As webmasters, we would like to know what our visitors and subscribers are searching for on our site.This could benefit both your visitors and your site in the long run. The choice is yours to either want to know or not, this will depend on your site and goals you have set.
Basic Plugin Description
Search Meter plugin keeps track of what your visitors are searching for. After you have activated this plugin, you can check the Search Meter section in the Dashboard to see what your visitors are searching for on your blog.
- Developer: Bennett McElwee
- Author site: thunderguy.com
- WordPress link: Search Meter
So, why would you want to know:
- In the end, we would understand our visitors and subscribers a bit better
- We could get ideas for new posts from the terms searched
- We could use the results to enhance our keywords/tags used on current and future posts
There are probably more reasons, but I think the three above are critical for most sites.
Admin Settings
This plugin has simple settings which can be seen under the ‘Settings’ panel. There you will see two check boxes whereby you can enable the plugin to store the details the users are entering in your search form. You can also set it up to hide the question asked. You can see the details in the image below.
WordPress Plugin - Search Meter Admin Settings
Besides having the choice to keep the detailed information from searches, you can also reset your stats. One could reset your stats if you wanted to monitor searches on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. Maybe even for a specific time period.
WordPress Plugin - Search Meter Admin Settings
Bonus Feature – Widgets
I like this plugin as it also offers two widgets which can be used in your theme.
The two widgets are:
- Popular Searches
- Recent Searches
You have the ability to change the widget header wording as well as the number of results to show.
WordPress Plugin - Search Meter Widgets
So, how do you check what users are searching for? The report that you can use is available under the ‘Dashboard’ panel. You will see a link named ‘Search Meter’.
The results are split up between:
- Yesterday and today
- Last 7 days
- Last 30 days
Each section will show you:
- Term – is the text that was searched for; you can click it to see which posts contain that term. (This won’t be counted as another search.)
- Searches – is the number of times the term was searched for.
- Results - is the number of posts that were returned from the last search for that term.
WordPress Plugin - Search Meter Report
Final Thought
This plugin is not for everyone and I do accept that, but don’t you think it would be interesting to know what is being searched? Are you using this plugin or a similar plugin? Would love to know what you think, please make sure to leave a comment.
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Author Information
Article by George Serradinho
I am the proud owner of Serradinho and have made this my second home. I'm into blogging, downloads, WordPress and the internet in general. I also love meeting and helping others and learning new techniques.
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Additional search info can help me determine how to better write and categorize my articles. Thanks for the tip!
Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..The Best Reviews of ‘2009 in Review’
@Gabe – every little thing helps and yes, it can help you determine how and what to write. Let me know if you try this plugin as your feedback would be appreciated.
Seems a good plugins to try, even thought it can be done via Google Webmaster tools. BTW, thanks George
steppinout´s last blog ..Mozilla Unveils Thunderbird 3 Email Application
@steppinout – yes, you probably could. This can be accessed via your WP backend.
Any advantages compare to Google Analytics?
Jayce´s last blog ..How to hack Facebook account profile
@Jayce – I think they would be similar, but you will be able to access this via your WP backend. Maybe give it a try and compare the results.
Nice Wordpress Plugin and will use on SmashinGeeks.
SmashinGeeks´s last blog ..How to Install Wordpress On Localhost Using XAMPP Lite
@SmachinGeeks – let me know what you think of it, all feedback is welcomed.
as Gabe said additional search terms will let us know what the users want to know and keen about which initiates us to write about similar articles to attract users..
Rajesh Kanuri @ TechCats´s last blog ..How To Add Snow Effect For Christmas In Blogger (BlogSpot) Blogs
@Rajesh – yes, you could know a little more about what is being searched and learn from it.
I don’t have a search bar on my basic pages!! later I will do and also I will install this plugin.
NEELMONEY´s last blog ..GO –GO- Gambling At Shoemoney
@NEELMONEY – think about it as the search feature can help your visitors find posts/info quicker. I would personally feel irratated if I had to do a search and there was no means possible, probably leave that site ASAP.
ohk..! That’s something really helpful..! You can see what really user’s want ..!..That’s worth giving a shot..!
Shubham´s last blog ..10 Best SEO Tools For Firefox: Addons
Great find! this plugin will help us to learn what exactly our readers want and give it for them….
Pubudu Kodikara´s last blog ..Step by Step How to Install Ubuntu 9.10 in Your System
I think I need this plugin more than anyone. My site is search engine depended and I always love to see what other searching in my blog. I know there are many much tool which can give you more information but I don’t want to increase my database size in rapid pace. Thanks for sharing this handy plugin.
Arafat Hossain Piyada´s last blog ..Toshiba Introduced High-Density Embedded 64GB NAND Flash Memory Modules
@Arafat – you could also use Google Analytics for this, but this plugin is not that bad. Give it a try and see if you like it. All feedback whether good or bad is welcomed.
Wordpress is great for plug in facility. Well I am tracking my visitor by using statcounter. I think this plug in will very helpful for wordpress users.
chandan@work at home´s last blog ..How to build backlink for your work at home blog
@chandan – this plugin just reports what is being searched on your site. It won’t show you how many visitors, what pages are being viewed, etc. I don’t think they are similar at all, please correct me if I’m wrong.
I see, so it will really benefit for us and we can create our page with better way when we come to know what visitors want, so is it only for wordpress not such tool for blogger also?
chandan@work at home´s last blog ..How to build backlink for your work at home blog
Very useful, thanks for the heads up George.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Last Chance! MaxBlogPress Christmas 4 Plugin Package At 75% Off Deal Expires TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT!! PLUS Something Extra From Me
Nice Review George, I am already using this plugin and I know it helps a lot, when you need to choose a article to be posted on your blog.
Sahil Kotak´s last blog ..Review: Br.St A Cool Twitter Web Client
@Sahil – glad you like it and using it. Could I ask how many posts have you published from using the reported search phrases?
Thanks for the heads up on this plugin George, I’ll have to give it a test run on one of my other blogs
Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..2009 A Year in Review on Blazing Minds
@Karen – let me know what you think of it, it would help me and the rest of the Serradinho readers.
It is cool plugin but as you all know more plugin more loading time then I stay with Google Analytics. It is much better to me so far. Thanks
Tinh´s last blog ..List of Do-Follow Forums
I will try out it. It will help us know what topic we should write next
Minh´s last blog ..Bằng chứng nhận séc (check) của Adbrite
Thanks for sharing! I will try this plugin to track the search in google. I think it can help me to know which topic is popular to write on.
Kok Siong Chen´s last blog ..Top 10 Discoveries of Cancer Treatment in 2009
Interesting.. so if I understand correctly this tracks the searches being performed within your site’s search function? This makes it different from the keyword data you get in Analytics because that is pulled from the search performed when landing on your site, not within your site. This could definitely be a useful tool if you have a search feature on your site. -Mike
Somerset County Movers´s last blog ..Hunterdon County Movers
@Somerset County Movers – you are 100% correct, it is what is searched within your site. So, it’s important to have the WP search box somewhere on your site.
Another great plugin review. This seems like a good one as it is important to know what our visitors want from us. I will be linking to this in my Sunday’s Best series.
Tycoon Blogger´s last blog ..Powerful Seo tool all bloggers should know about
@Tycoon – thanks for the link love, saw it now. I think it will help a bit as to what users are searching for on your site/blog.