If you have ever worked on or designed a large e-commerce website or even a heavy content website then you know the success of the website depends on content being found. You know it is vital that the design and layout of the search functionality of the website be considered carefully.

When a search is made, the page that is returned with the information is the prime focus for the search experience, and can make or break the sites ability to turn a web visitor into a customer. For this reason, bridging the gap between a user and the content or products they seek, is a crucial factor in the success of the website. The responsibility of the designer is to design an effective search results page and I’d like to take a moment to make a thorough examination of some of the features and functions found on search results page from a number of popular sites.

Other words, I am going to take a moment and look at some of the trends and practices incorporated into a variety of websites.

Google’s search result pages are by far the best known search result pages online.

I will list some of the features from Google’s search result pages, and then we will point out some additional unique features found on other search result pages, including those found on the other popular search engines.

Below are some of the features found on Google’s search result pages.

Search box, with search words, remain at the top of the page.

You have an option to view an advanced search page

The total number of search results shown at the top of the page

Ajax driven auto completed for follow-up searches

There are sponsored links at top and right

The results have titles in bold and hyperlinked

The searched words are shown in bold in a page snippet

URLs shown in a different color under each result

The visited links are in a different color

There are related search phrases listed at bottom of the page

There is a search box, with search terms repeated at the bottom of the page

Most of the search engine result pages follow very similar patterns as the one above for Google. However, below are some variations and unique features that are found on other search engines that Google does not have.

Bing

Microsoft’s new search engine has a list of the user history in the sidebar and the user is allowed to clear the history or turn it off. The search history remains intact even when the browser is closed, once the page is revisited the past history is there.

One improvement on Microsoft’s search engine is at the bottom of the page the numbers for the additional pages is much cleaner, larger and has a mouse over affect.

Yahoo

The search results page on Yahoo displays an Ajax driven slide down unit that appears below the search box when someone is typing in a search query. It is very much similar to the Ajax drop-down featured on Google and Bing with a few extra enhancements.

Yahoo offers features that are still in beta, search pad, which allows the user to record notes on searches and search scan to help protect from harmful websites.

Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have the experience and industry expertise to enable them to design an effective search results page. The patterns and trends they have are worthy of consideration when designing your own search results page. Even if many of their features are out of your projects budget and scope, the principles behind the features can be considered and incorporated in practical ways.

YouTube

The search results page on video sharing websites have some patterns worth noting. YouTube has easily accessible filtering options near the top of the search results page. Each item on YouTube can be scanned for detailed information such as; a thumbnail preview, runtime for the clip, user rating and age of the item. You will also notice that if there is a list or a series that it is also indicated.

Metacafe

MetaCafe includes many of the features that YouTube offers plus an XML feed for a particular set of results and an option to enable or disable a family filter.

Break

Break includes a top 10 searches box on the right side of the page, allowing the user to view what others have been searching for.

Moving along we will take a look at Social News and Mini-Blogging sites.

Tweeter offers a very clean driven interface that includes real-time results. They also offer a list of what others are searching for. Tweeter also gives the user the
option to refresh the page once additional results appear in real time.

Okay, moving along to what is a critical and crucial part of an e-commerce website and of course that would be the search result page. This is the means by which most users will attempt to find the product or information that they are looking for. I am Going to take a look at some of the popular e-commerce websites and what they have.

Amazon

Amazon allows the search results to be sorted in a variety of ways like best-selling, customer reviews and so on. This is done by means of a select box that adds or removes this option based on the catagories the user is currently viewing.

When displaying results for books, Amazon results page indicates that the book has the look inside feature. There is also a brief description from each book, plus links to view for other editions.

EBay

EBay allows for easy filtering through tabs at the top of the page. EBay also provides a unique feature at the bottom of the page, this option allows you to view the thumbnail preview of the images in different sizes.

Another neat feature unique to eBay is the ability to change the amount of items displayed per page and the ability to go directly to a specific page by entering a number into the text box.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart clearly distinguishes between products available in-store and those available online, allowing the user to filter items through a tabbed interface.
At the bottom of Wal-Mart search results page there are items that were purchased after other shoppers conducted the same search. There is also a feedback option offered, indicating that Wal-Mart is conducting ongoing analysis of user’s interaction with their search features.

Coast

Coast website includes an indicator that lets you know of any new items that have been added recently.

Shoon

Shoon has a list of alternative color options for the individual products. By clicking a new color option the product color changes dynamically.

CNET

CNET allows users by means of a checkbox to select multiple items for a side-by-side comparison.
When it comes to something as simple as the search features on the website they can get very complicated very fast.

The best website design is one that is able to convert the traffic from browsers to buyers. The problem is that every industry is different and therefore every web design is equally different. However there are some things that do work over and over again no matter what the topic.

1. For some reason a blue Buy Now Button will convert traffic better than a red one.

2. A Buy Now Button that is a little larger than the standard size seems to work best.

3. A disclaimer saying you want misuse their email address under a contact forum.

4. A light color blue or color grey as the background color.

The list of little changes that can make a big difference go on and on.

My point is that next time you’re looking for the best website design you need to understand that the little things you don’t really notice can make a big difference.

A good web design is one that converts traffic and makes a profit. The best web design is the one that is converting the most traffic.