undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. Research & Trends
  3. SERP Trends
  4. Does my website need a search bar?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Does my website need a search bar?

SERP Trends
4
4
8.3k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • BopDesign
    BopDesign last edited by Mar 14, 2014, 4:04 PM

    We're redesigning our agency website and during development we noticed our current design doesn't feature a mock up for a search bar. It was a simple oversight, but it got me thinking how valuable it really is. I noticed the Moz blog doesn't have a search bar (unless I'm blind) and was wondering who else has made the decision to get rid of it.

    We have a blog of almost 400 posts over the course of three years, unsure if that sways the decision in either direction. Is it better to just focus on good SEO instead of relying on a search bar nowadays?

    Opinions appreciated!

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • Vahe.Arabian
      Vahe.Arabian last edited by Mar 16, 2014, 12:11 AM Mar 16, 2014, 12:11 AM

      Alot of search bar functions really don't provide accurate results, hence I would agree with you on not having this. Focus on good SEO. Organising blog posts into specific categories and then proper internal linking to encourage site dwell time and utlimately where you would like to end up is far more valuable (but more work).

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • EGOL
        EGOL last edited by Mar 14, 2014, 5:41 PM Mar 14, 2014, 5:14 PM

        I think that the decision to use a search bar depends upon the size of your site and the type of information / products that you offer.

        I have a small retail site (under 100 pages) and nobody used the search box even though I had it big and obvious in the upper right corner of the design.  When I say "nobody" that is not an exaggeration.  NOBODY.  I removed the search box.

        I have a large information site (thousands of pages) that has a well-used search box at the top right of every page.  This is a google search box and adsense displays on the search results page.      Here is some data....

        * Site-wide about 4% of the people who arrive at the site use the search.

        * About 6% of the people who view the homepage use search.

        * About 4% of my Adsense revenue comes from the search page.

        * Using CrazyEgg's "Time to Click" feature I can tell that a lot of people who use search on our homepage  immediately click the search box - in under five seconds.  This suggests that these people are using the search box to navigate the site.

        * The most valuable thing about the search box is the query data.  I use Clicky analytics and it captures the query strings. If I look at them I see lots of people searching for topics that I do not have on my site and topics that I do not address with a dedicated page (hundreds of searches per month for some queries - this is on a site that gets 100K  visitor per day and has thousands of content pages).  I am using this query data to inform content development.  Very valuable.

        * In addition to the search box at the top of every page, we also have a second search box that appears at the bottom of every article.  It is used by about 1% of visitors.  When they finish reading an article the search for something.

        So, although I removed search from the small retail site I am keeping it on the information site because it is used by some visitors to navigate, I find the query data to be valuable and we derive 4% of our ad revenue from search.

        Finally... if somebody is on my site.  I don't want them leaving to search somewhere else.  I want them to use my site search where the content of MY site is the only thing that they will see in the search results.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • KempRugeLawGroup
          KempRugeLawGroup last edited by Mar 14, 2014, 4:49 PM Mar 14, 2014, 4:49 PM

          With the exception of good e-commerce sites, I find search bars outdated and rather unreliable. Even if it is a good search bar, people are so used to just googling for info, rather than using a website's search bar. For example, I just did a quick "experiment" with Zappos (who probably has a top level search bar) and I typed in their search bar "red shoes," then I googled "Zappos red shoes" and I got the same page.

          If you have a bad search bar, (and users use it) they will get mad. If you have a good search bar (like Zappos), it's still not any better than google. Unless you have a bunch of pages that you want your users to read, but you don't want google to index (pretty odd scenario) i see no point in having a search bar these days.

          Enjoy your weekend!

          Ruben

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • 1 / 1
          1 out of 4
          • First post
            1/4
            Last post

          Got a burning SEO question?

          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


          Start my free trial


          Browse Questions

          Explore more categories

          • Moz Tools

            Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

          • SEO Tactics

            Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

          • Community

            Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

          • Digital Marketing

            Chat about tactics outside of SEO

          • Research & Trends

            Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

          • Support

            Connect on product support and feature requests.

          • See all categories

          Related Questions

          • seoelevated

            What do we know about the "Shops" SERP Feature?

            serp features

            I came across this SERP Feature in a search today on a mobile device. It does not show for the same search query on desktop. What do we know about this "Shops" SERP feature? shops-blur.jpg

            SERP Trends | Nov 1, 2021, 6:19 PM | seoelevated
            0
          • newwhy

            Getting indexed by Google scholar

            Often my Google Scholar alerts result in exactly what I think they will: scholarly articles published in academic journals. However, today I got this completely non-scholarly article https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-exact-reps-that-make-you-grow and I have no idea why Google Scholar is indexing this site. I've read up on how to get indexed by Google Scholar, and this website doesn't seem to have the necessary requirements. I'm curious for anyone whose clients or industry need to get indexed by Google Scholar, what has worked for you?

            SERP Trends | Jul 1, 2023, 8:51 AM | newwhy
            2
          • vtmoz

            Best proxy service to browse the Google from different countries to check the ranking

            Hi Moz community, We need to check our website/pages rankings for random keywords at random timings in different countries. Beside checking in search console, we would like to check in browser. But Google now is not allowing us to browse the results of other country. I would like to use best proxy service to browse Google from different location to check how our pages are ranking & fluctuating. Please suggest on this. Thanks

            SERP Trends | Feb 5, 2018, 12:13 PM | vtmoz
            0
          • vtmoz

            Search results vary in chrome vs other browsers even in Incognito mode: Google's stand?

            Hi all, We use incognito mode or private browsing to check the Actual results which are not impacted by previous history, location (sometimes), etc. Even we browse this way, we can see the different search results. Why would this happen? What's Google's stand on this? What is the actual way to browse to get the unbiased results for certain search queries? I have experienced that Chrome will rank our own websites bit higher compared to the other browsers even in incognito mode. Thanks

            SERP Trends | Oct 30, 2017, 12:06 PM | vtmoz
            1
          • NortonSupportSEO

            Ways to fetch search analytics - historical search query data from Google Search Console

            Is there any way to fetch all historical search query data from Google Search Console ? Google allows us to view only 90 days report at the maximum. Does integrating google search console with google analytics tool solve this problem ?

            SERP Trends | Jul 12, 2016, 11:30 AM | NortonSupportSEO
            0
          • ScottImageWorks

            How often do you submit to local search/citation sites?

            I recently received a Network Solutions spam/offer email regarding their internet marketing packages.  One of the "benefits" they cited was that they submit your information to local search/citation sites once a month, to keep it up-to-date. I don't know about you guys, but my clients' information isn't changing on a frequent basis.  I remember when it used to be a tactic to submit regularly to the same citation sites, but that seems like overkill now.  Does anyone still do this, or is NS just trying to make their product sound good?  Do we need to update citation sites frequently, or is it enough to update when there are actual changes to make?

            SERP Trends | Oct 1, 2013, 4:01 PM | ScottImageWorks
            0
          • nicole.healthline

            Best keyword research tool for Google image search?

            What is the best research tool for finding search data specifically for Google Image search?

            SERP Trends | Nov 26, 2012, 2:00 PM | nicole.healthline
            1
          • ringstonmedia

            Are Word .doc or .txt files indexed into Search Engines?

            I have a new client that is using Word files on their site, downloadable press releases. They feel that reporters prefer downloading press releases as Word .doc's instead of .pdf's since they can open and edit the content. Do these files offer any SEO?

            SERP Trends | Jun 28, 2011, 12:26 PM | ringstonmedia
            0

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy

          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.