Search search search… We all are searching for something in our day-to-day lives, be it related to our work, technology, space, cooking, or hobbies that we are passionate about, or just how to tie a necktie? We all are looking for knowledge and quick answers to our questions. We can't imagine the world of the Internet without a search option, which has become inevitable and plays a huge part in our lives.
Do you know what else plays an important role and has a profound impact on our lives? An online forum community. The main objective of a forum community is to optimize customers' experience. It is all there in plain sight, you just have to search for it. There are millions of online communities present that virtually connect all the users in the world. We're all part of an online community that we love, be it a developer community, or book-lovers community, space enthusiasts community, or anything for that matter.
The question is are we making use of communities to the fullest? Are we even using the search bars in a community? Huh! I don't think so. Probably, we are blind-sided by this common misconception that community content cannot reach different touchpoints because we haven't unleashed the full potential of a community yet. We often underestimate the power of community, how organic engagement in a community can pave the way to reaching your business goals and growth.
Today, we are going to have a laid-back approach on how to make use of search bars in a forum community like a pro! Let's unleash the search bars, shall we?
How could search bars open a gateway to a new realm of knowledgeable content?
Whenever we are in a forum community, we tend to ignore the idea of using a search bar to type in the relevant keywords or topics related to our search, rather than looking for point-blank answers.
A few online communities have incorporated search bar results that are enabled by certain keywords, tags, and categories. So all you need to do is search for the topic, keywords, contents, or the specific field. Voila! You'll find a list of options related to your keyword or topic.
Let us see how search bars in a forum community can enable you to explore some cool space projects and help you find your next read eliminating your petty struggles.
Real-time example scenarios
Let us look at a couple of examples here to learn more about how search works.
Example 1: The zooniverse community
Zooniverse is a website where you can join with enthusiastic researchers and volunteers to explore and work on similar topics of interest ranging from language, space, fauna, to literature. You have many interesting topics that need some serious introspection.
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/hughdickinson/superwasp-black-hole-hunters/talk
So let's take a look at the SuperWASP: Black Hole Hunters project. The project aims to determine the black holes present in the given graphs. Now let's say, you can't identify a black hole in the given graph.
Instead of going back to the tutorial to learn more to get a clear understanding of black holes and noise signals, then get more confused in differentiating the peak signal of a black hole from a curvy noise signal. You can simply type in 'peaks' in the search bar.
You not only get an explanation of how to identify the black hole signal peaks but you will also get a list of other members, researchers, and volunteers who have faced similar issues in differentiating noise from the signal. How they have effectively differentiated the signal successfully. It is a live example which makes your job easier.
The Zooniverse forum community specifically uses keywords and tags to make your search simplified. As a user looking for information, what did the search bar enable you to achieve from the zooniverse community?
- You could find a list of options that comes under the particular keyword that could help you greatly in solving your problem.
- You get to explore more about the particular subject… like what researchers say about black hole existence, what other members are talking about black holes.
- You can find other volunteers and members posting their solutions to the same issues. Your problem is solved in a jiffy.
- You can also interact with others to talk more about the projects and solve them.
Example 2: The GoodReads community
The GoodReads community groups will suggest you with a list of groups based on a specific author or book. Now say… Search "Oprah" in the groups, you will get a list of book clubs under her name and the new set of books she recommends to her followers.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Oprah+&commit=Search+groups
You can also check out her official book club where people are talking about their current favorite books suggested by her and to you a list of books written by her, see what people are talking about their perspectives on a specific book they read. You will get insights from the discussion and your big headache on what to read next is resolved.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/85538-oprah-s-book-club-official
In what way did the GoodReads community help its users to find what they are looking for?
- You are flooded with a list of books in the search bar written and suggested by Oprah.
- You can check out Oprah's book club and the books recommended by her.
- You can take a look at what other readers had to say about the books they've read based on Oprah's suggestions.
- You can also get to interact with other members of the discussion forum.
- Finally, you can make a clear decision on which is the best book to start reading next.
Search - Explore - Interact - Learn
You could explore more and learn more when you make use of search bars. You could find interesting topics, contents, and incidents shared by other members in the community, alongside you will find abundant sources of relevant information, but you will also get to learn some new features that a specific product or service offers.
You will learn more about how to enhance your skills, get better at something, and find solutions to your problems by being a part of a community. Because the members of a community post collective content regularly that are often useful for the entire community, address your issues, and give real-time solutions, nevertheless if you are a new member or already existing one, you always benefit from the community.
When you make use of search bars in a forum community, the knowledge you get through it is plentiful. Search bars in a community can open gateways to a whole different realm of collective knowledge and enables you to do the following:
You search. You explore. You find relevant & interesting content. You interact with experts and collect information. You learn. You try to incorporate it and most of all you get collective knowledge and solutions to your problems suggested by real-time users.
The final verdict
Community is a heaven for anyone who's a part of it, you will find answers to everything you need in a community if you do a little bit of searching -- It's all about how you optimize your search usage and how you find amazing content from different people all over the world. Like Ariana's song goes… I want it, I got it. You search it, you got it!
Community is a great place with every different touchpoint.
Be it tech, programming, space, books, or educational resources. You have it all. Everything you need, from real-time users with real-time experiences. Just make sure you make use of search bars like a pro and utilize a community to the fullest. It is in plain sight only a search away!
Why so serious? Have a fun conversations with community enthusiasts every Saturday, not sure if this is your cup of coffee then do check out our community cold coffee conversations and book your slot soon, since we are always completely booked, so book your slot in advance here.
Our motto is to make community-building process simple and fun. Wanna start your happy community with us? Then why search when we are right here just a click away?