Findability means that people who have arrived at your website can locate what they want, where they expect to find it, and move deeper into whatever decision-making process brought them there.
For marketing managers conscious of website conversion metrics, findability is an essential website attribute. Here’s a handful of ways to improve it.
How to make your website content more findable
1. Don’t neglect site search.
Remember: Visitors who are serious about conversion rely on site search to pinpoint what they want; too often, they encounter a “No results” page. According to econsultancy, only around 50% of site searches produce useful content. Part of the problem is that WordPress, the CMS used to build 43% of websites in 2023, has a default site search function that is notoriously weak and few marketers add a plugin.
You can improve site search by making the search box prominent, using autofill/autocorrect functions, and optimizing for mobile. Here’s an excellent article on site search best practices from our friends at CXL.
2. Know Thy Users.
Know what they want, where they’re looking for it, and how they search for it. We tell clients to start with analytics and setting up Google site search, but we also suggest doing in-depth interviews and journey maps to understand the specifics of how users think about your content. ALSO: We talk to salespeople whenever possible. They know things.
3. Test site IA to study findability.
There are several techniques that help marketers understand where users want to find website content. Card sorting can reveal how people naturally want to perceive your site’s content by allowing them to organize content areas into their own IA. Tree testing asks users to view a menu structure and locate content within a proposed site architecture. You can also use recorded website sessions, heat maps, shop-alongs, click maps, and other tools. Talk to us about a free site audit.
4. Do some simple surveys.
Test your site UX with a DIY research platform and probe for user motivations, expectations, habits, and pain points. Check out SurveyMonkey’s best practices, which include surveying competitor sites, real-time feedback, and insights on findability.
5. Take a critical look at product filters.
While web experts will tell you that there’s no Book of Rules about product filters, remember to organize choices the way users want to encounter them. And keep filter options visible.
