You’ve been there…you’re on a website, you can’t find what you need and there’s no search bar. It’s very annoying and most likely, you’re quickly on your way back to Google to find another site within a few seconds. Whether you’re a nonprofit or a small business, your website needs a search bar.

If you have a Squarespace website, you’ll find this really easy to accomplish. Just click the insertion point for where you want to add the search bar, scroll down in the box options to Search, and click. That’s it - you’re done.

I’m not a WordPress gal but I’m guessing other website platforms make it just as easy to add this function, as well.

So let’s talk about why your website should have a search bar and a fun way to display that search bar on your website.

Three reasons your website needs a search bar

1. A search bar helps you understand what people want from you

how to use a search bar and custom 404 page

In some ways, we’re all basically guessing at what content our audience wants and using those guesses to fill our sites with content (pages, blogs, photos, etc.) By having a search bar, you get a better understanding of what people are hoping to find on your website.

For example, when I look at my Squarespace Analytics and review what people have searched for on my website, I see this:

online giving
website example
email help

So, this tells me I had better have some helpful content for these people to find on those topics! I monitor the results of my search bar every week and try to keep a pulse on what people are looking for. As long as it makes sense for me to offer that content, I do.

2. Search bars help visitors find what they need, faster

A search bar on your website will let your visitors find what they are looking for faster. This accomplishes two things:

It makes your website visitors happy. They needed something, they found it, and they are more likely to come back to your website the next time they need something in your area of expertise.
Plus, a positive user experience is always the goal!

3. A search bar can keep visitors on your site longer

This might sound counter-intuitive to the reason above but it’s actually not.

Scenario 1: A visitor lands on your website and after a quick glance and maybe a half-scroll, they don’t see what they need. They are likely to move on to the next Google search result and try again.

Scenario 2: A visitor lands on your website and after a quick glance and maybe a half-scroll, they don’t see what they need. Instead of leaving though, they spot your search bar. Now, they spend time using the search bar, reviewing results, and navigating over to a new page or two.

One of the best ways to tell Google your site belongs on page one is increasing the length of time someone spends on your site. The longer their visit, the more they tell Google “hey, this page has great stuff and I’m still hanging out here.”

Here’s a creative way to display your search bar

There are many places to add your search bar and no one right way to do it. Most website users are accustomed to finding a search bar either at the very end of the page (often in the footer) or in the header area.

By adding the search bar to your site footer, you get the benefit of the search bar appearing on every page. I did that for a while and it worked okay. However, I decided to have a little fun with my search bar:

I put some text above the search bar and then gave the readers a few parameters below it. It’s just a nice, creative way to display a boring search bar! See the example below ⇣

Bonus Tip: Did you know that you can type /search after your domain on any Squarespace website to search your entire site? This is a nice little trick to keep in mind.

Put your search bar on your custom 404 page

Now that you know why a search bar is important and have an idea of where and how to display the search bar, let’s hit one more topic - the custom 404 page.

A 404 page is the page user’s see when they try to access a page on your website that doesn’t exist. (See the official definition here) This might happen when you remove a page, change a page’s URL, or even when a visitor mistypes the website address. Typically, a user will see a generic 404 page that basically says, sorry, that page doesn’t exist.

However, creating a custom 404 page is an excellent way to hang on to website visitors a little longer and deliver an outstanding user experience. These small touches go a long way and most digital marketing firms understand the importance of these details.

If you’re working with a design firm like Digital Digital Service Pro, https://digitalmarketingservpro.com/, they are likely to already have a plan for these details in place. If you’re going the DIY route, it’s definitely something you don’t want to overlook.

For instance, let’s say you did remove a page from your website that you no longer wanted to be visible. Since there was no redirect set up, anyone trying to find that old page is going to see a generic 404 page and leave.

Unless.

You could create a custom 404 page that includes the following:

A sincere “I’m sorry” message that explains the page has been moved or no longer exists
A suggestion of two or three pages to view instead. These could be related service pages, your greatest blog post hits, or an invitation to join your email list - whatever page you want to direct their attention to
A search bar, along with a “try searching the site for what you need.”
A link to return to your homepage

See how useful that custom 404 page could be? I recently moved the Nonprofit Template Shop from Podia back to my Squarespace website and although I created a redirect for the old URL, I also included a link right on my custom 404 page, too.

So, how do you create one?

How to create a custom 404 page

Inside your website platform, create a new page that includes any/all of the following items above
Name your page: Custom 404 and make the slug /404
Head to your website settings and set your website to display this page instead of the default page. (In Squarespace, this is under the Design menu.)

Delivering an outstanding user experience is critical when it comes to making your website stand out for the right reasons. These simple steps like adding a functional search bar and a custom 404 page can make the difference between someone abandoning your website after a few seconds and someone sticking around long enough to read your amazing content or buy your products.

Have fun search bar or custom 404 page ideas? Let’s hear them in the comments!

Until next time,

Andrea

One Nine Design is a digital marketing company helping small businesses and nonprofits learn how to use their website and email list to grow their reach and make a bigger impact!