FactFinder Search integration best practices

Use practical patterns for search entry, results pages, zero-results handling, and search behavior.

Use these patterns as a starting point. Keep what fits your shop. Skip what does not.

Search entry

The search box is one of the most used controls in a shop. Make it easy to spot and easy to use.

Search bar placed prominently in the header.

Search works best when it is visible immediately.

Place the search box in the header

Put the search box on the left side or in the center of the header. Keep it visible on all important pages.

Make the field large enough to notice at a glance. If it fits your shop, place the cursor in the field automatically so visitors can start typing right away.

Keep the styling clear

Adapt the search box to your brand, but do not hide it in the layout.

Search bar adapted to the shop design.

Consistent styling helps, as long as the search box still stands out.

If you use autocomplete, combine this with Suggest Integration and Suggest Integration Best Practices.

Prevent empty searches

Do not send blank queries. Guide visitors to enter a term first, and explain what they can search for if needed.

Use Suppression of blank search queries when you want to handle this case explicitly.

Results page

The results page should help visitors decide quickly. Show the most useful information first.

Match the layout to your catalog

Pick the default result view based on your product type.

• Use a gallery view when visual appearance drives buying decisions.
• Use a list view when specifications matter most.
• Let visitors switch views when both styles are useful.

Highlight only the most useful attributes

Use icons or short labels for details such as new, sale, or video. Keep the number of highlights low, or the results page becomes noisy.

If product detail pages include extras such as videos or 360° views, surface that information in the result list. In some shops, opening those extras directly from the result list also works well.

Zero-results handling

Zero results should never feel like a dead end. Show what happened and offer the next step.

Example of a zero-results state with room for helpful alternatives.

A good zero-results page explains the problem and gives visitors a way forward.

When no products match the query, do these things first:

• Show a clear message that no exact match was found.
• Offer a way to refine or retry the search.
• Show useful alternatives such as popular searches, categories, or products.

You can enrich this state with Campaign-specific Integration, especially Integrating Feedback Campaign and Integrating Redirect Campaigns.

If you fall back to a broader product list, label it clearly so visitors understand it does not match the original query exactly.

Search behavior and analytics

These settings improve relevance and make your search data more useful.

Handle article number searches separately

FactFinder can treat queries that match defined patterns as exact searches on a specific field. This is useful for article numbers and other precise identifiers.

If no product matches the entered article number, FactFinder normally falls back to error-tolerant search. If you prefer a strict no-results state, evaluate the search status and route visitors to your zero-results handling instead.

Track only meaningful customer searches

Exclude internal searches from analytics when possible. This keeps optimization data closer to real customer behavior.

Use the log parameter with values such as internal or adwords to label specific traffic sources. This value stays visible in log analysis.

For related request options, see FactFinder search parameters.

Plan for temporary outages

Search may occasionally be unavailable. When that happens, show a plain-language error state instead of a raw technical message.

Explain what happened, suggest the next action, and keep the fallback experience simple.

Related guides

Use these pages when you move from best practices to implementation details:

• Integrating the Search into the Shop System
• FactFinder Search syntax
• FactFinder search parameters
• Caching search results
• Output compression
• Search optimization and performance