In-site Searches
It is possible to track internal, site-specific search engines to find out how much they are used and what they are used for. The search term entered into them receive their own box in the report and for each search word there is a sub page dedicated to its details.
Image 1. The results of in-site search terms as seen from the main report
Below you will find the instructions for including an internal search engine (or several) into your tracking. For more information on the purposes of knowing what goes on with your in-site searches, go here.
How to configure the settings for an in-site search engine
In-site searches must be added to Snoobi's settings to the tracking to commence.
Please note! Check first whether the internal search engine is executed using the Get method! This is the easiest method to track.
In the event that the in-search function has been built using the Post-method or with the help of cookies, extra steps must be taken before entering it into the settings. An artificial parametre &addurl= must be added into the addresses of the search results. This is because from a web analytics point of view, pages are saved pased on their URL-addresses and we run into trouvle when URL-addresses do in fact not change wven when the content of the page does. Before preceding, please read more about implementing the addurl needed for Post and cookies solutions.
1. Log into the settings of your Snoobi account and select In-site Search engines.
2. Onto In-site Search Engine's name, type any name that you want, for example Search. The name becomes important only if you have more than one in-site search engine to track.
3. Identifier can for the most part be left untouched, leaving only the percent mark in place, %.
However, if the site contains several search engines, the Identifier should be used to tell them apart. In that case, use the file name as the Identifier, along the lines of
%filename.extension%
For example %search.php%
If the Identifier doesn't come directly after the domain name, also include the URL-path prior to the Identifier. If, for example, the URL-address of the search results page is
https://www.store.company.com/en/functions/index2.php?search=1&q=culture
then the identifier could be
%store.company.com/en/functions/index2.php%
A percent mark should only be added before and after the Identifier.
4. Onto Search term parametre, choose an identifier from the search result page's URL-address which corresponds to the search engine. The search parametre can commonly be recognized from being followed by an = mark and the used search term. Common parametres are for example
query
q
search
searchstring
Please note! Unlike other Snoobi-settings, no percent mark at all should be placed in around the parametre!
5. Remember to press Add to save!
Below an example to illustrate how to correctly fill in the settings.
An example of an in-site search using the search term "culture":
If an In-site Search engine produces search results with the URL-address:
http://www.company.com/en/index/search.html?content=culture&Fields=content%2C%21CM
Fill in the settings as follows:
In-site Search Engine's name: anything, for example Search
Identifier: en/index/search.html% OR %
Search term parametre: content
Image 2. The settings for an In-site Search engine
If the settings were filled in correctly, the In-site Search engine will appear in the report after the first visitor has used it. The fields must be filled in in a very particular to function. So if in doubt, call us at +358 107 737 7311 and we will help you to choose the right identifier and parameter.
In-site searches often produce new pages with each search because of their many parameters. If you want to compress many search result pages into one (such as "Search results") you can do this through giving them a common Page name.