Are you searching for the finest WordPress search plugin to help you boost the search on your website?
We all know how restricted the default WordPress search feature is. Several WordPress search plugins, on the other hand, can help you improve the default search experience.
We’ll go over the finest WordPress search plugins in this article to help you boost your site’s search.
Why Use a WordPress Search Plugin?
WordPress has a built-in search feature, however, it is limited and ineffective in finding relevant content.
You may not require a better search tool right immediately if you are creating a new WordPress website or blog.
As you add additional material, you’ll want to make it easier for users to find articles or goods. Many people rely solely on SEO best practices, believing that users will find their way to their website via search engines.
Adding a site search helps users who are already on your website. For instance, they may be looking for an older article that they didn’t bookmark or a particular product on your WooCommerce store. Site search keeps users on your site longer, increases engagement, and leads to more conversions and purchases.
Now, without further ado, let’s have a look at our top ten list of free and premium WordPress search plugins.
1. SearchWP
One of the greatest custom search plugins for WordPress is SearchWP. It’s incredibly simple to use, and the search results are more precise. It allows you to search for a keyword in the title, content, slug, categories, tags, taxonomies, extracts, and even comments of a post or page. You can control the algorithm by giving each content category a weight from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
The plugin indexes your content immediately after activation and replaces WordPress’ default search feature.
Pricing: Starting from $99 per year.
2. ElasticPress
ElasticPress is a search solution for WordPress that is hosted and based on ElasticSearch.
Rather than running on your WordPress site, it executes search queries in the cloud and displays results in a moment. It’s easy to install and use on any WordPress site, and it’s compatible with all major WordPress hosting providers.
It contains a built-in Ajax search that returns results as soon as the user starts typing. It also works nicely with WooCommerce, allowing users to find the products they want much faster.
It is a hosted service that is far more expensive than any of the other search options on this list.
Pricing: $79 per month
3. Advanced Woo Search
Advanced Woo Search is a sophisticated WordPress search plugin that adds a handy search to WooCommerce sites. Your visitors will be able to successfully search through all of your products using this plugin. It’s even better because it’s quick, simple to use, and packed with useful features. Simply use a shortcode or a widget to install a search box anywhere you want it, and you’re good to go.
Users can search in the product title, content, excerpt, categories, tags, and SKUs using Advanced Woo Search. To make things clearer, each search result might include a product image and price. It also employs Smart Ordering to display search results according to the priority of the source where they were discovered. However, that is only the tip of the iceberg, as this plugin comes with a slew of other useful features. To make things even better, Advanced Woo Search is also compatible with translation plugins like WPML, Polylang, WooCommerce Multilingual, and qTranslate.
Pricing: Advanced Woo Search is free, but there’s also a premium version for $49
4. Jetpack Search
Upgrade to the Professional plan if you’re using (or considering using) the popular Jetpack plugin on your website. Jetpack enhances WordPress search with an improved ranking algorithm, advanced filtering based on custom taxonomies and posts types, mobile responsiveness, multi-language support, and, of course, faster results. The Jetpack search feature alone probably isn’t worth the $29 per month that the Professional plan will run you. The search feature, on the other hand, is a wonderful addition if you’re interested in anything else the plugin has to offer.
5. Ivory Search
Ivory Search is a fantastic WordPress search plugin that can be used to replace the default WordPress search.
It enables you to design several different custom search forms. You can construct dynamic forms for different regions of your website by giving each form its specific search options.
It’s compatible with WooCommerce and major WordPress multilingual plugins. Ivory Search examines post categories, picture metadata, custom fields, and other factors to improve search results.
Ajax can also be used to display live search results without having to reload the page. It includes shortcodes and a search widget that make it simple to show search forms anywhere on your website.
Pricing: The base plugin is free. The Premium version starts at $19.99 per year.
6. Better Search
Better Search is a free WordPress plugin that replaces your default search form with a much better one. It not only speeds up the search process but also gives users more relevant results. With this great plugin, you can easily search across posts, pages, and even custom post categories. Not only that, but Better Search also lets you tailor the search results in a variety of ways. You can also choose whether the title or the content gets more attention.
This plugin will benefit advanced users even more. Some numerous filters and actions can enhance the functionality of this plugin. For starters, you can customize the plugin by adding your CSS Styles. The ‘search heatmap’ is another useful element of Better Search.
The plugin can keep track of searches and display the most popular ones in a user-friendly way. To top it off, this plugin works in conjunction with your WordPress theme.