Create a GeneratePress Search Page with GenerateBlocks

Explore how to set up an efficient GeneratePress search page on your website using GenerateBlocks. Dive into the challenges of WordPress’s default search and discover plugins and SEO techniques to optimize user experience.

The Problem with WordPress’s Default Search

WordPress’s default search sometimes feels like it’s playing hide and seek:

• Accuracy
  It doesn’t always find what you’re looking for.
• User Experience
  The results layout can be a bit…meh.

Setting Up GeneratePress Search Results with GenerateBlocks

Here’s where the magic happens:

1. Enable Default Search in GeneratePress
   Head over to the customizer, navigate to layout > primary navigation, and activate the navigation search modal.
2. Customize the Layout with GenerateBlocks
   Add a section and insert a headline. Use the query loop block to display search results. This is where you shape how your search results look.
3. Add Featured Images
   Visuals always help. Add a grid inside the query loop and link it to the post’s featured image. It gives users a quick peek into the content.

Enhancing User Experience with Search Titles

Let’s make the search results more intuitive:

• Display the Search Query
  It’s always good to remind users what they searched for. Add a header that echoes back their search term.
• Customization with Shortcodes
  A little technical, but super useful. Use a shortcode block to tweak the search results header. Below you will find a code snippet to display your search term:

  add_shortcode('search_title', 'get_search_title');
  function get_search_title() {
      if (is_search()) {
          return '<p class="search-for">Search results for:</p><h1 class="search-title">' . get_search_query() . '</h1>';
      } elseif (is_archive()) {
          return '<h1 class="search-title">' . get_the_archive_title() . '</h1>';
      } 
  }

  Source: GenerateTweaks

Handling ‘No Search Results’ Scenarios

It’s like when you can’t find your favorite cookie in the jar:

1. Custom Message
   A friendly “Oops! We couldn’t find any results.”
2. Encourage Another Search
   Maybe they misspelled it? Prompt users to try again. To have the last search term showing you can add the following to your HTML code:

   data-gpmodal-trigger="gp-search"

   Source: GenerateTweaks

Leveraging SEO for Better GenerateBlocks Search Results

SEO isn’t just for Google. It can make your site’s search smarter:

1. Use Post Meta for Titles
   Instead of the default, why not fetch the SEO title?
2. Fetch SEO Descriptions
   A brief SEO description can be more informative than the default excerpt.

Conclusion

With GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks, you can transform your website’s search function into a powerful and user-friendly feature. It’s all about making sure your visitors find what they’re after. Here’s to better searching!