Finding the right tools for your WordPress site can be challenging, especially regarding search functionality. If you’re running a small business or freelancing on a budget, it’s crucial to have an easy-to-navigate site. We’ve handpicked nine WordPress site search plugins perfect for tech-savvy entrepreneurs like you.
These plugins are designed to make your website’s search fast, efficient, and user-friendly. Read on to discover the best site search plugins available for WordPress to optimise your site’s search functionality and enhance the overall customer experience.
Why Site Search is Essential
Site search is a critical feature for any website, regardless of its size or niche. It allows visitors to search for specific information within your site, such as blog posts, product listings, or other types of content. Here are some key reasons why site search is essential:
Improved Navigation: Site search provides users with a quick and convenient way to navigate your website, especially if it contains a large amount of content. Instead of manually browsing through different pages or categories, users can simply enter their search query and find the information they need.
Enhanced User Experience: By offering a reliable and accurate site search functionality, you can significantly improve the overall user experience on your website. Visitors will appreciate being able to find what they’re looking for quickly, leading to increased satisfaction and engagement.
Increased Conversion Rates: A well-implemented site search feature can also positively impact your conversion rates. When users can easily find the products or services they’re interested in, they are more likely to make a purchase or take the desired action on your website.
Insights into User Behaviour: Site search analytics provide valuable insights into what your visitors are searching for on your website. By analysing this data, you can better understand user intent, identify popular search terms, and optimise your content accordingly.
Now that we understand the importance of site search, let’s explore some of the best site search plugins available for WordPress.
1. Ivory Search
Ivory Search is an advanced search plugin that enhances the built-in WordPress search functionality by allowing you to create custom search forms. With Ivory Search, you can create unlimited search forms and customise each form’s settings to perform various types of searches on your site content.
Key Features
- Compatibility: Works seamlessly with the default WordPress search feature.
- Versatility: Search content, images, files, attachments, and WooCommerce store products.
- Customisation: Create unlimited search forms, each with unique settings tailored to your needs.
- Flexibility: Display search forms anywhere on your site.
- Fuzzy Matching: Option for fuzzy matching search to include partial matches in addition to exact keyword matches.
Ivory Search also offers search analytics, enabling you to track user search behavior and gain valuable insights into what your visitors are searching for. This data can help you optimise your content and improve the overall user experience on your website.
Pricing
Ivory Search operates on a freemium model. The free base plan offers essential search functionality, while the premium version, starting at $19.99 per year, provides additional features and customisation options.
2. FiboSearch
FiboSearch is a powerful search plugin designed specifically for WooCommerce websites. It enhances the search experience by providing live search suggestions, which are not available in the default WooCommerce search feature.
Key Features
- WooCommerce Integration: Built specifically for WooCommerce websites.
- Comprehensive Search: Search by product title, SKU, and description.
- Live Search Results: Display product images and prices in live search results.
- Advanced Features: Support for the WooCommerce search results page and Google Analytics.
- Multilingual Support: Compatible with WPML, Polylang, and qTranslate-XT.
- Theme Integration: Easily integrates into your WordPress theme.
- Mobile Optimisation: Optimised for mobile devices.
- Flexible Embedding: Use a shortcode or search widget to embed the plugin on your WordPress site.
- Analytics Support: Provides support for the WooCommerce search results page and Google Analytics integration, enabling you to track and analyse user search behaviour.
FiboSearch’s advanced AJAX live search feature improves the default WooCommerce search system, supporting product and SKU searches. Users can search for products by title, description, and category, ensuring accurate and relevant results.
Pricing
FiboSearch is available for free, making it a cost-effective solution for WooCommerce website owners looking to enhance their site search functionality.
3. WP Extended Search
WP Extended Search is a lightweight and easy-to-use plugin that enhances the default WordPress search functionality. It allows you to create unlimited search forms and customise them to include various search options such as post types, author names, taxonomies, metadata, and more.
Key Features
- Flexible Search Options: Search in categories, tags, or custom taxonomies.
- Customisable Search: Include or exclude any public post type.
- WooCommerce Compatibility: Fully compatible with WooCommerce.
- Unlimited Custom Search Forms: Create unlimited search settings for custom search forms.
- Easy Integration: Add search forms using a widget, shortcode, or PHP function.
- eCommerce Ready: Ideal for eCommerce websites, allowing searches for products, categories, and other WooCommerce-related content.
- Multilingual Support: Compatible with WPML, making it suitable for multilingual websites.
Pricing
WP Extended Search is available for free, providing an affordable solution for website owners looking to enhance their site search functionality.
4. Better Search
Better Search is a free search plugin that offers excellent customisation options and displays accurate results based on titles and post content. The plugin integrates seamlessly with your WordPress theme, ensuring a consistent design across your website.
Key Features
- WordPress Compatibility: Works with the default WordPress search feature.
- Theme Integration: Seamlessly integrates with your WordPress theme.
- Relevancy-Based Search: Provides search results based on relevancy.
- Cache Support: Compatible with cache plugins such as WP-Super-Cache and W3 Total Cache.
- Translation Ready: Ready for translation to provide a localised search experience.
- Versatile Content Search: Search within various types of content, including titles, content, excerpts, meta fields, authors, tags, and other taxonomies.
- Comment Search: Supports searching within comments, making it easy to find specific discussions or information within user comments.
Pricing
Better Search is available for free, making it an affordable option for website owners looking to improve their site search functionality.
5. Relevanssi
Relevanssi is a popular search plugin that enhances the default search functionality of WordPress. One of its standout features is the ability to sort search results based on relevance rather than date, ensuring that the most pertinent content is displayed to users, thereby improving the overall search experience on your website.
Key Features
- Relevance-Based Sorting: Sort search results based on relevance, not by date.
- Comprehensive Search: Search post categories, tags, and custom taxonomies.
- PDF Indexing: Index PDF content for better search results.
- Highlighted Results: Highlight the search query in the search results.
- Partial Word Matching: Provides more accurate results by including partial word matches.
- Versatile Content Search: Searches through various types of website content, including PDFs, custom fields, shortcode outputs, WooCommerce products, and more.
- Multisite Compatibility: Works seamlessly across multiple sites in a WordPress network.
- Plugin Integration: Compatible with popular plugins like bbPress.
- Modern Editor Support: Integrates well with the modern WordPress page editor, making it suitable for websites built using the latest WordPress technologies.
Pricing
Relevanssi offers both free and paid versions. The paid plan starts at $109 per year and provides additional features and support.
6. SearchWP
SearchWP is a powerful and customisable site search plugin for WordPress, trusted by over 30,000 sites to enhance their search functionality. This plugin indexes every piece of your website content, including pages, posts, custom post types, taxonomies, excerpts, shortcodes, and even comments.
Key Features
- Native Integration: Direct integration with the native WordPress search box.
- Comprehensive Search: Search everything, including eCommerce product details, custom field content, and shortcode output.
- Automatic Integration: Integrates seamlessly with popular WordPress plugins and themes.
- Keyword Stemming: Provides more advanced search results by recognising variations of search terms.
- AJAX Live Search: Instantly shows results without a page reload.
- Custom Search Engines: Create customisable search engines with control over the search algorithm and manually select which content to index and display.
- PDF and Document Indexing: Index content from PDFs and text documents stored in your WordPress Media Library.
- Advanced Features: Offers features like keyword stemming and AJAX live search to improve the search experience.
- Plugin Compatibility: Works well with popular plugins such as WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and bbPress, making it suitable for a wide range of websites.
Pricing
SearchWP pricing starts at $99 per year, making it an affordable option for businesses of all sizes. Its extensive features and customisation options make it a worthwhile investment for improving your site search functionality.
In Conclusion
Choosing the best site search plugin depends on your specific needs and the features that are most important for your website. Here’s a quick overview of the plugins we’ve discussed to help you decide:
Ivory Search: Great for those who need custom search forms and a variety of search options. It’s suitable for general websites and eCommerce sites, offering both free and premium versions.
FiboSearch: Designed specifically for WooCommerce websites, offering live search suggestions and comprehensive search capabilities for products. It’s a free and specialised solution for eCommerce.
WP Extended Search: A lightweight and flexible plugin that extends the default WordPress search. Ideal for websites needing customisable search forms and compatibility with WooCommerce and multilingual support. Available for free.
Better Search: Offers relevancy-based search and seamless theme integration. Suitable for those looking for a simple yet effective search solution with translation readiness. It’s free and supports various content types, including comments.
Relevanssi: Enhances search by sorting results based on relevance and includes advanced features like PDF indexing and partial word matching. It’s ideal for sites requiring in-depth search capabilities and is available in both free and paid versions.
SearchWP: A highly customisable and powerful search plugin that indexes all content types and allows for the creation of custom search engines. Perfect for websites needing advanced search functionality and seamless integration with various plugins. Pricing starts at $99/year.
So, which plugin is best for you?
A robust and efficient site search feature is essential for providing an excellent user experience on your WordPress website. Implementing one of the best site search plugins can enhance navigation, improve search accuracy, and increase customer satisfaction. Here’s a quick recommendation based on different scenarios:
- For eCommerce Sites: FiboSearch or SearchWP.
- For Customisable Search Forms: Ivory Search or WP Extended Search.
- For Advanced Search Features: Relevanssi or SearchWP.
- For Simple and Free Options: Better Search or WP Extended Search.
Invest in a powerful site search plugin today and watch your user engagement and conversion rates soar.
