tedster - 1:47 pm on Feb 26, 2002 (gmt 0)

For many people having a Site Search box on the page seems like a given, but there are pitfalls that have caused me to remove it in several past cases. The ones that I do have are pretty rudimentary.

Now a large site I'm working on wants a Site Search, and I'm hoping to get some input on how to do it well. We might look into the Google search box, but I'm not at all sure that will completely serve the purpose.

Here are some of my concerns:

1. Search Box on the Page versus Having a Link
Even on a big site, I'm uncomfortable with inviting people to dive for the search function. If a visitor tries the search and gets no result, they may well leave. So I much prefer solid IA, with good copy and navigation cues. It seems to me that a link to the search function would result in better site stickiness while still offering the desired functionality.

2. Monitoring Search Quality
It seems to me that the searches need to be monitored very closely by someone who really knows the site well. Then the right keywords can be added to the special meta tags as needed, and ideas for new content can get passed to the right memebr of the development team. Is anyone doing this kind of thing? How many dedicated man-hours does it take per week?

3. Typos, Synonyms, etc.
One search function we're considering would use propietary meta tags. The idea is that descriptions and keywords designed for the search engines don't need to be used for site search as well. I like this idea a lot. Am I missing any downside?

4. Indexing Message Board Content
In addition to several thousand content pages, we're aiming for 40 or more message boards over the next year. In addition to WebmasterWorld, does anyone have experience at this? How frequently do you build the index? What server load considerations are there? (We're running Apache and Tomcat with load sharing over four boxes right now.)

My paranoia was heightened this week by using the site search on Compaq, and getting results that were totally unusable. 52 identical titles and descriptions, even though each one was a separate document. I figure if they can foul it up, then I certainly can. I welcome other areas of input -- anything at all. I've never waded into anything this big before, and I'm hoping to avoid a fiasco.