Search Insights Beginners Guide
Welcome to Search Insights! 🎉 Ever wondered what your website visitors are searching for? That’s exactly what our plugin helps you discover! This beginner’s guide will walk you through all the cool features with simple explanations – no tech expertise needed. Think of this plugin as your personal detective that reveals what your visitors want but can’t find on your site. New to all this search stuff? Don’t worry! Our beginner’s glossary explains everything in plain English. By the end of this guide, you’ll be amazed at how easily you can use these insights to make your website better for your visitors!
Just installed the plugin?
When you first install Search Insights, you won’t see any searches in your dashboard. This is normal! The plugin starts tracking searches from the moment it’s activated. Feel free to make a few test searches on your website to see how it works (don’t worry, you can always delete these later).
Finding Search Insights
You can access Search Insights anytime from the “Search Insights” menu item in the left sidebar of your WordPress admin area. This is your gateway to all your search statistics and settings. Click here anytime to view your search data and adjust your configuration as needed.
WordPress Dashboard Widget
Search Insights adds a helpful widget to your WordPress dashboard. This widget shows your most popular searches, both with and without results. These search terms should initiate action – such as writing a new blog post to address searches without results, or optimizing existing content to include these terms. You can control whether this widget appears using WordPress’ standard screen options.
Main Dashboard
The main Search Insights dashboard gives you a complete overview of what your visitors are searching for. Let’s explore each section in detail.
Date Range Selection
At the top of the dashboard, you’ll find a date selector that lets you choose which time period to analyze. You can select today, last week, last month, or set a custom date range. This allows you to focus on recent trends or analyze search patterns over longer periods.
All Searches
The All Searches table shows every search performed on your site within the selected time period. For each search, you’ll see:
- Search term entered by the visitor
- Result status – whether the search found any results – it will show a count for searches with results, and 0 for searches without results
- Date and time when the search was made
- Referring page – which page the visitor was on when they performed the search
This detailed view helps you understand the full context of searches on your site.
The table can be sorted by each column. Just click the column title to sort by that column!
Search Within Results
Need to find something specific in your search data? Use the search box above the table to filter through your search records. For example, type “product” to see only searches containing that word.
Delete and Ignore Options
You can select any searches by clicking on them and then:
- Delete selected terms – removes them from your database
- Add to ignore list – adds terms to your ignore list so they won’t be tracked in the future
This helps you keep your data clean by removing test searches or irrelevant terms.
Results Overview
This section provides a quick snapshot of how effective your site search function is:
- Results percentage – shown in green, this represents the percentage of searches that found results
- No results percentage – shown in red, this represents searches that didn’t find anything
- Total results count – the total number of searches tracked
- Trend data – comparison with the previous period
- Most popular terms – a quick view of your top searches
A lower “no results” percentage indicates a more effective search function. If this number is high, it suggests visitors are looking for content you don’t have yet – a great opportunity for new content creation!
Below this overview, you’ll also find a Download CSV button that lets you export all your search data for further analysis. Understanding zero-result searches helps identify opportunities for content improvement. Regular data export and analysis helps you track trends and make informed decisions.
Top Searches
The Top Searches section displays the most frequently searched terms on your website:
You can filter this list using the dropdown above to show:
- All popular searches
- Only searches with results (indicated by green checkmarks ✓)
- Only searches without results (indicated by red X marks ✗)
Focusing on “Searches without results” is particularly valuable as these represent content gaps on your site – topics people are interested in that you haven’t adequately covered yet.
The % in the last column is the % increase or decrease versus the previous period. If you have selected ‘This week’ in the datepicker, than the percentage shown here will be the percentage increase – or decrease – versus the previous week.
Tips & Tricks
This section features helpful articles and documentation to help you get the most out of Search Insights. Click any link to read the full article with detailed guidance on improving your website based on search data.
Display Options
Want to customize your dashboard view? The Display Options button lets you choose which blocks to show or hide, allowing you to focus on the metrics that matter most to you. This feature is particularly helpful once you become more familiar with the plugin and want to streamline your workflow.
Settings
The Settings tab gives you complete control over how Search Insights works. Let’s explore the available options:
General Settings
These core settings control the basic behavior of the plugin:
Exclude Admin Searches
When enabled, searches made while logged in as an administrator won’t be tracked. This keeps your statistics clean when you’re testing search functionality yourself.
Search Term Length Limits
Set minimum and maximum character counts for tracked searches. This helps filter out very short terms (like “a”) or extremely long entries that might be spam.
Dashboard Access
Control who can view your search statistics. You can limit access to administrators only or allow other user roles to see the data.
Ajax Search Tracking
Enable this to track searches from plugins that use Ajax to show instant results without page reload. This ensures you capture all search activity on your site.
Custom Search Parameter
If your site uses a non-standard search URL parameter (other than “s”), enter it here. Most sites can leave this blank unless you use a custom search implementation.
Search Filters
Enter search terms you want to exclude from tracking, separated by commas. This is useful for filtering out common terms like “login” or “admin” that might clutter your statistics. Proper search term filtering ensures your analytics remain clean and actionable.
Data Management
These options give you control over your search data:
Data Retention
Choose how long to keep search data. You can keep everything forever or automatically delete older entries to keep your database size manageable.
Export Database
Export your search data to CSV format for backup or external analysis. You can select a date range to export only specific periods of search activity.
Clear Data on Uninstall
When enabled, all search data will be permanently deleted if you uninstall the plugin. Leave this disabled if you plan to reinstall later and want to keep your valuable search analytics.
Clear Database
This option permanently deletes all search data from your database. This cannot be undone, so use with caution and consider exporting your data first. It’s useful for a fresh start or removing test data.
Making the Most of Your Search Data
Now that you understand the features, here are some actionable tips for using your search data effectively:
1. Identify Content Gaps
Regularly review searches without results to discover topics your visitors want but can’t find. These represent immediate opportunities for new content creation.
2. Optimize Existing Content
If popular searches are finding results but have low click-through rates, consider optimizing those pages to better match search intent.
3. Monitor Trends Over Time
Use the date range selector to compare search patterns across different periods. This can help you identify seasonal trends or measure the impact of site changes.
4. Clean Your Data Regularly
Use the filtering options to maintain clean, relevant analytics. This makes your data more valuable for decision-making.
5. Export and Analyze
For deeper insights, export your data regularly and analyze it alongside other metrics from tools like Google Analytics.
Getting Help
If you need additional assistance with Search Insights:
- Look for the help icons (question marks) next to each section title in the plugin for contextual information
- Visit the Search Insights documentation for detailed guides
- Contact support if you encounter any issues
Conclusion
Search Insights provides valuable information about what your visitors are looking for, helping you improve your content strategy and user experience. By regularly reviewing your search data and acting on the insights, you can create a more effective website that better serves your audience’s needs.
Remember that the true value of search analytics comes not just from collecting the data, but from the actions you take based on those insights!