Originally published at: http://www.sitepoint.com/search-replacements-for-wordpress/
Most WordPress themes have a built in search feature, making it easy for visitors to find posts on the topics they are interested in. This is especially handy, because posts are shown in chronological order. Instead of making visitors sift through paginated archive after archive, they can type in a keyword or category and jump straight to every related post on that topic. What happens when you want a customized search feature on your WordPress site? What options are available, and what do they do? We’ll take a look at different search replacements for WordPress.
The Main Problem With WordPress’s Default Search Feature
WordPress, by default will look for the most recent entry that matches the search criteria, instead of what is the most relevant. This can be frustrating, especially when you write a blockbuster post on a particular topic, and it gets buried in your own search results. This causes major usability issues, and actually hurts your site in the long run. If visitors can’t find what they’re looking for, which may just be that blockbuster post you wrote, they may not come back to your site, thinking that it isn’t as relevant to the topic as it actually is. Basically, your default search feature may be shooting you in the foot.
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