Nowadays, the World Wide Web contains an infinite amount of information. However, Internet users often have to sort out data they would find useful and up-to-date. Luckily, due to the development of new technologies, search engines simplify this process. Such systems are designed to make the search faster and more convenient by using different sorting methods, such as keywords, categories, etc. Due to the advantages of such technologies, many organizations started using them on their websites to make the search easier for their clients.
However, even though search technologies seem to be an indispensable tool for every big company, it is essential to use appropriate search systems. Therefore, the type of website information, the preferred number of webpages found, and other factors need to be discussed before launching a web search system. In this paper, such strategies will be analyzed with the use of an example of a software corporation Adobe. This critical writing will present how an international company uses online search technologies and how they may influence the efficiency of its business.
Adobe: Brief Information
There is a significant number of companies focusing on different products or services. However, in order to analyze the advantages of online search technologies, it would be appropriate to use a website of a company with a large amount of information. Adobe is an example of an organization that requires a simplified way of the information search. Adobe Inc. is an American international software company with headquarters in San Jose, California. The company is successful in the IT market: in August 2018, its value reached about $122 billion (Schaeffer & Sovie, 2018, p. 92). The products of the organization are mostly connected with multimedia technologies and software.
The information presented on the company’s website refers to its products and offers, as well as to technology-related articles and advertisements. The website contains numerous webpages that are organized by categories. At the same time, even though the company’s website is convenient and has a simple interface, it uses a search system to facilitate customers’ web navigation. Further, the particular online search system of the company will be analyzed in detail.
Search Technology Type and its Benefits
It is vital to choose an appropriate search technology to improve website navigation. Search technology can be described as a system aimed at retrieving information with a particular type of content requested by an Internet user. Today, they are mainly associated with search “giants” such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo! (Halavais, 2018). However, the number of search systems is not limited to these companies, and there are many different types of such technologies.
The principle of the search system is that it locates webpages according to the user’s settings. A company may use automatic search engines and web directories, which are the systems aimed at classifying various web sites. Enterprise search is also a way to enable efficient online navigation within a corporation (Nair, Mehta, & Vasoya, 2018). Although the simplest way is to use major search engines like Google, the Adobe company uses a separate search engine that allows customers to see webpages needed. The results of the search are limited to Adobe web pages, as well as other related websites, such as acrobatusers.com and photoshop.com. This type of search allows the company to exclude unreliable online sources.
The main advantage of such type of search technology is that the company does not use third-party services and can manage the search engine by itself. Furthermore, the information in the result list is structured: it is organized according to reliability and correspondence to the customer’s requirements. There are no advertisements of third-party organizations, and Adobe can insert necessary advertisements by itself. To sum up, even though this search engine requires a company to use special software for the set-up, it eliminates unreliable results and allows unlimited re-indexing.
Evaluation of Effectiveness
Inserting the appropriate search system is not enough for achieving organizational goals. It is essential to evaluate how successful the company’s search engine is, and if it can fully meet the customer’s requirements. Search Site Analytics is the system focused on analyzing the requirements of people using a web site, and “making sure that they can find the information they need” (Hanington & Martin, 2019, p. 204). This system involves various metrics for the profound evaluation of search engine effectiveness.
The metrics include comparing the effectiveness of search in different periods, as well as collecting statistics and other measurable data. For example, the Adobe company could measure how often website guests click on a webpage listed as a result of the search, and how often they ignore such pages or scroll to see other results. Counting the percentage of queries that resulted in a little to no information is a way to see if customers are able to find the information they need (Hanington & Martin, 2019). Verifying the relevance of keywords to advertisements and customers’ search is also important, together with managing keywords to make customers buy a product, not just to attract them. To conclude, as Adobe is a big international company, it is especially important to make the search as simple as possible by analyzing and evaluating its effectiveness, which would lead to an increase in income.
Areas of Improvement
It is hard to deny that the effective search system is the key to simplified website navigation and the consequent rise of sales. At the same time, there are always areas that require revision and improvement. Some companies need to expand the field of search to provide customers with more data. Other websites may lack the necessary information about each search result, which may make it difficult to understand if a webpage is relevant. In any case, companies need to use their metrics analysis to improve the quality of search.
In general, the search system of Adobe is convenient and simple. It is based on keyword search and lists the corresponding webpages highlighting relevant information. The webpages in the result list have a title and a short description; some of them are marked with a date. However, sometimes a customer can be confused if the information is up-to-date, as webpage dates appear occasionally. The way to solve such a problem would be to set up special organizing criteria. For example, some websites allow their guests to sort search results by date or relevance, as well as by the type of data (articles, advertisements, product descriptions, etc.). In this case, it would be more convenient for a customer to retrieve the information needed.
Conclusion
To conclude, online search systems used by companies are highly important, as they allow customers to navigate through a large amount of information. For companies like Adobe, it is especially important, as it would help their customers find the item needed and would influence the income increase. The Adobe company analyzed in this paper uses a search engine based on keywords search, which provides customers with relevant information about its products. At the same time, companies need to carefully monitor the effectiveness of their search technologies to see if they meet customers’ requirements. To sum up, it is vital to understand whether the customers retrieve the necessary information or whether the search engine needs improvement.
References
Halavais, A. (2018). Search engine society. Medford, MA: Polity Press.
Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2019). Universal methods of design expanded and revised. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers
Nair, S., Mehta, C., & Vasoya, D. (2018). Mastering Apache Solr 7.x. Birmingham, UK: Packt.
Schaeffer, E., & Sovie, D. (2018). Reinventing the product: How to transform your business and create value in the digital age. New York, NY: Kogan Page.