Users always think that what they are searching for is more sensible than search engines may understand. It is incredibly important to have strong search capabilities one your site to help your visitors reach the content they are looking for.
The following best WordPress search plugins are better than the standard WordPress search option and help you optimize search performances.
Best WordPress Search Plugins
Relevanssi
Relevanssi is loaded with features to make your searchability far better than the standard search engine. The search results are sorted in the order of relevance, not by date. It also matches partial words, even if the complete words dont match and it searches for phrases with quotes. The plugin is adaptable in that it can find documents matching one search term and also require all words to appear.
The plugin will also create custom excerpts to show where the hit was made and highlight the search terms so you know how youre being found. Finally, you can search comments, tags, categories and custom fields. You can also alter the weight for certain tags, titles, and comments, so that the topics your site is focused on maintain centerstage. Also, there is a Google-style Did you mean? feature that gives suggestions based on previous successful searches.
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WP Ultimate Search
This AJAX-based search option searches different taxonomies and post meta data to help users find what theyre looking for. It is customizable in that it has the ability to autocomplete certain search queries. It will search both the post titles as well as body content and can search multiple keywords and phrases so it can adapt to the level of desired specificity.
You have the option to send search queries as events to your Google Analystics account if desired as well as customize a results template using standard WordPress functions. The interface is based on jQuery, Backbone.ks and VisualSearch.js library, and will highlight search terms in the results when found.
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Ajax Search Pro
Based on the title you can probably early infer that it uses a live ajax search to find information. Results are presented with images if they are available to make the results look more engaging and attractive. It works well with mobile devices, too, separating it from other plugins.
The search can override default WordPress search results and can return posts, categories, custom taxonomy terms and post types, as well as buddypress users and groups to be supported results. There are over 60 colorful and customizable themes as well as backend offers to customize the search engine.
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Filter Custom Fields & Taxonomies
This customizatble plugin comes with a full text search where you can decide if matches should be highlighted when they are searched. There is a range search for numbers that can relate to prices and sizes as well as input fields for minimum, maximum, and equal.
There is also an Area Search linked with Google Maps and select and radio checkboxes. It also comes with an Order-By-Box feature that allows you to define the values that your visitor can order the results. Thus, you can control how results are ordered and prioritize values important to you. There are conditional fields that can choose to show and you can also hide fields to restrict results to certain categories. Finally, the search button is optional, so the filter will be activated after each new selection.
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WordPress Meta Data & Taxonomies Filter
This plugin is geared towards searching multiple taxonomies and meta fields at the same time. Its WooCommerce ready, has Ajax search supports, and a built-in data constructor. You can filter posts, custom post types, and set up both a WooCommerce product filter and Jigoshop product meta filter.
There are internet search forms by shortcodes and widgets available for use and customization and you can search and recount items without the page reloading. The main and unique feature to the plugin is the built-in meta data constructor. You can create meta fields with this feature without any coding knowledge or experinece by choosing how your search forms are presented on the front end of your sites drop-down, checkboxes, and range sliders are available.
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These are the 5 best WordPress search plugins that you can use to replace the built-in search of WordPress and have an advanced system in place to show better search results.