Google Search Appliance Creating the Search Experience - Manual (Page 85)

Google Search Appliance: Creating the Search Experience Best Practices 85
To search for terms that appear in either the “sales” or “marketing” collection, use the boolean OR [|]
operator on the site parameter. The following example shows a GET request that specifies both
collections.
http://search.corp.mycompany.com/search?q=query+string
&site=sales|marketing
&client=default_frontend
&output=xml_no_dtd
&proxystylesheet=default_frontend
To search for terms that appear in both the “engineering” and “support” collections, use the boolean
AND [.] operator on the site parameter. The following example shows a GET request that specifies both
collections.
http://search.corp.mycompany.com/search?q=query+string
&site=engineering.support
&client=default_frontend
&output=xml_no_dtd
&proxystylesheet=default_frontend
Once you have exposed these multi-select collections in your UI, make sure that the users know that
they can segment a search to get better relevancy.
For complete information about using search parameters, refer to the Search Protocol Reference.
Evaluating Search Performance
The most effective way for you to create an appropriate search experience is to focus on the end user.
To gain insight into your user's opinions about search, you can solicit their feedback. Ways to solicit
feedback from end users include:
• “Adding a Feedback Mechanism for Users” on page 85
• “Conducting a User Satisfaction Survey” on page 86
In addition to getting feedback from end users, you might want to exchange ideas with other search
appliance administrators or members of the Google Enterprise team. For information on this topic,
refer to “Exchanging Information on Google Groups” on page 87.
Adding a Feedback Mechanism for Users
The number of user searches tends to increase when users can provide feedback about the quality of
results. User feedback is also an effective way to identify usability issues. When you solicit feedback, you
let users know that their opinions about the search experience are important. As users see
improvements based on their feedback, they search more.
Some easy ways you can enable users to give feedback might include:
• Adding an email link to the search results page. For example, you might label the link “Email us if
you can’t find what you’re seeking.”
• Adding a button on the search results page. For example, you might label the button “I didn't find
what I was looking for.” Logging the percentage of queries that result in a click of this button
provide an easy way for you to see whether you are improving the search experience.
Feedback that is sent with the user information is very useful. It enables you to contact users to get
clarification and show that you are following up with them.