go directly to a search box as soon as they visit the website. If they do not find it where they expect, they feel frustrated.

A few of them will dedicate some time to searching for the products manually. Yet, the majority will dislike the unintuitive user experience and leave the website.

Also, although some websites have a search box, they bury it in small and difficult-to-detect locations or use unclear icons.

This makes it hard for users to find and use it.

Make sure your search box is easy to spot from any page on your website to ensure users can quickly initiate a search.

2. No search data analysis

Many website owners do not leverage the power of analytics to track and analyze site search data.

Analytics can provide valuable insights into what users are searching for, what terms are not producing results, and how users interact with search results. Without this data, a business owner blindly guesses when making decisions.

Analyze the site search data in the analytics, identify patterns and trends, discover weak areas, and make informed decisions to improve your site search functionality.

A default site search that comes with content management systems is not enough for a converting and relevant search experience.

Such default site searches do not provide any customized solutions - from the intuitive search box to search facets and filters. Besides, it usually poorly understands synonyms or typos, worsening user experience.

If possible, consider introducing an advanced site search solution (like LupaSearch) that provides a fully-customizable search experience.

4. Not supporting typos and synonyms

People make mistakes when they type. People use different words to name the same product.

Therefore, if your site search does not support synonym and typo recognition, it may fail to deliver accurate results. And that annoys users.

Implementing synonym and typo support in your site search can greatly enhance the search experience by understanding and accommodating user variations in search queries.

Slow search performance can lead to user frustration and website abandonment. And it’s not just a slow-loading site search.

Modern users are used to seeing possible search suggestions while they type. So, if your site search does not provide real-time results, users may leave your site and look elsewhere.

Optimize your site search performance by implementing autocomplete feature and using indexing techniques and caching strategies to ensure fast and responsive search results.

6. Desktop-first experience

65% of users use mobile phones when they feel the “I-want-to-buy” moment. Besides, mobile shoppers spend up to 20X more than desktop users.

Mistakes such as a search bar that is too small for mobile screens, not implementing auto-suggestions for touchscreens, or not optimizing search results for mobile layouts can result in a poor mobile search experience.

And that is directly linked to lost revenue.

Make sure your site search is mobile-first, responsive, visually appealing, and easy to use.

7. Neglecting personalization

Personalization alone can increase business revenue from 6% to 10%. That is because current shoppers expect a personalized shopping experience.

Failing to personalize the site search experience based on user preferences, behavior, and past searches can result in generic search results - they do not cater to individual user needs.

Therefore, implementing features such as personalized recommendations, search history, and saved searches can enhance the relevance and effectiveness of site searches, leading to a more personalized and engaging user experience.

8. Failing to process long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are specific and often longer search queries that users use to find highly relevant content. These can be niche products (like gluten and lactose-free cookies) or generic search terms (like something to snack on with vegan friends).

Optimize your site search to understand and accommodate long-tail and generic keywords.

This may involve implementing features such as auto-suggestions, synonyms, related searches, or content tagging to ensure users can find specific content using long-tail keywords.

9. Missing product previews

Users often rely on visual cues to quickly assess the relevance of search results. Failing to show the products when users type the query into the search box can worsen the shopping experience.

Include product previews, thumbnail images, or brief descriptions in the search result page as users type. It can help the shopper quickly evaluate the relevance of the search results and make more informed decisions.

The faster a shopper finds the right product, the higher the chance of a successful conversion.

10. Neglecting Natural Language Processing

NLP (Natural Language Processing) allows your site search to get to the core of the users’ search intent. It understands what users mean even if they type as they speak.

For example, if a user searches for “red sneakers,” NLP can understand that “red” refers to the color and “sneakers” refers to the product category - and provides relevant results (even if the product name does not exactly match the search query).

Therefore, neglecting to leverage NLP capabilities can result in a less accurate and less relevant search experience.

NLP can grasp the intent behind user queries, identify synonyms, recognize contextual meaning, and improve search results accordingly.


All in all, people who use site search are the ones that are most likely to convert. Solve the too-common mistakes and provide your shoppers with a seamless site search experience.

After all, the increased revenue is worth it.