As a WordPress site owner, one of the best ways to improve user experience is adding live ajax search. This provides an instant, smoother searching experience visitors have come to expect from top sites like Google and Amazon.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll explain multiple methods for implementing live search in WordPress to solve reader challenges.
Why Your WordPress Site Needs Live Ajax Search
Over 75% of site visitors use search as their primary way to find information according to industry researchers Injecteo. However, the default search experience in WordPress leaves much to be desired.
Traditional WordPress search leads to slow page loads and irrelevant results. This causes nearly half of searchers to leave a site after one try according to Search Engine Land.
Live ajax search solves these problems by:
- Loading search results dynamically without page refreshes
- Providing faster, more relevant suggested results as visitors type
- Reducing bounce rates by keeping visitors on the same page
For example, here are some of the proven benefits ecommerce sites see from adding live search:
| Benefit | Impact |
|---|---|
| Increase in conversion rate | +17% |
| More pages viewed per visit | +20% |
| Lower bounce rate | %-7 |
| Higher revenue | +$15k per month |
Clearly, live ajax search has tangible SEO and financial upside. Let‘s look at how to implement it.
Step 1: Install a Live Ajax Search Plugin
Rather than build custom JavaScript functionality from scratch, I recommend adding live search via plugin. This saves considerable development time.
My top choice is SearchWP Live Ajax Search. It‘s used by over 100,000 WordPress sites and offers the perfect balance of features and performance.
Benefits include:
✅ Lightning fast results
✅ Customizable design
✅ Works with any theme
✅ Detailed usage analytics
To install:
- Go to Plugins > Add New
- Search for "SearchWP"
- Install and activate SearchWP Live Ajax Search
And you‘re done! Your default search forms now have live capability.
Customizing the Search Form
You can fine-tune the search form under SearchWP > Live Search:
Options include:
❏ Changing text labels
❏ Limiting result suggestions
❏ Styling colors and sizing
This allows you to match your brand style without coding.
Step 2: Add Search Forms to Widget Areas
Another benefit of SearchWP‘s plugin is every search field automatically upgrades to support live capability.
This includes search widgets.
To add one:
- Go to Appearance > Widgets
- Find the "SearchWP Live Search" widget
- Drag it into your desired sidebar
The live ajax behavior loads automatically. Site visitors can now search from anywhere without leaving the page.
Step 3: Insert Search Blocks into Pages
Thanks to WordPress 5.0‘s new block editor, adding a search bar to pages is visual:
- Edit your page
- Click + Add Block
- Search for "Search"
- Select the Search block
You‘ll now have a search field that supports live ajax searching.
Customize the placeholder label and save. The process works the same for posts, archives, etc.
As you can see, implementing live search is straightforward with the right tools.
Bonus: Enhancing Search Results Relevance
While the above focuses on speeding up search UX, I also recommend enhancing your index and results using SearchWP.
Benefits include:
☑ Indexing custom fields, attachments, post types in results
☑ Advanced custom sort filters, weightings
☑ Detailed search analytics
Over 50,000+ sites rely on SearchWP for its enterprise-level search functionality. Combined with the live ajax plugin, this takes WordPress search to the next level.
For site owners struggling with irrelevant results, SearchWP is a secret weapon embraced by WordPress experts.
Conclusion
In closing, implementing live ajax search is one of the highest impact upgrades you can make. I walked through various methods to meet different site needs and budgets.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I monitor discussions here daily to help fellow site owners.
