1. Don't put anything but the search box and a few important navigation links on the search page.
2. Make it lightweight so it loads in less than a second.
3. Save the ads and promos and articles and come-ons for the search results page.
Google, AskJeeves and some other sites know what they're doing by having a sparse home page.
MSN's home page is an elaborate news/sports/stocks portal. The visitor feels like he is the tool being used, rather than the other way around. Yahoo isn't much better.
How to attract search users (Score:2)
2. Make it lightweight so it loads in less than a second.
3. Save the ads and promos and articles and come-ons for the search results page.
Google, AskJeeves and some other sites know what they're doing by having a sparse home page.
MSN's home page is an elaborate news/sports/stocks portal. The visitor feels like he is the tool being used, rather than the other way around. Yahoo isn't much better.