Benefits of Search Part 2 – Learning from Intranet Search

In the last post we looked at the benefits you can gain from the search data gathered from your public website. Monitoring your search is one of the most valuable tools for ensuring your site is relevant to your customers. However, are you applying the same approach to your Intranet? Your employees’ need for relevant information is just as important as your customers.

In the average company, the volume of available information is growing at an alarming rate, sometimes doubling every six to eight months. The frequency of mergers and consolidations not only adds to the quantity, but this can also bring a level of complication with vastly different organization structures. It’s no surprise that research has found the average information worker spends at least three hours per week searching for the information they need to complete their work.

Many of the benefits of analysing your enterprise search solution are similar to those from your public website. You can use this data to determine which content is missing, mislabelled, or needs to be more visible through the use of keyword matches or synonyms. Although the uses of this data may be similar there are several compelling reasons unique to Intranet Search including:

Reduce the Duplication of Efforts
If employees cannot locate information in a timely fashion, they are likely to recreate it themselves. When you consider that the average business document requires anywhere form 3 to 8 hours of effort per page, it’s clear that the cost of productivity hours can add up quickly. Of course, you must also add the time spent unsuccessfully searching to this mix as well. When needed information is located quickly, your employees can save hundreds of hours of productivity per year.

Better Decision Making
Every executive wants to make the most informed decision possible. However, key information can be difficult to find because employees may not be aware it exists. Well maintained keyword usage and synonyms are critical to conducting all inclusive searches. There is no limit to the cost of a poor decision.

Capitalizing on New Opportunities
If you are in a fast-paced, information-based market, information is critical to winning new clients and keeping your time to market as low as possible. In these endeavours, every hour counts. If employees spend excessive time searching or present out-dated information, you can lose a great opportunity.

As you can see, the necessity of analyzing and maintaining your Intranet search engine is just as critical as the search available on your public website.