Search Quality: You Can't Improve What You Don't Measure
In our latest survey of new newsletter subscribers we found that 29% had no formal metrics for measuring quality of search results. Search metrics allow you to keep search on the right track and can be a powerful tool for managing your systems. They are a wonderful source for insights and trends. We thought we would share a couple that we think work well. Many of these are covered in greater depth in Interpreting Your Search Activity Reports in the Enterprise Search newsletter.
- Count the number of people who use search
- Count the total number of searches
- Count the number of zero search results
- User feedback on top 100 searches
- Track email complaints about search
- Measure number of clicks on navigators (navigation menu items)
- Business Goals
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- Reduce call volume (normallized for growth in customer base) by enabling self-service from search: results are good enough to reduce calls.
- Reduce e-mail volume (again adjusted for growth in customer base) by enabling self-service from search: results are good enough to reduce e-mails.
- Revenue
- Add-on revenue
One key item is missing from the list.
Number of searches that resulted in a document opened.
Andreas
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Absolutely!!! Except remember just the fact that a document was viewed does not mean it's a good doc - it could have a great, promising summary but no follow through! Thanks!! miles
Posted by: Andreas Ringdal | June 19, 2008 at 01:37 AM