"taking the 'ooh' out of google - getting site search right for news"

Taking the ' ' out of

Getting site search right for news

Martin BelamEuro IA 2008currybet.net

Map of the Internet - 2001

Research by the BBC in the early 2000s produced this 'mental map' of the Internet

Map of the Internet - 2006

With increasing market dominence,for many people, Google IS the Internet

Map of the Internet - 2008

Whilst the Internet has grown in size, the mental 'map' of it has shrunk

Map of the Internet - 2008

Browser search has become so ingrained that users don't notice which results they get from the 'box'

Where does that leave site search?

Shall we just give in?

Transform your results

Google's results are a 'map' of what thesearch giant knows about your site

Use the correct title

Use the headline of the article -not truncated HTML <TITLE> information

Use an editorial snippet

For news, the opening paragraph conveys more than keyword based snippets

Credit the author

Google can't tell exactly who wrote an article, but you can

Add the publication date

You know the definitive publication date - Google doesn't

Provide lateral navigation

The crumb-trail of links that accompanies each story could not be provided by Google

Provide lateral navigation

Add structured information to your results to guide your users

Use thumbnail images

Google sometimes adds a thumbnail imageto 'breaking news' results

Use thumbnail images

Thumbnail images add an extra'information scent'

Use thumbnail images

Placing them on the right keepstext snippets 'scanable'

Use thumbnail images

Thumbnail images aid rapid comprehension

Use thumbnail images

It is obvious the results are about "Footballer's wives" and not footballers

Use thumbnails

There can be a risk of 'repeats'if you use lots of stock images

Let people click!

Make everything that could be a linkinto a link

Impart vital information

Some search results indicate whetherarchive articles are free or not

Impart vital information

Indicate premium content -don't surprise the user

Handle multimedia better than Google

Incorporate your multimediainto your search results

Handle multimedia better than Google

Indicate multimedia content with icons or a different format

Take search further

Allow users to set up alertsdirectly from the search results

Don't be afraid of advanced search

This interface uses a calendar format fordate entry, rather than a lengthy drop-down

Don't be afraid of advanced search

You can present a small 'advanced search' interface alongside the 'simple' results

Don't be afraid of advanced search

Set 'advanced' search up like a dialogue

Avoid gimmicks

You don't have to use every 'feature' of your search technology in the interface

Present easy to digest results

De Pers combines different formats in one page

Sometimes conventions are there for a reason…

10 results per page is a pretty good standard

Celebrate site search success!

Make gadget and widgets and promote the service

Taking the ' ' out of

Getting site search right for news

Martin BelamEuro IA 2008currybet.net

Tintin imagery thanks to the genius of Hergé

Official Tintin site - tintin.france3.fr

Tintinologist fan site - www.tintinologist.org