Visitors look for a Search function on your website as the quickest way to find what they want. A good Search function is key to visitor satisfaction.

Some websites attempt to provide search by linking to the Google site search function. There are two things wrong with this:

• You don't control when the index is updated, Google does. So an important addition might not be searchable immediately, or maybe for weeks.
• Google provides a general search for words, without understanding the meaning of the words. For example, you can't specify whether "springfield" refers to a person, place or thing.

With a Search function tailored to your website, you can update the index whenever you want and provide visitors with more meaningful search results. Good software engineering can tailor a Search function with maximum value for your website.