Search: No results equals no Sale

In the ClickZ article "Search: No results equals no Sale", Jack Aronson makes a compelling case as to why the majority of companies should try to better their "no results" page that arises when a customer queries something using their search engine. Prudential and Hoovers.com both have no results page that simply say "Your search did not match any documents" or "No results found. Please go back and refine your search". These no result pages are bad for two reasons. First, It blames the consumer for not being able to ask for the right thing and secondly, it's a "dead end" page with no links to other possible "places" in the company where the answer could be found.

According to the article, another good practice when running a search engine on your companies website is to also have a results page with multiple elements; it should be a "fully merchandised page", with lists of other things to buy or other places to go. All in all, the results page should be thought of as a personal web page that keeps the consumer on the computer and doesn't force him to leave your website and go to another company.