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Martin Belam's presentation at the 2008 Euro IA Summit looks at making site search attractive in an era when search behaviour is dominated by Google.
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Taking the ' ' out of
Getting site search right for news
Martin BelamEuro IA 2008currybet.net
Map of the Internet - 2001
Research by the BBC in the early 2000s produced this 'mental map' of the Internet
Map of the Internet - 2006
With increasing market dominence,for many people, Google IS the Internet
Map of the Internet - 2008
Whilst the Internet has grown in size, the mental 'map' of it has shrunk
Map of the Internet - 2008
Browser search has become so ingrained that users don't notice which results they get from the 'box'
Where does that leave site search?
Shall we just give in?
Transform your results
Google's results are a 'map' of what thesearch giant knows about your site
Use the correct title
Use the headline of the article -not truncated HTML <TITLE> information
Use an editorial snippet
For news, the opening paragraph conveys more than keyword based snippets
Credit the author
Google can't tell exactly who wrote an article, but you can
Add the publication date
You know the definitive publication date - Google doesn't
Provide lateral navigation
The crumb-trail of links that accompanies each story could not be provided by Google
Provide lateral navigation
Add structured information to your results to guide your users
Use thumbnail images
Google sometimes adds a thumbnail imageto 'breaking news' results
Use thumbnail images
Thumbnail images add an extra'information scent'
Use thumbnail images
Placing them on the right keepstext snippets 'scanable'
Use thumbnail images
Thumbnail images aid rapid comprehension
Use thumbnail images
It is obvious the results are about "Footballer's wives" and not footballers
Use thumbnails
There can be a risk of 'repeats'if you use lots of stock images
Let people click!
Make everything that could be a linkinto a link
Impart vital information
Some search results indicate whetherarchive articles are free or not
Impart vital information
Indicate premium content -don't surprise the user
Handle multimedia better than Google
Incorporate your multimediainto your search results
Handle multimedia better than Google
Indicate multimedia content with icons or a different format
Take search further
Allow users to set up alertsdirectly from the search results
Don't be afraid of advanced search
This interface uses a calendar format fordate entry, rather than a lengthy drop-down
Don't be afraid of advanced search
You can present a small 'advanced search' interface alongside the 'simple' results
Don't be afraid of advanced search
Set 'advanced' search up like a dialogue
Avoid gimmicks
You don't have to use every 'feature' of your search technology in the interface
Present easy to digest results
De Pers combines different formats in one page
Sometimes conventions are there for a reason…
10 results per page is a pretty good standard
Celebrate site search success!
Make gadget and widgets and promote the service
Taking the ' ' out of
Getting site search right for news
Martin BelamEuro IA 2008currybet.net
Tintin imagery thanks to the genius of Hergé
Official Tintin site - tintin.france3.fr
Tintinologist fan site - www.tintinologist.org
