Whether you run an online store or a blog, you need a search box.
Benefits of Search:
- easy site navigation – search gives users a quick way to find the information they need
- interaction and control – a search function makes your website more interactive and gives users more control over their browsing experience
If you haven’t already implemented search on your website, it is very easy to do – you don’t need to code your own search feature!
Adding a Search Box on to your website
1) Form Code for Using Google
<form action=”http://www.google.com/search” method=”get”>
<fieldset>
<input value="yourdomain.com" />
<input size="31" maxlength="255" value="" />
<input value="Google Search" />
</fieldset>
</form>
2) Form Code for Using Yahoo
<form action=”http://search.yahoo.com/search” method=”get”>
<fieldset>
<input value="yourdomain.com" />
<input />
<input value="Yahoo Search" />
</fieldset>
</form>
Simply change value=”yourdomain.com” to the name of your domain.
The Ideal Search Box
Is there such a thing as the ideal width of a search box? Studies found that the average search box is 18-characters wide. Unfortunately, most search queries contain more than 18-characters. The problem with short boxes is that even though you can type out a long query, only a portion of the text is visible at a time, making it difficult to review what you’ve typed.
Search boxes are better too wide than too short – so users can quickly review, verify and submit the query.