Guide
What to put on your no results page.
Every store has searches that find nothing. A blank "0 results" page ends the visit; a good one gets the shopper back to a product. The best fix is fewer empty searches, and the second best is a page that still gives the shopper somewhere to go.
First, find out why searches fail
Look at your list of searches with no results, sorted by how often they happen. Most fall into a few groups, and each has a different fix.
- Typos and plurals ("hedphones", "jean"): turn on typo tolerance
- Different words for the same thing ("sneakers" vs "trainers"): add synonyms
- SKUs and part numbers typed with or without dashes: normalize identifiers
- Products you don't sell: show close alternatives, or consider stocking them
- Out-of-stock items hidden from search: show them with a back-in-stock note
What the page should show
Keep the search box visible and filled in, so correcting the query is one edit away.
- The query the shopper typed, so they can see a typo themselves
- A "did you mean" suggestion built from words in your catalog
- Popular or best-selling products, or products from the closest category
- Links to your main categories
- A way to ask: live chat, email or a request form
What to avoid
If you show alternatives, label them ("No exact matches. Popular in Headphones:") so shoppers don't think the search is broken.
- A page that only says "No results found"
- Clearing the search box
- Showing random products with no explanation
How Gazelle handles it
When nothing matches, Gazelle searches again with the closest words from your own catalog and shows a "did you mean". Every search with no results is logged in the dashboard with how often it happens, so you can add a synonym or a redirect rule in a few clicks.
Questions
- How many searches end with no results?
- It varies by store and catalog. Check your own analytics: the list of searches with no results, sorted by frequency, tells you which fixes matter most.
- Should I redirect a no-results search to a category?
- For common searches with a clear intent, yes. A redirect rule that sends "gift ideas" to your gift collection works better than an empty page.
Related
Free to start