When you discover that WordPress’s default is not performing an impressive job and has a limited default search feature, you would like to go for different search plugins for WordPress that can be incorporated into your website design. You also would opt for a search feature that segregates the results exclusively to the requirements of your visitors. An e-commerce site with each product fitting into dozens of various categories has to improve its search feature, and with thousands of visitors using the search feature, it becomes mandatory to fine-tune your search feature for functionality and performance.
Improving the search feature of your site by adding faceted search, results filtered based on tags, custom fields and categories, custom post types, pdf or document content, multisite searches, shortcode output, and taxonomy filter helps to narrow down the search results effectively, and incorporating a powerful WordPress Search Plugin facilitates these enhancements seamlessly.
After all, search plugins improve or substitute the standard WordPress search engine to offer more relevant search results and heighten the user experience. This greatly assists visitors to locate their content more quickly lowers website bounce rates and augments traffic.
Most Popular WordPress Search Plugins
Here’s a compilation of the best WordPress search plugins that replace the default WordPress search modules with better search engines and a host of features and configurable options.
1. Search Live
This tool offers integrated live search facilities and advanced search functions. It offers a seamless interactive experience and provides instant search results for your users which makes it convenient to search for the right results. You get quick live search results along with thumbnails where matches are checked for one or multiple search keywords in titles, excerpts, or content.
A flexible shortcode is provided so that it can be located anywhere to give an interactive search form and a widget to be used in the sidebar. There is also complete multi-language support and it can function with WPML so that your translation requirement can be met. You can carry out functions like determining the number of search results displayed and whether to search in any combo of titles, excerpts, or contents.
Search Live offers results from pages, posts, and various types of public posts. An extended version is being worked upon which offers upgraded features and support for taxonomies. It can also be integrated with various popular plugins like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and WP E-Commerce.
2. Ivory Search
A feature-filled WordPress search plugin that takes your website experience to another level, Ivory Search lets you create unlimited search forms and display them anywhere on your page. From headers and footers to navigation and widget area, sidebars even posts this plugin functions everywhere. Further, you can even exclude specific content from the search results and it integrates with WordPress plugins like WooCommerce and bbPress.
The free version has many rare features which are not available in other search plugins like the ability to search within posts that are password-protected or created with a particular date range. Users can use the search for posts, pages, taxonomies, categories, custom post types, and much more.
The pro version plan of Ivory Search reveals extra features like searching for specific posts by author and excluding posts with a specific post status. When you upgrade to the pro plus license version you can search within the WooCommerce SKU, images, attachments, and various media.
3. WP Solr
A versatile search solution, WP Solr is popular with retailers due to its support of plugins like Advanced Custom Fields, WooCommerce, and Yoast SEO. This plugin can utilize one of two effective search platforms: Elastic Search or Apache Solr. Several of the 23 add-ons incorporated with the plugin assist in integrating WP Solr with other facilities and WordPress plugins and themes, though there are functionality add-ons like PDF embedder that permit you to search inside documents. WPSolr supports custom fields, custom post types, attached files, and taxonomies. Ajax search lets users view live results for their searches and the cross-domain search functionality allows visitors to search across several WordPress websites.
4. FacetWP
An exceptional WordPress search plugin that applies a faceted search system. Information is utilized by searches from taxonomies, custom fields, and post data to verify that all results are appropriate. There are 12 kinds of facets to select from which include dropdowns, sliders, checkboxes, and more. Shortcodes and hooks can be utilized to customize forms. The conditional logic feature of FacetWP cannot be found in any other plugin. FacetWP operates with plugins like WooCommerce, Beaver Builder, and Advanced Custom Fields and also integrates with WordPress search solutions like SearchWP and Relevannsi.
5. Ajax Search Pro
A WordPress live search plugin powered by Ajax, this plugin seamlessly integrates with any theme and has solid search features. Ajax Search guarantees cross-browser compatibility and interactiveness. Some of its features include:
- Adjustable keyword logic
- Real-time results in
- Powerful back-end
- Limitless customizations
- Wide content type support
- Front-end filters
- Four different built-in layouts
- Over 65 pre-defined fully functional themes
6. ACF: Better Search
With ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) the system of adding an advanced search feature for your page becomes fast and simple. It provides your visitors the facility to search for various content based on their selected fields. You install it and it starts doing things for you and you can alter configure settings based on your requirements. There is no need to play with the code if you are looking for improvements.
7. SearchWP
A powerful custom search plugin for WordPress, SearchWP is convenient to use and offers highly accurate search results. It lets you search your keywords in page or post title, slug, content, categories, taxonomies, tags, comments, and even excerpts. You can manage the algorithm by allocating weight to every content category from 1 to 10 with 10 about the highest. As you activate the plugin indexes your content automatically and substitutes the default search feature of WordPress. This search solution integrates seamlessly with WordPress plugins like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, bbPress, and Advanced Custom Fields.
Whereas Jetpack Search has few filtering alternatives through a widget, SearchWP accords more control to the users on how they search your website. You can make a specific weight to attributes of post type, custom fields, and taxonomies. You can also specify search rules, remove particular content pieces, and try keyword stemming in place of definite term matches. SearchWP natively endorses eCommerce plugins and integrates with PDFs, custom metadata, text, and office documents. You can also generate several search engines for various areas of your website.
8. Relevanssi
Among the most popular WordPress search solutions in the circuit, Relevanssi has its goal to assist WordPress users in showing search results by relevance. Its free version is studded with features and lets you mark search terms, apply vague matching for partial words, and look for phrases and quotes. Users can also search through tags, comments, custom fields, categories, and custom post types. An effective ‘Did You Mean?’ function offers suggestions to visitors.
Besides, WordPress multi-site support, Relevanssi natively endorses various popular WordPress plugins like WPML, bbPress, and Members.
Its premium version upgrades the plugin by adding an attachment, PDF content indexing, searching across sub-sites, taxonomy term pages, and indexing. Besides, you can adjust the weight of every post type, and the taxonomy laid out in the search algorithm enhances the capacity to index and search any column within the database of your wp_posts. As this plugin calls for large additional storage, big businesses, and high-traffic portals should test it extensively before going live.
9. Swiftype Search
A site search service, Swiftype comes with both a free and paid version. Swifttype can index your document and operates much faster compared to the default WordPress search. Besides, it also stores user searches and displays it and other cool analytics.
Other relevant features of Swiftype include:
- Extremely relevant search results
- A cloud-based facility that does not exert pressure on your servers
- Analytics of User searches
- Auto-complete function
- App search
- Manually set aside for search results
This plugin functions by dispatching an index of all your WordPress content to Swiftype servers, which helps your server to remain uncluttered and as Swiftype does not apply MySQL at all, there is a faster display of search results. This plugin substitutes the standard search of WordPress with an improved customizable search engine through the Swiftype dashboard. All the time, the Swiftype service gathers data and stores it in your Swiftype dashboard for you to evaluate and make manual modifications to search results if you prefer. The dashboard offers you analytics data that you can tweak at your search engines. To utilize this plugin a sign-up to an account is needed.
10. Search and Filter- WordPress Search Plugin
Search and Filter plugin allows you to supercharge filtering for your WordPress site. You can create advanced filters for Taxonomies, Custom Fields, Post Meta, and more with this plugin.
It allows you to Search and filter your posts/custom posts/products by any number of parameters allowing your users to easily find what they are looking for on your site, whether it be a blog post, a product in an online shop, and more.
Key features include:
- Create advanced filters for Taxonomies, Custom Fields, Post Meta, and more!
- Fine-tune the results and searches
- Multiple integration methods
- Compatible with WooCommerce, WP eCommerce, and Easy Digital Downloads
- Support for popular WordPress plugins such as ACF, Easy Digital Downloads, and WPML
- Dynamic Filters
- Unlimited Search Forms
- Drag & Drop Form Builder
- Use hooks and filters to modify Search & Filter’s behavior
11. Better Search
Better Search Plugin is another popular WordPress search plugin that will replace your default search engine with a powerful one providing you with results relevant to the title and content of the post. Besides, it will also search through pages and other custom post types.
Key features include
- Automatically replace your default WordPress search with more relevant search results
- Seamless integration
- Search results are automatically sorted by relevance.
- Control the results by changing the weighting of the post title and post content
- Display a list of popular search terms (daily and overall) on your blog in the form of a heatmap.
- Support for a template file for perfect integration into your blog template
- Works with caching plugins like WP-Super-Cache and W3 Total Cache
- Profanity filter and Translation ready
12. Search Exclude- WordPress Search Plugin
Search Exclude Plugin is a WordPress search plugin that allows you to exclude any page, post, or whatever from your WordPress search results by checking off the corresponding checkbox on the post/page edit page. Besides, it also provides support for quick and bulk editing.
Apart from that, certain items are hidden from the search. You can find them on the plugin settings page.
13. Search In Place- WordPress Search Plugin
Search in Place is a WordPress plugin that helps improve blog search by providing real-time query results. As you enter your keyword in the search criteria, it will show you a list with results dynamically.
Search in Place Plugin groups the search results in the following manner:
- by their type
- labeling them as post, page, or custom post types
- highlights the searched terms
Key features include:
- Perform a real-time search as you enter the search criteria.
- Groups search results by post type (post, page, or other post type entered by the user)
- Allows to search in common post fields and metadata associated
- Allows to search in taxonomies associated with the post
- Includes the integration with the most popular plugins for e-commerce in WordPress
- Use a friendly AJAX technology for searching
- Allows highlighting the keywords used to run the search, in search results and results pages.
- Allows limiting the number of elements in the dynamic search results.
- Allows to customize the box colors
14. Category Wise Search- WordPress Search Plugin
A dead drop straightforward plugin, Category Wise Search allows you to achieve a single task – search based on categories. If you do not want to spend time configuring other feature-packed plugins, this can be your solution. Users can confine their search to a particular category to minimize their results. This plugin also permits you to exclude categories from the search and you can add it conveniently by using a widget for your sidebar.
Features include
- Search posts category-wise.
- Set default category.
- Exclude categories in the search category field.
- Exclude categories with the child in the search category field
Final Thoughts on WordPress Search Plugin
To decide which plugin is the perfect option for you, it will depend on the size of your site, the functionality that is crucial for you, and the budget you are likely to spend for acquiring it. However, Search requires intuition for you have to analyze the behavior of your visitor initially as to how they use the search function. After you resolve that your search is being used a manifold number of times you can pick free or premium version plugins.
After all, great search functionality gives your site users immense power and is a huge time-saver. Remember, it is the happy users who convert.
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