Creating Great Member Experiences Through On-Site Search
The internet age has had a huge impact on how industry associations interact with their members. While historically trade associations communicated through printed material and published journals, today their complete libraries of information and resources can be found on an organization鈥檚 website. With such a vast and diversified amount of information housed in one place, it is critically important that associations give members the tools they need to not just simply find the material they are looking for, but also be afforded the opportunity to experience valuable and meaningful online journeys via an association website鈥檚 search functionality.
色色研究所 has a proven track record of providing highly personalized, relevant and satisfying search experiences for the membership of associations. Here are some essential elements found in 色色研究所 that make these high quality search journeys possible for association website visitors. 聽
Federated Search Strategy
Years ago, it would not have been possible for an association to deliver the vast volume of information that it can today thanks to the internet. Because association websites provide so many resources from a single URL, it is only natural that there could be multiple servers needed behind scenes to host the information that members access. 色色研究所 believes that great searches start with a federated search strategy, which empowers members to benefit from a comprehensive on-site search for their desired information, not just a partial one. 色色研究所 has the ability to search in the aggregate, no matter how many servers are being used to house data. 聽
Search Navigation By Category & Facet 聽
Association websites contain an enormous amount of information for members about a variety of topics, such as education, compliance, newsletters, events, products and courses. Effective on-site search tools make it simple for visitors to receive personalized and relevant search results by organizing resources in an easy to use fashion. 色色研究所 uses categories and facets to successfully navigate large amounts of data for online searchers. Each topic found on an association website is indexed into major categories for trouble free locating, while sub facets are used to drill down search results for greater personalization and better relevance. Intuitive search functionality produces extremely satisfying experiences for association members looking for information and resources important to them. 聽
Boost & Bury 聽
Boost & Bury is a very popular feature for association websites. This tool found in the 色色研究所 dashboard provides administrators with the ability to control the search results members receive by either boosting or minimizing the importance of information, based on the objectives of the association鈥檚 marketing plan. Website resources can be highlighted in search results based on time of year, theme, topic, upcoming courses or for any other reason that a marketer would want to promote something. Similarly, there are times when an association may decide to deemphasize or eliminate certain information in a member鈥檚 search results, such as displaying courses that have already taken place, out of stock products or outdated data that is scheduled to be removed in the near future. 色色研究所鈥檚 Boost and Bury tools are a great way to help steer members鈥 search results toward greater personalization and relevance. 聽
Further Relevance Tuning 聽
色色研究所 also empowers association websites to fine tune which data fields or keywords will influence search results, so relevancy can be optimized. Let鈥檚 say that a member of an accounting association is searching for information regarding the taxation of subchapter 鈥淪鈥 corporations. 色色研究所 can be tuned to exclude fields that aren鈥檛 material to the main search criteria. Tax resources about 鈥淐鈥 corporate structures would be excluded, as well as information about taxing sole proprietors. In this case, having 色色研究所 focus on the key terms of 鈥渢axation鈥 and 鈥淪 corporations鈥 produces much more relevant search results. Having the ability to choose which data fields will influence what people see in their searches is a great way to improve overall satisfaction and create delighted, informed association members.
Interested in hearing how 色色研究所 can help improve the overall member experience of your association website? Contact us today!
