The Qualities of a Good WordPress Search Plugin
Most of us frequently use search engines, Amazon, or YouTube to do online searches. So, any website with a poorer search experience will seem dated. This can cause visitors to leave your website, reduce traffic, and harm your Google search engine results.
Very likely, you’re reading this because you dislike how WordPress’ built-in search works. Although many WordPress administrators have looked for solutions to this sluggish and constrained native functionality, it might work for some websites.
Consider the following before selecting a new search plugin for your website.
- Accuracy: Above all else, the results of your search must match visitor expectations. Visitors can be looking for content other than what WordPress by default indexes, depending on your website. Finding a plugin that indexes as much of your text and image information as you require is therefore a good idea. Custom post kinds and readable media, such as text documents and PDFs, which are both excluded from the default WordPress results page, might be included in this.
- Speed: Another important component of a successful site search plugin is speed. Users will grow impatient if a process takes more than a few seconds. With smaller sites or shops with fewer products, this might not be a big problem. But, for bigger websites, you’ll need a plugin that rapidly and effectively crawls your material.
- Design: The appearance of the search bar and the results page should be somewhat customizable through a site search plugin. Techniques like highlighting particular results, manually sorting the effects on specific results pages, and using AJAX to display live search results can all be used to improve results pages. On all relevant pages, the search bar itself should be simple and easy to see. One or both may be customizable in some search plugins.
- Sort and filter: This is yet another useful UI feature that will aid users in finding what they need more quickly. On some websites, filtering and sorting are nice-to-haves, but on others, such as huge e-commerce sites with numerous product listings and versions, they are needed.
- Logs: Search is beneficial for more than simply visitors; you can utilize the data to gain insight into how visitors search and make it simpler for them to find the desired material. Installing a search plugin that provides this information might be a good idea.
- Price: There are both free and commercial search plugins, and the majority of the latter are subscription-based. When conducting your search, take into account your financial situation and whether purchasing a premium option will ultimately be worthwhile.
Let’s explore our possibilities now that we are aware of what to look for.
Why Use a Plugin for WordPress Search?
Although embedding a form into a website is simple with the basic WordPress search feature, it lacks customization and configuration options. As a result, providing accurate and pertinent results is more difficult.
Through the addition of new features or the ability to design your own search bars, WordPress search plugins enhance the site search functionality.
There might be a variety of features for each plugin. Here are some typical qualities of the top WordPress search plugins:
- AJAX live search- Visitors may obtain information and browse the website more quickly by using this function, which shows the results as they enter their search terms.
- Search Analytics- Search analytics, whether from a Google Analytics connection or a built-in tool, offer information about what visitors are looking for on your website.
- Product search and filter- The plugin enables you to create search forms for WooCommerce sites so you can filter the results and discover the desired products.
- Search tuning- You can specify which kinds of content should be included or excluded in the results using the majority of WordPress search plugins.
WordPress search plugins offer the following advantages in addition to delivering more precise and pertinent results:
- More straightforward navigation- If your website has a lot of content, users may easily find a particular piece of information using the search bar.
- More accessible content- Search plugins can do thorough searches down to custom fields and post kinds, increasing the visibility of your material.
- Improve conversion rate- Search plugins assist users in finding the information, goods, or services they require quickly. The likelihood of them becoming potential consumers rises as a result.
The Best WordPress Plugins for Search to Enhance Site Navigation
The top WordPress search plugins, both free and paid, are listed here. These plugins can be used for a variety of purposes, such as search plugins tailored to WooCommerce.
To reduce vulnerability and compatibility issues, we’ve also made sure that these plugins are updated frequently.
1. Ivory Search: With the freemium search plugin Ivory Search, you can make an endless number of search forms and customize each one separately. You can customize the searchable content for each form and prevent the display of particular results.
The plugin will give you the shortcode to insert the search form wherever you like on your site after you’ve configured it.
The plugin continues to customize search forms using the WordPress Customizer. The plugin will add the Customizer navigation even if you’re using a block-based WordPress theme so you may use it to customize search forms.
Google Analytics has been integrated into Ivory Search. You can monitor search activity as a category, action, and label event if you enable the option and install Google Analytics on your website.
Pros:
- Unlimited search forms can be made.
- The WooCommerce connection allows you to design unique product search forms.
- Track website searches by integrating Google Analytics.
Cons:
- It still uses the WordPress Customizer to customize the search form.
2. AJAX Search Lite:
To enhance the user experience, AJAX Search Lite offers a live AJAX search bar.
You may quickly replace the theme’s search form with AJAX by using this plugin. Themes that make use of the WordPress searchform.php file can leverage this feature. If you like, you may display search forms anywhere on your website by using the shortcode that is provided.
It includes a ton of features and is very customizable, including post and page search, eight pre-built templates, personalized filter boxes, and post exclusions.
The search field’s placeholder text is also editable. The plugin’s settings page gives users access to all modification options for look.
Users can finish their search query as they enter by enabling the Google Search to autocomplete option from the plugin settings page. When there are no results that match, Google’s search keyword suggestions feature offers suggestions.
The ability to include photographs in the search results gives the website design interactive components. For the featured picture, post content, or post snippet, you can specify the image size and the source on the search results page.
Searches in custom post kinds, including WooCommerce products, events, and portfolio items, are available in the free version.
Pros:
- Replace the WordPress search form’s default with a simple toggle button.
- Integration of Google Analytics.
- Enables autocomplete and term suggestions for Google Search.
- Maintaining the efficiency of your website requires JavaScript minification and a
script loading technique that is efficient.
Cons:
- The admin user interfaces for the plugin can be challenging to use.
- There is no way to add extra search forms.
3. Relevanssi: By its extensive selection of search filters and functionality, Relevanssi enhances the built-in WordPress search by giving you complete access to and control over the search results for your website.
The plugin only needs a little setup. It takes the place of the default WordPress search widget, so there’s no need to bother about embedding it with a shortcode or another WordPress block. Use the built-in WordPress search widget, and Relevanssi will enhance your experience.
With the plugin’s options panel, you can change the default order of the search results from relevance to post date. Users of the website can more easily find content because the search phrases are emphasized in the results and “Did you mean?” options are shown.
All post kinds in WordPress, including comments, tags, categories, and custom fields, are searchable by visitors. You can only display results from particular categories, though.
You can search for photographs on Relevanssi using the title or description. This is helpful for sites with plenty of images, such as portfolios or photography sites.
Pros:
- Search outcomes based on relevance.
- Image lookup.
- You may utilize Relevanssi for the WordPress admin interface with the admin search option.
- Thorough knowledge base
Cons:
- AJAX search needs a different plugin to be enabled.
4. FiboSearch – AJAX Search for WooCommerce: Popular WordPress search plugin FiboSearch for WooCommerce was created for WooCommerce stores.
With an advanced live search feature, it enhances the built-in WooCommerce search engine so that users may see search recommendations as they type. They might be presented simply with only the names of the products or with pictures, descriptions, and prices.
To enhance the search functionality of your website, the plugin may conduct searches in product titles, descriptions, and SKUs. By going to WooCommerce -> FiboSearch, you may change the look of the search form and the results template.
You can set the label for the submit button and the placeholder for the search form in this panel. You can define the live search result item limit and choose whether to display the product image, price, detail panel, or SKU in the search results on the Autocomplete tab.
Pros:
- A preview of the search form and results is provided in the intuitive settings panel.
- Options to display the SKU, price, detail panel, or product image in the search results.
Cons:
- Only the paid edition offers features like synonyms, fuzzy search, and custom field search.
5. Advanced Woo Search: Another plugin for building AJAX search forms and results pages for WooCommerce websites is Advanced Woo Search. Even the free version is quite configurable and simple to use.
The search form is added to the WordPress site by the plugin using a shortcode and widget.
A seamless integration option is also available, replacing the built-in WordPress site search feature with Advanced Woo Search. Testing should be done before publishing this feature on the live site, though, as some themes could not support it.
You can add stop words, or search keywords that will not be included in the search, on the options page. In order to widen the search results, you can also add synonyms to a list of terms that are related.
There are three pre-made themes available for the search form. AJAX search can be disabled, a clear button is displayed, and mobile full screen is another search form modification possibility.
Pros:
- Add-to-cart button on the Intuitive plugin’s admin panel for the search results.
- Stop words and synonyms are listed to assist the search results to be more precise.
Cons:
- For all WordPress themes, the seamless integration option doesn’t always function.
6. WOOF Products Filter for WooCommerce: Your WooCommerce store’s functionality and search results are enhanced by WOOF Products Filter. With the help of this plugin, users may filter products based on their categories, colors, or tags and receive precise search results.
The settings page for the plugin is linked with WooCommerce, so to access it, go to WooCommerce -> Settings and choose the Products Filter tab. You can alter the plugin’s structure, appearance, unique CSS, and JavaScript in this panel.
To include the product filter into the website, WOOF Products Filter still supports its legacy widget. It is available for WordPress themes without blocks and may be accessed through the WordPress widget editor.
Shortcodes are now the plugin’s primary focus, improving compatibility and flexibility for block-based WordPress themes.
Yet, learning to use shortcodes can be challenging for novices. Although the shortcodes documentation is useful, there is no manual in the admin area for the plugin.
Users can filter the WooCommerce product page using its AJAX product search capability without having to reload the page. This feature is fantastic for enhancing user experience because it allows users to rapidly search and filter results to locate the products they desire.
Despite the fact that this feature functions in the majority of WordPress themes, we advise trying it in a staging environment first.
Pros:
- Product filtering is quicker using AJAX search without having to reload the page.
- With shortcodes, there are modification and embedding options.
- By preventing large MySQL queries from being generated while filtering products, the turbo mode speeds up the search and product filter.
Cons:
- To view the shortcode list, open its documentation page.
7. ACF: Better Search: The default search feature for users of the Advanced Custom Fields plugin is improved with ACF: Better Search. Using custom fields to search for content is now possible.
Immediately after installation, the plugin will take the place of the built-in search engine. It makes changes to the SQL database you already have and expands the regular search to some of the Advanced Custom Fields fields. Through the plugin’s settings page, you can also make various adjustments.
You can choose from a number of custom fields in the settings section of this free search plugin, including Number, Text, Text Area, Email, and File. Also, there are options to fine-tune search performance, such as instructing the plugin to look for precise phrases or words to improve the results.
Pros:
- Simple configuration and settings.
- Speeding up the search in Lite Mode.
- Supports a number of the plugin’s advanced custom fields.
Cons:
- Need the plugin for Advanced Custom Fields.
8. SearchWP Live AJAX Search:
AJAX functionality is added to the default WordPress search by the free plugin SearchWP Live AJAX Search.
Using the plugin is easy. Once the plugin is installed, the AJAX capability will be introduced by default to the WordPress search function. For this plugin, there is no requirement to modify any settings or parameters.
Use the legacy SearchWP Live AJAX Search in the widget builder for a WordPress theme that isn’t block-based. The search form is simple to add to any widget area.
Along with the premium SearchWP plugin, this plugin performs best. When both plugins are active, you may individually customize and use the live AJAX feature on each search form rather than across the entire WordPress site.
Pros:
- Compatible with the built-in search feature of WordPress.
- The simplest and most straightforward method for developing an AJAX search form.
Cons:
- The SearchWP premium plugin is required for further customization options.
Conclusion:
These WordPress search plugins are excellent for a variety of websites thanks to their unique capabilities.
Here are some of our favorites and suggestions in case you are still on the fence about which one to use for your site search:
- A fantastic WordPress search plugin for building different custom search forms is Ivory Seach.
- The finest WordPress search plugin for adding the AJAX search capability to your website is AJAX Search Lite.
- WP Live AJAX Search is a superb free WordPress search plugin that takes the place of the built-in search functionality and requires very little configuration.
Keep in mind that you may test out the majority of these plugins before choosing one and that they are all listed in the WordPress plugin directory. Use the demo sites that are provided for paid plugins to check out how well they function.
Frequently Asked Questions:
There are two steps involved in adding a filter. The Callback function, which will be invoked when the filter is executed, must first be created. Second, you must include your Callback function in the hook that will call the function.
From your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Widgets. Search for the Search widget, which is shown below. Then, click the search widget’s location where the search bar should be visible. In addition, the search widget can be moved around by dragging it.
The Search & Filter plugin provides a lot of capabilities and is easy to use. Search criteria include the date, taxonomy, category, and more. It vastly increases the potential of a typical search on a WordPress website. You may create a search box where you need one with the aid of shortcodes and widgets.
With the add filter() function, filters can be added. There are a number of functions in WordPress that let you employ actions, but these are the ones that are most frequently used: With add filter(), a function can be joined to a hook. With the remove filter() function, a function associated with a given filter hook is removed.
Create a folder called search wp-live-ajax-search inside your theme directory. In that folder, paste search-results.php from the /wp-content/plugins/search-live-ajax-search/templates/ directory. Make the search results copy in your theme your own.
