What are your visitors search for and where they successful?
Do you know what your visitors are searching for and the effect it has on the success of their visit?
In recent studies of retail web sites we found that over 75% of visitors who searched used general terms to locate their desired product versus specific terms or model/product names. General search terms are typically characterized by usage of either a brand name (Sony) OR product category (VCR) in the search field. Visitors who utilized general search terms during their visit reported the lowest success rate of all search term methods at less than 25%. The other two search term methods included the usage of specific terms (Panasonic DVD player) or model/product number (DVDS47S). Both of these search term methods yielded higher success rates at over 40%.
If you’re thinking that visitors who use general terms will just have to be more specific on their search, you should think again. Included in the recent studies of search features on retail web sites we found that the more visitors searched the lower their success rate was. What does this mean? It should go without saying that the search feature should be as accurate as possible in providing results to site visitors. This being a difficult task, the next search aid is to provide not only a list of product matches but also the product categories returned for the searched terms. In addition, a clear navigational method should be offered to drill down into these product categories on the search results page.
How is your newsletter doing?
Most companies, including USC, have a periodic newsletter distribution to former, current, and future customers. The content is typically geared at educating customers on product and services offered, industry related information, tips and tricks of product usage, etc. But how effective is your newsletter? Is it evolving as your customer’s needs change? Does it effectively deliver information about changing products? Do you know in what ways it provides value to your readers? We have conducted several studies, with quarterly newsletters, that provide prospect/customer feedback.
The results typically include measurements on satisfaction of content, requested changes, interest in new content, product/brand affinity, etc. This model, while simple, holds tremendous value in further understanding your audience. This prospect/customer feedback provides you the data to fine tune your newsletter based on a better understanding of the shifts in attitude and behaviors of your target audience.