Still liking CloudSearch - still have about 10 days of demo time left to think about this...
I really like the instant results and the overall experience for the customer who is searching specifically for a product.
HOWEVER, and it's a big however, sometimes my customer is looking for something that is not a product.
I just looked at my search stats for the past 2 weeks:
/admin/statistics.php?mode=search
in addition to the phrases and keywords that are associated with my products, my customers searched for these phrases:
shipping
tutorials
tutorial
Subscribe to Newsletter
newsletter
sale
coupon
clearance
special
special offer
free gift
an actual sku# (not displayed on the product page)
and a few product ingredients (we publish our ingredients as images, to prevent indexing).
All of these phrases are included in our static embedded pages. But search (or I should say Cloudsearch) does not search static pages.
Nikita, are there any plans to include static embedded and extra fields and other non-product detail pages into the CloudSearch index? As much as I am really liking CloudSearch, I am discovering that my customers search for phrases and keywords that are NOT on a product page just as often (or more) than they search for an actual product. Not including these other pages into the search results means the customer is not having a good experience. The expectation is that if the customer searches for something, the search results will take them to what they're looking for. Learn something from Google, right?
An instant alternative for me is to use Altered Cart's SmartSearch w/ Ajax and the static page module. I own AC SmartSearch but not the Ajax or static page modules - and I will have to buy the upgrade to version 4.5.x. But I really like the UI experience when searching for products in CloudSearch.
If I am to subscribe to CloudSearch, it's gonna have to have the static pages indexed, since so much of the customer experience is NOT on the product pages: shipping, FAQ, tutorials and knowledgebase, REVIEWS, Newsletters, how-to articles, and countless pages of content that is vital to a successful business that is not "just" a product page.
Nikita, as a test, go to a major shopping site -- try
http://oldnavy.com/
Search for these terms:
shipping
return policy
store locations (which is very cool since it is geo enabled based on IP)
Try many other big retail sites:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/
http://www.bestbuy.com/
http://www.potterybarn.com/
etc... yes, EVERY SINGLE major retail site has search for their entire site, not just for products.
I am realizing that search is a critical part of the shopping experience for the customer - and we are failing them right now in X-Cart (even though CloudSearch improves searching for products).
Realistically, can you add static embedded pages to CloudSearch without reinventing the wheel? If so, what kind of timeline can I expect. If you do this, I will subscribe immediately.
Thanks,
Jeremy