site search

[tyrojds]

it's been less than a week since i included a site search capability on several pages of my site. from that point, however, the EPC, plummeted. any opinions as to if this is a coincidence or is there some reason this would cause such a change? thanks.

[Birdman]

Sorry to seem ignorant but, what is EPC?

[lazerzubb]

earnings per click?

[tyrojds]

yes, earnings per click. jargon, my bad.

[digitalghost]

The search feature could be the cause, especially if the search box looks more inviting than static navigation and doesn't perform well.

Some reasons a search box kills sales:

1. Returns too many results.
2. Returns no results.
3. Returns irrelevant results.
4. Is too slow.
5. Random script errors
6. Search leads buyers away from pages that sell.
7. Invites surfer to "surf" rather than read the page content.

Search has to be implemented carefully and for small sites is never necessary unless the IA is pathetic and even then the search box won't help with conversions. You want people clicking the "add to cart" button, not the "search" button.

You can make the search box less prominent, (lower LH corner of the page), remove it or refine it. If you noticed a big increase in page views and sales remained static I'd think seriously about removing the search feature. Clicks are fine, clicks on the "buy me" button are better.

[aspdaddy]

Do others here use EPC as a metric?
I would think the site structure determines the EPC.

[digitalghost]

Do others here use EPC as a metric?
I would think the site structure determines the EPC.

Site structure plays a huge part. A large e-com/info site can expect to have a lower EPC than a site geared entirely for e-com. There are so many variables that come into play though that isolating EPC as a solid indicator of how effectively the site sells is a bad idea.

You can take a look at page views per visitor that result in a sale, number of page views per visitor that don't result in a sale, return visitor page views prior to a sale, which pages are viewed prior to a sale, (contact info page seems to get viewed quite a bit by people that make purchases as do guarantee pages) and I alway like to take a look at pages that produce a single page view, determine which referral string sent them there and then determine if they should have found what they were looking for. Too many single page views can help you target copy that needs reworked.