Search Analytics is out, and it's a game changer

Scary fact time: we spend 7.6 hours per week searching for information that we need to do our job. That’s ridiculous.

One workday a week is wasted. Poof. Gone. Organizations worldwide have realized that the bigger and more global they become, the more inefficient they are at serving their employees and helping them reach peak performance. The question “Are we doing what we can to capture our talent’s full potential?” gets thrown around the boardroom nearly every Q1 of the new year, and as there’s no sign of decline in the scarcity of talent, capitalizing on our current assets is increasingly important. To put it simply: we need to do better to help our employees do better. And that’s why we’re here to help. 

Search Analytics changes the game. You’ll never have to wonder what your people really need, when they need it, and how efficient you are at providing them with the right information and tools. Search Analytics will be available to everyone with a Custom package or the Advanced Analytics add-on, and was quite possibly the most requested analytics feature ever. We’re proud to say that we now offer the definitive suite for Internal Comms analytics within Happeo – and we can’t wait to see how you will use it to make your Internal Comms more efficient. 

Search Analytics brings the following 8 features:

1. Most searched keywords

Probably the most obvious, definitely the most crucial. Knowing what it is that your employees really need on your social-intranet platform will change the way you prioritize internal content. Combine this with the rest of our Advanced Analytics suite (a part of the same package) and you’ll have an overview of the type of content people engage with, talk about and now, search for. We also highlight trending queries – making it even easier to spot topics that you should be creating content for. 

In the same research that shows employees spend almost one day a week searching for information they need to do their job, McKinsey also stated that you can decrease this time by as much as 35% with a searchable knowledge archive. Just calculate those 2.66 hours saved and multiply it by the amount of employees you have, times their average hourly salary, and there’s your business case. Bob’s your uncle. Or in this case, McKinsey is. 

2. Total searches

This is simply the amount of searches done across your Happeo platform, filtered by a pre-defined time period. This will give you a great overview of which time periods increase the demand for information. As a simple example: Happeo customers with the Advanced Analytics add-on can expect a spike for searches in their platforms around May, when lockdown protocols were implemented almost globally due to COVID-19.  

3. Unique search users

Find out just how many people are using the Search functionality in your social intranet. Like most of the features here, this is pretty self-explanatory, but there is power in this. Search volume by itself says little about the demand for information if you don’t know anything about the size of your audience. Again: one of the biggest inefficiencies in business today is the amount of time people spend searching for information. Campaigning to use your Happeo’s search function will now yield entirely measurable results, and a big thumbs-up from your CEO too boot. 

4. Average time to find results

Ever heard of the paradox of choice? An overwhelming amount of choice can sometimes lead to the simplest of decisions: to make no choice at all. If your user does a successful search, but needs a lot of time to choose from the list of results, the keywords used by your people are likely too broad. Make sure you narrow it down within the articles and files you put up on your platform, and then make sure you educate your people about those exact terms. 

5. Average time on opened results

So, a user used your Happeo’s search function, and found what they’re looking for – at least, based on the preview in the search result. Now, is that result actually engaging? Was it worth the time the user spent to search in the first place? That’s exactly what this metric answers.

6. Success percentages 

A success is when a user searches for a particular keyword and clicks something from the search results. The higher your success percentage, the more your internal content is tailored to the needs of your people.

7. Failure percentages

A failure is when a user performed a search, but gave up. They didn’t find what they were looking for – they clicked nothing in the provided search results. Cross reference the amount of failures with the most popular search terms and you’ll be able to see the biggest gaps in your internal content in the blink of an eye.

8. Download reports

We’ve made the Search Analytics report as visual as it gets, but for maximum flexibility you can also download a .CSV file. This allows you to make exact graphs of the things you care about, or you can import data from search analytics into a different system.

Continuous dedication to increasing value

We recently introduced add-ons as an option for our customers, allowing maximum flexibility to how you use your Happeo platform, and what you value most. But add-ons aren’t a one-hit wonder. We’re committed to providing value with every release, which is why this is an update to Advanced Analytics instead of a separate purchase. We’ve always said that improving the tools Internal Comms has is the only way to cause the revolution it needs. And you can only improve what you can measure. 

We’re really looking forward to seeing how you use Search Analytics. Please share your examples with us, especially in our customer community!