Interesting idea. This could work if you tightly controlled the scenario when this happened. Meaning, you would want to be pretty certain that you know what the user wants.

My top keyword searches are for keywords like "autoclave", "exam table", "ekg". Those are all main categories on my site. Curious... why are people using such a broad term to search when they can go to the category.

Matt, I couldn't imagine doing it for a whole catalog. As you said, something internally would be best. I was just thinking these category keywords that reported up top in my keyword search report list. BUT... my keyword report could have also froze. I haven't looked at it in awhile but i think it was the same from a while back. Is there any way to reset it to see if in fact these broad keywords are still being used?

Tell me more lol. I dont think my search page is set up in my GA.

Found the reset button ;) didn't see that!

im an idiot i already had that setup. I've never checked it before. Very useful! My top keywords are definetly categories "autoclaves", "stools", "exam stools". I just put my search bar back in the header a few days ago so hopefully within the next week or so ill get a better idea.

I also noticed that my top search is for "Search Keywords or Products". My search box is <asp:TextBox ID="KeywordField" Columns="15" runat="server" CssClass="forminput" onfocus="this.value=''" value="Search Keywords or Products"></asp:TextBox>. Is there a better way to have the box filled with text, but the search button can not work until you type something in?

Research shows that some users tend to be search-oriented while others tend to prefer browsing. If the search volume is high, then there may be an issue with the site design.


Agreed

Bryan, when I look at your homepage. The first thing that comes to mind....


Where are the drop down menus? I'm huge into drop down menus, everywhere! I use standard drop downs and have a site in development with a "Department" mega menu which is basically a snap shot of a site map.



Do a search for Mega Menus, there's some cool jquery packages out there.



Have you considered this for the header? Your two most important top level categories are "Medical Equipment" &amp; "Medical Supplies" (as you stated in your post).



You've snuck a good orange color into the header. Why aren't your two primary categories in the top nav highlighted as such to differentiate themselves from the other "service" oriented links?



Mind the intrusion, but if I had my druthers, first two links would be "Medical Equipment" &amp; "Medical Supplies" with the passive state background orange and the size of the hover button you display for the links. Both would be a standard drop down menu or individual mega menus.



The third link would be "Clearance", same size, but passive state background color green or blue.



The remaining links follow with the current black gradient background and gray hover buttons.

Use the Develisys Menu in our toolkit! We've built a mega-dropdown with it before, though the site isn't live yet for you to see. Here's a simple example of what you can do, though this is only a single-column dropdown: Stealth Auto

Here's a screenshot of the mega-dropdown we built using the Develisys Menu. Granted, we did add a little jQuery to make the columns lay out the way we wanted, though depending on your menu design that may not be necessary.

We've certainly done this before, though it's not ideal. I'm not sure what other choice you would have. I think the question is whether the pro's outweigh the con's.

yeah... hijacked... :)

I'm 50/50 on custom link sending to another category. It's teetering on mystery meat navigation.

I have a few added to certain sites but cringe everytime I do it...

about your fake header idea, like you, I have a site with a department "General A"

Under "General A" is a subcategory "General A-1"

In the market, "General A-1" is a highly sought after product type but in terms of navigation logic (click pattern), it should be a subcategory of "General A"

To draw attention to it throughout the entire site, I've hardcoded "General A-1" into the header navigation so it looks like it's a top level department.

Header = General A : General A-1 : General B : General C : .... : .....