The site's WordPress search function is what allows your visitors to get the information they want instantly. The default WordPress search feature is too weak and slow to give the desired results. However, there are many free and paid WordPress search plugins out there.
In this post, the Wishdesk web development agency highlights only the best WordPress search plugins to help enhance your site search.
How do I add a search box to my WordPress site?
There are 3 ways to add a search bar to your WordPress site:
- Use the WordPress widget
- Add a Search Box manually
- Install one of the plugins
Below we will look at the last option and its benefits.
Benefits of Using WordPress Search Plugins
WordPress search plugins are a good option for those who have a lot of information on their site. When users visit your site and want to find something, if there is no site search, they will have to spend a lot of time. Probably they will just leave website. To prevent this, you should install the WordPress search plugin.
Your visitors get more convenient site navigation
If you blog or have an eCommerce site, then improving your onsite search is a must.
You get visitor behavior and preference analysis analytics
By installing the WordPress search plugin, in most cases, you get a built-in search analytics system.
You create more accessible content
WordPress search plugins work to make your content more visible and easy to search. The easier it is to search for information on the site, the more likely it will be read and do what you meant for it to do.
What to look for in a WordPress Search Plugin?
WordPress search plugins are all different, meaning they have different functionality. In order to choose the best one, you need to consider the specifics of your business. Here's a list of the requirements you should pay attention to when choosing the best WordPress search plugin.
It should be accurate
First of all, it must show the most accurate results.
It should be fast
Choose a search plugin that effectively indexes your content and searches quickly.
It should look attractive
The search box of your plugin should be user-friendly, clearly visible, and attractive. It’s particularly good if the plugin allows you to customize it.
It should provide you with the report
The search data can serve as an excellent source of visitor’s information and preferences. Choose a plugin that has this feature.
It should have a fair price
There are both paid and free plugins, choose the option that works best for you.
Well, now you have something to look out for when choosing a WordPress search plugin. Let's get to the main point - a list of featured WordPress search plugins that improve your site search.
The 12 Best WordPress Search Plugin for You
1. SearchWP
SearchWP is a top-level site search plugin. All of its customization options and functionality make it very popular.
Key Features:
- searches in everything: post/page title, content, slug, categories, tags, taxonomies, excerpts, and even comments
- integrated with WooCommerce, bbPress, Easy Digital Downloads, Elementor
- indexes the content from all text documents
- is easy to use
- replaces the default search feature
- provides insights on user searches
- offers automatic integration with your website
- has an intuitive interface
Price: starts at $99/year
2. Relevanssi
Relevanssi is another great option for improving search results on your site. It supports multisite and has a free plan.
Key Features:
- provides more comprehensive and relevant search results
- integrates with core WordPress search functionality
- searches in content, tags, custom fields, and more
- has “Did you mean?” suggestions
- supports WordPress Multisite
- integrates with membership plugins and WooCommerce
- is translation ready
Price: free/ starts at $99/year
3. Ajax Search Lite
Ajax Search Lite allows you to add Ajax live search to your WordPress. Its main feature is that it shows the results as quickly as you type.
Key Features:
- adds a live search bar
- has mobile device support
- integrates with WooCommerce and BuddyPress
- supports custom post types
- custom filter boxes available
- is Retina ready
- caches images to search faster
- integrates with Google Analytics
- has shuttle animations
Price: free/ starts at $36/year
4. Advanced Woo Search
Advanced Woo Search enhances the search on your WordPress online shop, and uses AJAX to show results fast.
Key Features:
- indexes your product listings
- uses AJAX to display results as users start typing
- you can place a search box anywhere
- gives results with images and prices
- indexes all products automatically
- supports Google Analytics
- has multi-currency support
- integrated with WooCommerce, WPML, qTranslate
- add to cart button directly in the search
Price: free/ starts at $59/year
5. Jetpack Search
Jetpack Search indexes search queries in real-time. It also offers spelling corrections to help your users get accurate results.
Key Features:
- is mobile responsiveness
- has multi-language support
- provides real-time search index
- automatically updates info after you publish new content
- has spelling corrections
- get powerful filtering
- is completely customizable
- doesn’t reload the page
Price: free/ starts at $4.77/month
6. Swiftype Site Search
Swiftype Site Search is a must-have and powerful WordPress search plugin for ecommerce sites. Its best feature is that it is compatible with WooCommerce themes and can be customized for your needs.
Key Features:
- has multilingual support
- no coding required
- you can customize your search
- automatically updates
- has search analytics
- supports 13 languages
- runs algorithms on its own servers
- uses an autocomplete feature
- integrates seamlessly with your store
Price: free/ starts at $79/month
7. Ivory Search
Ivory Search is a fully customizable WordPress search plugin, without which it is simply impossible to imagine a search on your site. The complete freedom of customizing the search form makes it one of the most popular search plugins.
Key Features:
- has a 4.9-star rating
- works well with the core WordPress search
- creates custom search forms
- allows you to create an unlimited number of search forms
- you can place search forms anywhere on your site
- supports multilingual search
- integrated with WooCommerce, bbPress, WPML
- searches for any type of content
Price: free/ starts at $19.99/year
8. FacetWP
FacetWP helps you create faceted search functionality. This means that when searching for a product, your users will be able to use not only a keyword, but also filter all products by available options.
Key Features:
- has a smart filtering option
- automatically integrates with your website
- quickly shows search results without page refreshes
- is compatible with most themes
- includes many facet types
- has stellar support
- provides a variety of UI elements to customize forms
- has many hooks for customization
- integrated with WooCommerce, ACF fields, Beaver Builder, Elementor
Price: free/ starts at $99/year
9. WPSOLR
WPSOLR is another powerful WordPress search plugin for creating a faceted search option. It will be especially useful for owners of large sites with a high amount of information.
Key Features:
- speeds up database queries
- integrates with Elasticsearch, WooCommerce, Yoast, bbPress, WPML
- has a cross-domain search
- supports more than 60 languages
- displays only accurate search results
Price: free/ starts at €99/year
10. YITH WooCommerce Ajax Search
YITH WooCommerce Ajax Search is exactly the plugin you need to improve your search on your WooCommerce website and show customers only relevant results.
Key Features:
- creates a search form
- allows adding promotion labels
- lets you style the search box
- uses your database
- you can add search forms anywhere you want
- shows product price in the search results
- shows the search results in real-time
Price: free/ starts at €59.99/year
11. Reactive Search Pro
Reactive Search Pro is great for those who want to create custom search forms. The best thing about it is that you can do everything with the drag-and-drop form builder.
Key Features:
- uses a drag-and-drop form builder
- has more than 15 search attributes
- has a built-in geo box
- works with Google Maps
- fully compatible with WooCommerce, BuddyPress, WPML, and more
- easy setup process
- is translation ready
Price: free/ starts at $29/year
12. Better Search
Better Search is a plugin designed to provide a better search experience for your website visitors. It is a quite powerful — and free — WordPress search plugin.
Key Features:
- supports cache plugins
- replaces the default search form
- looking for information everywhere on your site
- has a ton of filters
- tracks the search queries
- easy to set up
- supports custom CSS
- is translation-ready
Price: free
Which is the Best WordPress Search Plugin for You?
There are many WordPress search plugins to improve your onsite search. In this blog, we have collected the most popular and the most powerful ones.
The larger your site is, the more powerful the WordPress search plugin should be. We hope you can pick only the best WordPress search plugin after reading our blog.
The best WordPress support services at Wishdesk can quickly help you add WordPress search functionality — just let us know.
