When I go to the grocery store, or most stores, I head directly for what I want, grab it and buy it. My wife meanders the aisles and carefully contemplates everything on the aisle as if she might actually purchase it. Even though we both know that there is no way she's buying that weird apple/grape combo fruit called the Grapple.
Web sites aren't much different than grocery stores. They each have their own layout, and you feel more comfortable in some more than others. For the most part, though, you take the same approach every time you visit. Either you go straight for what you want or you meander. In the Web world, going straight for what you want is almost always entering a Search. Whereas sifting through the navigation is more like reading the ingredients on the Grapple packaging. I'm a searcher, and our Web analytic information tells me that you are too, in increasing numbers. Thank you Google for the classical conditioning.
For me, I know what I want from my search. I want extremely relative information and if that doesn't pop up, I better have an option to drill down to what I want. PlantServices.com is currently discussing reworking its search results page. We'd be interested in your comments and how you think we can improve it. Go ahead and try a couple searches and see if you find what you're looking for. Did you get too much? Too little? Not relevant? I'm a sports geek and I really like the search on ESPN.com, and perhaps that'll be a loose model for us. Please feel free to fill up the comment section on this blog entry with search suggestions - we'd love to have them.