Why I Don’t Like BANS Default Search Box

BANS (Build a Niche Store) comes with a giant search box right below the header image. I never use the default search box on my BANS sites. As you can see from the screen shot below, most of the BANS owners use the default search box. This screen shot was taken from the customer stores listed at BANS website. All of the stores listed there are using the default search box except a few.

Don’t get me wrong. I know they don’t look that bad if you dress them up with some css coding. That’s not my point. I don’t like the default search box because it is distracting the visitors. Some BANS owners say that it is the most important section of the store, but I strongly disagree.

My goal is to have my visitors click on one of my eBay listings and have them search what they want at eBay. They have better search engine there.

Here is another reason why I don’t like the default search box. Unfortunately the search feature needs more work. If a product isn’t listed on your site, the search returns “no products in this store” message. What are the chances that visitors leave your site once they see this annoying message? I think very likely.

Instead, I always use a simple search box that does the same job and looks neat. Take a look at my search boxes.

I place my search box on the right side column like shown on the following screen shot.

Replacing the search box is very easy. Open header.php from a theme folder and remove the following code.

<?=$front->search();?>

Then replace it with..

<?=$front->searchbasic();?>

That’s it! Move the code to where you want the search box to be shown. I hope you found this tip useful because it does improve your earning.