Search Bars are often added to website to paper over problems that exist with the way that they have been built.
If you have a Search Bar, then delete it (*) and fix the problems.
How Users Should Find Information
There are number of ways that a user can find the information they want – if your website has been setup correctly;
1. Direct Link – you may be talking to a prospect about your product / services and you send them a direct link to a page.
2. SEO – someone performs a search such as “web designer ascot” and then clicks through to the relevant page on your website.
3. Navigation – a visitor clicks through to your homepage and then goes to the required page through the header navigation.
4. Internal Links – a page has been read and the reader clicks through to another page for more information.
If you need a Search Bar on your website, then it is not setup for your visitors to find the information they need easily. Perhaps your website isn’t optimised for Google so your pages are not ranking or your navigation is confusing and visitors can’t find what they are looking for.
Fix those issues and then remove your Search Bar.
* The only exception to this is eCommerce website with large amounts of products.
