Resumé:
Poor content site management is criticized by independent experts.
Full-text search is successful when the user enters words contained in the
text of a page in your web. Usually the user does not know which words are
contained in a text yet to be found. To reduce the number of irrelevant hits
several words must be entered. An experienced user might construct search terms
using Boolean expressions like AND, OR, NOT in nested brackets and
wildcards like * and ?.
Even if all your viewers were proficient in Boolean algebra - how can they know
which words to enter when they visit your site the first time?
What scientists say about conventional search methods:
¶ "Analysts have estimated that more than $6 billion in online
purchases was lost in 1999 because of badly designed search functionality and
poor results," said Rajiv Parikh, director of product marketing for
AltaVista Business Solutions. Don't fall into this trap. Your e-commerce site
can turn one-time shoppers into loyal, repeat customers when you help online
buyers find exactly what they're looking for.
¶ Traditional databases are adequate for
precision searches if the user has a well-defined topic, because the searcher
will already know the appropriate search terms and keywords. But if the topic is
ill-defined, traditional databases become inadequate, since the user will have
to guess at the appropriate search terms.
¶ Site designers struggle to prioritize efforts, often thinking that
flashy personalization will win over consumers. But according to Forrester’s
Consumer Technographics Q2 2003 North American Study, consumers will prize
competence at the basics over flash — they just want direct paths to content,
properly labeled menus, and good search.
¶ Content sites live or die on the quality of their search features, yet
some of the “best” Web sites have some of the worst search experiences. In
this report, we deconstruct ten examples of content search to figure out the
good and bad search practices for today’s content sites.
¶ This site provides information, news and advice about web site
searching technology, we do not accept advertising or sponsorships. It is
maintained by Search Tools Consulting as a service to the Web community.
¶ At many web sites, you can search hundreds or even thousands of
files. You may get back hundreds of links, so you struggle through the list,
trying to find a link or two that leads you to useful information. Sometimes
it's hard to imagine what the link has to do with the word or phrase you
searched for. This is especially true with full-text search engines.
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9
What Scientists Have To Say.
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