Guest Post from our partner, Nextopia.

Every online retailer is looking to improve their SEO in a quest for the elusive #1 spot in any given Google search. What most companies don’t know, however, is that there is an easy way to boost your SEO rankings, while also providing your customers with a vastly superior shopping experience. The answer? Intelligent site search and navigation.

Here’s a quick guide on how getting rid of your default site search once and for all can boost your SEO efforts.
1. Visitors want Better Site Search
Enhanced site search comes with a variety of well known benefits. Increased conversions, fewer customer service calls, and advanced merchandising capabilities are only some of the advantages of a powerful eCommerce site search solution. With better site search, more users will be inclined to go to the search box with their queries. About 30% of visitors use your search box when they come to your site. Not only are these visitors further along in the buying cycle, but these visitors also come equipped with nearly 2 times more intent to purchase than other visitors.
2. Keep Visitors Engaged
If your site search doesn’t return relevant results, visitors will quickly leave your site, for a more user friendly competitor site. In order to keep your bounce rate down, and SEO campaigns competitive, advanced site search keeps customers engaged by providing them with relevant search results. Even if a certain query returns zero results, intelligent site search gives you the ability to suggest related items, or use your search box as a CTA, which keeps your customers engaged and decreases your bounce rate.
3. More Searches, Better Data
Not only does better site search keep customers engaged and lower your bounce rate, but it also means increased customer search queries. As your customers experience better site search, they will be more likely to continue using your site’s search box to find the items they are looking for. While more customers turn to your search bar to guide them to the items they are looking for, your dynamic analytics will be collecting all that data and information to give you insights into your most valuable keywords.
4. Find your Most Valuable Key Words
Robust analytics show you what your customers are searching, and which search terms produce the most sales. With intelligent site search, you’re no longer guessing which keywords your customers are using. Instead, you can use your data to find the most popular customer searches, and which searches are actually generating revenue. Finally! Accurate data driven SEO and SEM campaigns. No more guessing needed—just accurate keyword lists that are drawn from your customers’ actual behavior. 

For example, imagine you’re an electronics retailer who believes that your customers’ are searching “LCD TV’s” on Google to find your site. However, after looking at your advanced site search analytics, you may realize that far more people are searching “HD TV’s” instead. Furthermore, in your data, you can even see that the customers who search for “HD TV’s” convert into buyers at a higher rate than those who search for “LCD TV’s”. With this data in hand, you can now optimize your SEO, AdWords, and landing pages for “HD TV’s” rather than “LCD TV’s”.
5. Once They Find You, Keep Them
By using advanced site search as a tool for your data driven SEO and SEM campaigns, your eCommerce store will not only be easier for your customers to find—it will provide a much more enjoyable shopping experience once they arrive. After all, what’s the point of spending money to attract visitors if they end up bouncing without purchasing?

Here at Nextopia, we are happy to help you with any questions you may have about how to boost your SEO campaigns, and sell more online with. Named a leading site search provider by Internet Retailer, we are always eager to share our knowledge to help you turn browsers into buyers.

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About Nextopia

Nextopia was named a 2016 leading vendor for eCommerce Site Search and Navigation by Internet Retailer. Our SaaS-based model helps retailers acquire new customers, increase average order value, and boost mobile sales by turning browsers into buyers. Dynamic filters and refinements enable customers to quickly sort products on your site, while our adaptive learning algorithm displays the most popular and relevant products first. Enhanced autocomplete, featuring error tolerance and fuzzy matching capabilities, helps your customers quickly search for and find products with logical and applicable search results. Nextopia is easy to integrate, cost effective, and flexible while providing the exceptional, robust products and services you need.