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I will very quickly stop using a given website if it doesn't provide a good, on-site search. If I'm looking for information that I know exists on a particular w

by kiryin 5y ago

I will very quickly stop using a given website if it doesn't provide a good, on-site search. If I'm looking for information that I know exists on a particular website, I see no reason to involve a third-party search engine in the equation at all. Granted, a lot of sites out there that provide a search function do not necessarily need one, and would instead benefit from an organized, hierarchial index. With these types of websites, using the search function only adds unnecessary friction.

lobocinza 5y ago
I agree with you but many sites use a third-party search engine to provide on-site search functionality. e.g. Algolia's DocSearch
sriram_malhar 5y ago
Would it bother you if foo.com took your query and send "query site:foo.com" to google? The results would be foo.com specific.
- hihihihi1234 5y ago
  I often find this gives better results. Eg I'm much likely to find what I'm looking for if I search for "(query) site:reddit.com" than if I use reddit's own search feature.
  - hihihihi1234 5y ago
    Much more likely*
ratherbefuddled 5y ago
Given the state of search functionality built into websites I use often I can only imagine you have a very heavily curated list. In my experience so many sites have searches that return bad results, restrict your ability to see a list of results due to some poorly thought through typeahead functionality, or simply do not work without third party scripts and cookies that I often resort to "site:<domain>" in ddg or worse, google. I find hierarchical indexes only of marginal use when looking for information. I can only know where in the hierarchy something is if I'm very familiar with the website - because many things could logically be in more than one place.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
> organized, hierarchial index Yes!! So many blogs without a list of posts in chronological order. So many sites without a list of pages. So annoying.

by kiryin 5y ago

lobocinza 5y ago

I agree with you but many sites use a third-party search engine to provide on-site search functionality. e.g. Algolia's DocSearch

sriram_malhar 5y ago

Would it bother you if foo.com took your query and send "query site:foo.com" to google? The results would be foo.com specific.

hihihihi1234 5y ago
I often find this gives better results. Eg I'm much likely to find what I'm looking for if I search for "(query) site:reddit.com" than if I use reddit's own search feature.
- hihihihi1234 5y ago
  Much more likely*

ratherbefuddled 5y ago

Given the state of search functionality built into websites I use often I can only imagine you have a very heavily curated list. In my experience so many sites have searches that return bad results, restrict your ability to see a list of results due to some poorly thought through typeahead functionality, or simply do not work without third party scripts and cookies that I often resort to "site:<domain>" in ddg or worse, google. I find hierarchical indexes only of marginal use when looking for information. I can only know where in the hierarchy something is if I'm very familiar with the website - because many things could logically be in more than one place.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

> organized, hierarchial index Yes!! So many blogs without a list of posts in chronological order. So many sites without a list of pages. So annoying.