WordPress Search: How It Works & Ways To Improve Functionality

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WordPress includes a built-in search feature that lets visitors find content on your site by typing in keywords. It searches through titles, content, and post and page excerpts. While this is useful, it’s not always perfect. Sometimes, the results aren’t very accurate, and the default search doesn’t offer advanced options like filtering by categories or tags.

This is why it’s important to optimize your website’s search functionality. If visitors can’t quickly find what they’re looking for, they may leave your site and go elsewhere. A well-functioning search helps users find relevant content faster and improves their overall experience, encouraging them to stay longer and return.

This tutorial explains how WordPress search function works and highlights its limitations. We guide you through 10 ways to improve it, including using plugins and customizing search results and show you how to integrate advanced tools like third-party search services.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• WordPress’s default search system scans post titles, content, and some image data but excludes widgets, PDFs, comments, and categories.
• The default WordPress search function lacks advanced features like live suggestions, filtering, and typo correction, which can affect user experience.
• Improve WordPress search to help visitors find relevant content quickly, boosting engagement and reducing bounce rates.
• Customize the search URL slug to improve SEO and make URLs more readable for users and search engines.
• Add a category-specific search to allow users to refine their WordPress search queries, delivering more accurate results.
• Enable PDF indexing to ensure important documents are searchable, making all content accessible.
• Smart WooCommerce product search increases conversions by helping shoppers find products faster with live suggestions and filters.

How WordPress Search Works

The WordPress search feature is designed to help visitors find content on your website. When a visitor enters a search term in the search bar, WordPress scans certain parts of your site to display results that match the keyword (search term). While the default search system is easy to use, it has some limitations that may affect how well it works for larger or more complex websites.

WordPress includes specific types of content in its search results. For example, it looks at page titles and blog post content to find matches. It also scans image titles, captions, and alt text, often used to describe or optimize images for accessibility. Even file names of uploaded content, such as images or documents, are included. WordPress focuses on content directly tied to the pages and posts you’ve created.

However, not all content on your site is searchable. WordPress excludes several important areas by default. For instance, widgets, that display information in sidebars or footers, are not part of the search results.

User comments, which may contain valuable discussions or insights, are also ignored. Categories and tags, often used for organizing posts, are not included in searches either. Additionally, if you run an eCommerce store with WooCommerce, product details are excluded, and text within PDF documents is not searchable.

The WordPress search feature’s algorithm determines how results are displayed. It prioritizes posts or pages where the search term appears in the title, showing these at the top of the results.

If the term is not found in titles, it moves on to posts’ and pages’ main content. Results are then sorted in reverse chronological order, meaning newer content appears before older. While this system is simple and functional, it doesn’t offer advanced features like filtering, live search suggestions, or typo correction.

Limitations of Default WordPress Search System

While the default WordPress search system is simple and functional, it has some drawbacks that may affect the experience for users, especially on larger websites. These limitations can make it harder for visitors to find exactly what they’re looking for; this leads to frustration and may even cause them to leave your site.

One of the biggest issues with the default WordPress search function is the lack of state-of-the-art features. For example, it doesn’t include autocomplete, which helps users by suggesting relevant search terms as they type. This feature can save time and guide visitors toward the most useful content.

Similarly, WordPress doesn’t have a live Ajax search, which shows results instantly without a page refresh. This real-time feedback can make searching faster and more engaging.

Another missing feature is filtering, which allows users to narrow down results by categories, tags, or other criteria. For instance, when visiting an online store, it’s helpful to filter by price, brand, or color. However, the default search doesn’t support this.

Another limitation is that WordPress search feature doesn’t support fuzzy search or typo tolerance. If someone types a keyword with a small mistake or a slightly different variation, like “plugin” instead of “plug-in”, WordPress won’t understand what they mean. This can lead to zero results, even when the content exists on your site.

Also, WordPress doesn’t include media files or metadata in its search results. For example, if you have a PDF document or an image with important information in its description, WordPress won’t show these in the search results. This can be frustrating for users, especially if your site relies on these types of content.

These limitations become even more noticeable on websites with a lot of content. For example, on a blog with hundreds of posts or an ecommerce site with thousands of products, search results may be overwhelming. Without advanced tools to refine and organize the WordPress site search results, users may struggle to find what they need, leading to confusion or inaccurate searches.

Significance of Improving Default WordPress Search

Considering the default search limitations, improving the search feature on your WordPress site can make a huge difference in how visitors interact with your content. A better search system helps users find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, creating a more enjoyable experience. When people can navigate your site effortlessly, they’re more likely to stay longer and explore more pages.

An improved search system can also boost your site’s performance metrics. When visitors find relevant content faster, it increases page views and lowers your bounce rate (the percentage of people who leave after viewing only one page). A low bounce rate signals to search engines like Google that your site is valuable, which can improve your SEO rankings.

Another reason to enhance the search is to increase conversions. Whether you’re running an online store or a blog, visitors are more likely to act (like purchasing a product, signing up for a newsletter, or clicking on ads) when they can easily find what they need. A better search experience builds trust and keeps users engaged.

Performance is another important consideration. The default WordPress search works fine on smaller sites, but as your site grows with more pages, posts, or products, it may slow down.

This happens because the basic search system isn’t designed for large amounts of data. Advanced search solutions, such as plugins, are built to handle more content and deliver faster, more accurate results without straining your website.

Now that you know how WordPress search functions, what it includes, what it skips, and how it ranks results, you can make the right decisions about enhancing your website’s search functionality, ensuring visitors can find what they need quickly and efficiently.

How to Improve WordPress Search

You can improve your WordPress site search feature by configuring the following items:

Update Default Search URL Slug

The URL that appears when someone uses the search feature on your WordPress site can affect how your site looks to users and how it performs in search engines. By default, WordPress creates a search URL that may not be user- or SEO-friendly. This is what the default WordPress search URL typically looks like:

https://yourwebsite.com/?s=search-term

While this works fine, it’s not the most attractive or readable URL. The users don’t understand what the ?s means. Furthermore, search engines and visitors prefer clean, descriptive URLs. For example, changing it to something like this:

https://yourwebsite.com/search/search-term

This makes it clearer and easily understandable for people and search engines. A well-structured URL can also improve your website’s SEO by including relevant keywords, like search, in the slug.

Now, the point is how to modify the search URL slug. Changing the default WordPress search URL requires a small tweak in your site’s code. Here’s how you can do it:

Go to Appearance → Theme File Editor and open your active theme’s functions.php file. Insert the following code at the end of the functions.php file:

function custom_change_search_url() {
if ( is_search() && ! empty( $_GET['s'] ) ) {
wp_redirect( home_url( "/search/" ) . urlencode( get_query_var( 's' ) ) );
exit();
}
}
add_action( 'template_redirect', 'custom_change_search_url' );

After that, click Update File to save the file.

If you use a block theme and can’t find the functions.php file using the WordPress Admin Dashboard, connect to your site using the FTP client (e.g. FileZilla). For this, you can refer to the following guide to successfully connect to your web server:

– How To Configure A Site In FileZilla

Alternatively, use the WPCode plugin to add custom code to WordPress theme files. For this, install the WPCode plugin, navigate to Code Snippets → + Add Snippet, and click + Add Custom Snippet.

Choose your programming language (which is PHP in this case). Give this custom snippet a title. Add your code in the given editor. Switch on the Active option and click Save Snippet.

IMPORTANT:

Whenever you edit theme files, create a website backup first. Also, if you want to keep the customizations permanently even after the theme update, use a WordPress child theme.

Add a Search by Category Feature to WordPress

When your WordPress site has a lot of content, it can be hard for visitors to find exactly what they need. Here, adding a search-by-category feature allows users to narrow down their searches within specific sections of your site. This makes finding relevant content faster and easier, creating a better experience for your audience.

WordPress searches through all your posts and pages by default; this may not always give the most accurate results. For example, if you run a blog with WordPress categories like Java, Python, and SQL, a search for Java may show Python-related posts if the word appears somewhere.

With a search-by-category feature, users can filter their search to see results from just the Java category to improve accuracy and relevance. This is especially useful for sites with diverse content, like blogs, online stores, or resource libraries. Here’s how to add category-specific search functionality:

Create a Search Form

Go to SearchWP → Search Forms in your WordPress Dashboard. Click Add New to create a new form.

Name your new search form. Ensure you give it a clear name; this will help you manage multiple search forms if you decide to add more later.

Next, choose a layout theme for your form. Since we’re setting up a category-based search, select Category Search. Once Category Search is selected, it will automatically enable category-based searches.

You can also activate Quick Search for keyword suggestions and Advanced Search to allow filtering with advanced options. For the Engine, select Default. In the Results Page dropdown, you can either stick with WordPress’s default search results page or create a custom results page using SearchWP (in our example, we stick to the default search results page).

Then, under Type of Search, specify the content types that the form should include. For example, if you want it to show only blog posts, select Posts. To add other content types like pages or media files, simply include Pages and Media.

In the Select Category field, you can manage the dropdown menu by including or excluding specific blog categories. You can also adjust the placeholder text for the Field Label and choose whether to display a search button.

After that, scroll down to update the form’s design. You can adjust the font, border style, border color, and button design, including its shape, label, background color, and font. Design these settings to match the look and feel of your WordPress theme.

When you’re satisfied with the settings and design, scroll back to the top of the page and click Save. Your custom search-by-category form is now ready to use.

Create a Search Form for Custom Post Types

If your WordPress site uses custom post types to organize content, adding a search form that specifically includes these post types can make it much easier for visitors to find what they need. Custom post types let you organize your site beyond standard posts and pages, like portfolios, products, events, or testimonials.

You may be wondering why you should search for custom post types. The default WordPress site search feature only looks through standard posts and pages, ignoring custom post types. This can be limiting for sites with more complex content. For example, if you run an event website, your custom post type might include “Upcoming Events”.

Without an adapted search form, users searching for events may not find what they’re searching for. By creating a search form that includes custom post types, you ensure all your content is accessible and searchable. Here’s how to use the SearchWP plugin to add a custom post-type search form:

First, create a custom search engine for your desired post type. A search engine in this context is a set of rules that dictate how WordPress searches and retrieves results.

By default, after activating SearchWP, the plugin automatically starts indexing your WordPress website’s content and replaces the standard WordPress search query functionality. The initial configuration indexes posts, pages, and media files, but you can easily adjust these settings to:

• Change the priority of specific attributes (e.g., titles or metadata).
• Include or exclude specific sources.
• Refine the search behavior further.

Using SearchWP’s Supplemental Engine feature, you can create multiple search engines. Keep the default engine as-is and create a new one for your custom post type.

To create a search engine for your custom post type, navigate to SearchWP → Algorithm and click Add New.

From here, choose the sources for the engine. For this example, we set up a search engine exclusively for the custom post-type Portfolios. Uncheck all sources except Portfolios. Ensure you keep Keyword Stems checked. Then, give the engine a meaningful name, like Portfolios, and click Done.

IMPORTANT:

Any public post type on your WordPress site can be selected as a source. If you’re running an eCommerce store with plugins like WooCommerce, make product data searchable. Similarly, you can include other custom post types by repeating these steps.

Finally, click Save in the top right to complete the engine setup.

After setting up the engine, the next step is to build a search form that’s specifically designed for the custom post type. To do this, go to SearchWP → Search Forms and click Add New. Assign a descriptive name to the search form for easy identification. Select a layout theme and customize the form fields to match your requirements. Refer to the Create Search Form section for detailed steps.

The most important thing is to ensure the search form is linked to the custom search engine you created earlier (e.g., Portfolios in this example). You can set the Results Page option to SearchWP and use the advanced SearchWP results page to display results. Next, in the Type of Search section, define the types of content that the form should cover. Once everything is configured, click Save.

Now, you can embed this search form to your desired page or post. Don’t forget to test your search form.

Make PDF Files Searchable in WordPress

If your WordPress website hosts PDF files with important content, like eBooks, reports, or guides, making these files searchable can greatly improve your site’s functionality. Visitors can find the exact information they’re looking for, even if it’s inside a PDF. This enhances user experience and ensures valuable content isn’t overlooked.

Here’s how to use SearchWP to enable PDF indexing in WordPress:

Go to SearchWP → Algorithm. On this screen, define what content types SearchWP should include in its results, such as posts, pages, and media files. If you don’t see a Media section listed, add it manually by clicking on Sources & Settings.

Once you click on Source & Settings, a popup will appear showing all the content types that can be included in the search results. Select Media and click Done.

Next, to ensure SearchWP indexes PDF files, expand the Media section and click Add/Remove Attributes.

In the popup, check the Document Content box. This setting instructs SearchWP to index the content of PDF files, text files, Microsoft Office documents, and other formats stored in the media library. Also, check the PDF Metadata box to include metadata such as the author, title, subject, and keywords in the search results. Once you’ve made these selections, click Done.

After adding Document Content and PDF Metadata attributes to the Media section, you’ll see sliders called Applicable Attribute Relevance. These sliders determine the weight assigned to each attribute in search results:

• Higher relevance: Content with a matching attribute will appear higher in the results.
• Lower relevance: Matching content will rank lower.

By default, the sliders for PDF content and metadata are set to a low weight. If you want these attributes to have a greater impact on search rankings, adjust the sliders.

For example, if you run a restaurant website and have uploaded your menu as a PDF, you may want to increase its relevance to ensure it appears prominently in search results.

Once you’re satisfied with the settings, scroll to the top of the page and click Save.

Now, SearchWP will automatically rebuild the search index to include the new attributes. Depending on your WordPress Hosting environment and internet speed, this process may take a few minutes. When the Index Status reaches 100%, the search index will be updated, and PDF content and metadata will be searchable on your site.

IMPORTANT:

Whenever you change SearchWP algorithms, ensure the Index Status is 100%; otherwise, click Rebuild Index to get that score.

Exclude Content from WordPress Search

Sometimes, you may wish to stop certain pages or posts appearing in your WordPress search results. This is especially helpful when you have content irrelevant to your visitors, such as thank-you pages, admin-only posts, or premium blog pages. By excluding this content, you can improve the search experience and ensure users find only what matters.

There are multiple ways to exclude content from WordPress search results. Here are the 3 most effective ones:

1. Use Search Exclude Plugin
2. Use SearchWP Plugin
3. Add Custom Code to functions.php File.

Let’s quickly go through each:

Use Search Exclude Plugin

Install and activate the Search Exclude plugin. Go to Settings → Search Exclude. Choose the Ids for your content type or select All to exclude that specific content completely. For instance, in our example we exclude all authors from search results and particular Posts, Pages, Media, Categories, and Tags. Lastly, click Save to apply your settings.

IMPORTANT:

To find the post or page ID, go to Posts or Pages in your WordPress Dashboard, hover over the title, and look for the ID in the URL at the bottom of your screen. The same applies for categories and tags. However, for media files, you should click on a particular item and locate that media item’s id in your browser’s search bar.

Make a Smart WooCommerce Product Search

In a WordPress WooCommerce store, your search bar plays a significant role in helping customers find the products they need. WooCommerce includes a built-in search feature but doesn’t search within product attributes, reviews, or descriptions. This limitation can make it harder for customers to find the products they search for, potentially reducing your store’s sales.

Here, a smart product search can quickly transform the shopping experience by delivering accurate and relevant results. This improves customer satisfaction and boosts your chances of making more sales.

One of the best options is WooCommerce Product Search. This official WooCommerce plugin is designed to improve product search functionality. It offers features like live search suggestions, filters, and relevance-based results. With this, you can customize the search widget to include filters like categories, tags, and price ranges. 

The SearchWP is another powerful tool that enhances search across your WordPress website, including WooCommerce products. It allows you to customize search parameters, prioritizing titles, descriptions, or product attributes.  Here’s how to use it:

Go to SearchWP → Extensions. Look for the WooCommerce Integration extension and install it. This ensures SearchWP works seamlessly with WooCommerce products.

Next, you must index the WooCommerce products and make them searchable. To do this, navigate to SearchWP → Algorithm. Click Sources & Settings to begin configuring the search engine.

From the popup window, select Products and click Done to save your selection.

That’s it! The foundation is now set up. You’re ready to move on to customizing the WooCommerce search results page.

To do that, expand the Products section. By default, the search includes only the product title, content, slug, author, and excerpt. To extend the search scope, click Add/Remove Attributes.

Add custom fields in the popup (e.g., Price, Color, and Size) and taxonomies (e.g., Produce Categories and Product Tags). For this tutorial example, we only add custom fields. Then, click Done to save your selects.

Next, adjust the relevance of each attribute by moving the sliders. Attributes with higher weights will appear more prominently in search results.

Finally, click Save to rebuild the search index using the updated configuration.

Now, SearchWP will automatically rebuild its search index in the background. Once the process is complete, the updated search engine will provide more accurate and relevant results for your WooCommerce store. Once everything is configured, visit your WooCommerce store and test the search functionality.

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