{"id":779,"date":"2009-04-09T08:48:29","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T08:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agconsult.com\/en\/search-results-layout-tips\/"},"modified":"2009-04-09T08:48:29","modified_gmt":"2009-04-09T08:48:29","slug":"search-results-layout-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agconsult.com\/en\/usability-blog\/search-results-layout-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Search results: layout tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most surfers only use a site’s search feature if they can’t find what they’re looking for via the navigation or the homepage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means most people are already slightly irritated the moment they start searching. Making sure the page with search results helps people find what they’re looking for fast is very important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these tips you’ll see a dramatic drop in the number of people who leave your site on a search results page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leave the search box where it is<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leave the search box alone. Don’t move it and don’t put an extra search box at the top of the results page either. That only confuses people. If you put the search box in the right place to start with, it’s fine where it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leave the search word(s) in the search box<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don’t remove the search words from the search box. If you leave the search words in the search box, it’s easy for people to refine their search or correct spelling mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give clear feedback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Put a sentence at the top of each results page that says how many results there are and repeat the search word(s). Use a sentence like “Your search for x has delivered y results”. Obviously, you should also do this if there are no results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per result: title and description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Present the results as a bulleted lists with per result:<\/p>\n\n\n\n