Learn How to Fix WordPress Search Not Working (3+ Major Issues Resolved)

Are you looking to solve WordPress search issues on your website?

Troubleshooting WordPress search issues may be difficult. This is due to the fact that there are several reasons why your site search may not be working. However, if you know where to search, you may resolve these difficulties more quickly.

In this blog, we\’ll look at some common reasons why WordPress search doesn\’t function. We would next explain how to resolve these issues.

Most of these adjustments may be completed in a matter of minutes. You don\’t have to be a WordPress expert to do this.

Let\’s get started!

4 Common Typical Cases of WordPress Search Not Working

WordPress is a powerful website-creation system. However, its search capabilities are limited.

WordPress searches particular content kinds like as posts, products, and pages by default. As a result, your users will be unable to locate results in comments, reviews, or product descriptions.

Worse, you may be having problems with WordPress search not working at all. And these problems might present themselves in a number of ways. This can make them hard to fix.

Search functionality is an important element of every website. It\’s nearly hard for users to find what they\’re looking for if your WordPress site search isn\’t working.

This may cause people to leave your site more quickly. It may also result in a negative brand reputation and low consumer satisfaction.

For WordPress search challenges, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. If you want to solve WordPress search not functioning, you need first discover the source of the problem.

Let\’s take a look at some of the most typical WordPress search problems.

1. The WordPress Search Box Doesn\’t Show Up

This is a typical search problem that WordPress people face on their sites. In this instance, your site visitors will see no search box and cannot search your website.

There might be several reasons why WordPress isn\’t showing the search form on your site. Here are two possible explanations:

• By default, your theme has no search bar. Some WordPress themes include a search form by default in the site\’s header or sidebar. If you switch to a new theme, you may notice that your previous search box no longer appears.
• Issues with compatibility with your theme or plugins. Even if you manually insert a search widget to your site, you may have certain issues. Any modifications to your theme or plugins might have a major impact on the search function. This might cause the search form to misbehave or maybe disappear entirely.

We\’ll going through how to troubleshoot this later. Alternatively, you can skip ahead to the solution for WordPress search not appearing by click here.

2. WordPress Search Delivers Unproductive Results

You may have noticed that when you search for keywords, your site does not provide the expected information.

The following are the two main causes behind this:

• • The default WordPress search is not sufficient. The built-in search feature does not index everything on your page and is not always accurate. This implies that when consumers search your site, they may not always get relevant results. In this instance, you may improve WordPress search by using a WordPress search plugin such as SearchWP.
  • Your WordPress theme is doing an unnecessary search. This signifies that your theme has a search.php file that does its own search. As a result, instead of WordPress-provided search results, your site shows a default search results page.

To resolve this issue, make changes to the search.php file in your theme folder. When you wish to solve this mistake, we\’ll show you what to check for. Alternatively, you can move straight to the solution for WordPress search not returning relevant results by clicking here.

3. WordPress Search Is Extremely slow

You may have noticed that your site search is sluggish if you\’ve been using WordPress for a time. It\’s even worse if you have a huge website with thousands of articles, pages, and products.

WordPress only use SQL to find information on your website. This database language, however, is not sufficient for full-text searches. This implies that if you have a huge database, your site may struggle to produce results.

The simplest solution is to use specialist search engine tools. This tool will speed up database searches and may be installed as a plugin.

4. WordPress Search Returns a 404 Not Found Error

Another sign that WordPress search isn\’t working is a 404 error or \”Page Not Found\” page. WordPress 404 errors are a regular problem. When WordPress gives this error, it simply means that the system was unable to locate the page you requested.

When it comes to WordPress searching, there are two probable causes for the 404 error:

• Your theme is either missing the search.php file or is utilising the incorrect template. The search.php file serves as the template for your search results page. If WordPress is unable to locate this file, it will display the 404 error.
• A permalink redirect problem has occurred on your site. A permalink is the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) used by WordPress to locate a certain post or page on your site. WordPress sends you to a different permalink every time you try to see your search results. The 404 error occurs when anything goes wrong with your site\’s rewriting rules.

The good news is that you can fix the majority of the difficulties mentioned above without having to write any code. You only need to add a capable WordPress plugin or make a few changes in your WordPress dashboard.

Let us tell you how to do it.

How to Solve WordPress Search Issues

The majority of WordPress search problems are generated by the site\’s default search. These concerns are readily resolved by using a search plugin such as SearchWP.

The finest WordPress search plugin is SearchWP. You may use the tool to improve your site search and avoid a variety of search problems. It is already used by over 30,000 websites to improve their search experience.

SearchWP, for example, helps speed up your site\’s search. Your users do not have to wait many seconds to view the results of their searches, regardless of how huge your database is. This manner, you may boost client happiness while also increasing revenue.

Other functions provided by SearchWP include:

• Insights and stats about visitors. Find out what your site\’s visitors are looking for. These insights may be used to improve your content or inventory.

Let\’s install SearchWP now that you know how it improves WordPress site search.

How to Install and Configure SearchWP

To resolve the issue of WordPress search not functioning, we will first instal SearchWP on your site. You can get your hands on a copy of the SearchWP plugin by clicking here.

After you\’ve got your copy. You will be given the choice of downloading two different versions of the plugin.

To download the plugin, select one of the available links. We recommend using the most recent version for the best results.

You should have received an email from SearchWP at this time. Your product licence key is included in the email. Save the key on a notepad and input it later in your WordPress dashboard.

It\’s now time to access your WordPress dashboard. Once you\’ve logged in, add the plugin to your site. For further information, see our step-by-step instructions on how to install a WordPress plugin. After you\’ve finished installing and activating the plugin, you\’ll need to activate the product license.

SearchWP has introduced a new navigation button to your WordPress dashboard\’s top panel. To access the settings page, click the SearchWP button.

Navigate to the License tab and input the licence key that was sent to you through email. Check that the key you entered is correct before clicking Activate.

Congratulations! SearchWP has now been installed and enabled. The plugin easily interacts with your native WordPress search. This will resolve some of the search difficulties, and your site visitors will now have a better search experience.

Now, let\’s look at the exact scenarios where WordPress search is still broken. Here\’s how to resolve the most frequent WordPress search issues.

How to Make the WordPress Search Box Appear

SearchWP replaces all of your original WordPress search forms after installation. The plugin works nicely with third-party themes and plugins. This usually addresses the problem of the search box not displaying.

You may also add a new search widget to your site manually.

To do so, navigate to Appearance » Widgets in your WordPress dashboard.
Choose the place where you want the search widget to appear.

You can, for example, add the widget to the sidebar. Click the Add icon after selecting the Sidebar.

Enter search into the search field and press the Search button.

In your site\’s sidebar, you should now notice a new search widget.

If the search box still does not appear, try installing a new theme or reactivating an existing one. For additional information, see this instruction on how to install a WordPress theme.

How to Solve WordPress Search Not Showing Relevant Results

SearchWP scans all of your site\’s content for search results. This ensures that your users will always receive relevant results that correspond to their search intent.

SearchWP also allows you to rank the qualities of your site\’s content based on your requirements. Important information about your content is stored in attributes such as title, excerpt, and product variants. WordPress, search engines, and site visitors may then utilise this information to readily discover your content.

You can, for example, opt to prioritise a post\’s snippets over its headline. This implies that when people perform a search, your website will look for matches in excerpts before checking titles.

You may also filter your product search to only the product title. All you have to do is install the SearchWP search engine. A search engine is similar to Google\’s algorithm in that it controls your site search.

If you continue to receive irrelevant search results, your theme may be doing a repeated search. To validate this, look at the theme\’s search.php file.

Go to your WordPress installation\’s /wp-content/themes/ directory to find the file. Then open the folder containing your current theme. To access this folder, you must first log into your WordPress hosting client area. For this lesson, we\’ll be utilising a local WordPress installation.
Next, locate and open the search.php file.

This is an example of a standard search results page template.

If the code includes queries such as query posts, new WP Query, or get posts, WordPress is doing a duplicate search.

In this instance, we propose installing a new theme with the appropriate search results page design. Hire a WordPress developer instead to create a new template from scratch.

How to Improve WordPress Search Performance

Installing SearchWP expedites your WordPress site search. The plugin creates your search index and offers search results faster than WordPress\’s default search. Check out our early SearchWP  speed test to observe how the tool has developed over time.

Other techniques to speed up WordPress search include:

• Integrate live autofill search into your website. Live Ajax Search plugin is a free version of SearchWP. It may be used to display quick results as users enter in the search field.
• Increase the size of your hosting server. If you have a large site with a lot of traffic, this may be required. When your search form receives a high volume of requests, it may take some time for the hosting server to process these requests. You may increase this by purchasing extra server RAM and bandwidth. Check out our article on how to find the best WordPress hosting for additional information.

You should anticipate your site users to get speedier search results if you follow these guidelines.

How to Fix a 404 Error in WordPress Search

To begin troubleshooting this problem, see whether it is a permalink mistake. This is accomplished by adjusting your permalink settings. Check out this basic advice on how to solve WordPress returning 404 problem for more information.

If WordPress search continues to return 404 errors, the search results page template is missing. You may address this by installing a new theme or hiring a WordPress developer to create a new search results page design.

You\’ve learnt how to solve WordPress search not functioning in this post.

Troubleshooting WordPress site search difficulties may look difficult. However, addressing these issues will improve your site\’s user experience and help you retain clients.

Are you prepared to resolve the WordPress search issue? Get started by obtaining SearchWP here.