In-House
When it comes to your website, search functionality is key. Your visitors need to be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, and if they can’t, they’re likely to leave your site and head to one of your competitors.
So, it stands to reason that you want the best search functionality possible for your website. But what’s the best way to achieve this? Should you build it in-house or buy it from a third-party provider?
There are pros and cons to both approaches, but, overall, we believe that buying search functionality is the better option. Here’s why:
When you buy search functionality, you get a complete solution. Building search functionality from scratch can be a complex and time-consuming process. You need to design and develop the search interface, come up with the algorithms that power the search results, and integrate all of this with your existing website. And that’s just for starters!
If you don’t have the in-house expertise to do all of this, then you’ll need to hire someone who does. This can be an expensive option, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to deliver what you need.
When you buy search functionality from a third-party provider, on the other hand, you get a complete solution that has been designed and developed by experts. It will be much easier to implement than building something from scratch, and it will be more reliable and effective too.
It’s also worth noting that most third-party providers offer support services as part of their package. So, if you do run into any problems or have any questions, you can simply pick up the phone or send an email and they will help you out.
Another advantage of buying search functionality is that it can save you money in the long run. If you build search functionality into your website yourself, then you will need to pay for all of the associated costs upfront. This includes the cost of hiring experts to help you out (if necessary), as well as the cost of any software licenses that are required.
With a third-party solution, on the other hand, you can spread the cost over time through a subscription model. This means that you only pay for what you use – so if your needs change or grow over time, then your costs will increase accordingly. In most cases, this will work out cheaper than building everything yourself from scratch.
