Relevancy. We want it, badly. It seems that everywhere we turn, we're bombarded with information and much of it irrelevant or unmeaningful to our lives. We want more relevance in email communications (need we even mention spam?). In advertising (ditto for the pop-ups, banners and TV commercials that invade our senses and rarely hit the mark). In search results (just how many results do we really need?). And on it goes.

Relevancy. Let's define the term for clarity. Computer Science defines relevance as: the capability of a search engine or function to retrieve data appropriate to a user's needs. Relevance is a measure of how closely a search engine's results match your inquiry.

The reason we want it so badly is that it means we've gotten what we want, when we wanted it. We've saved time, bettered our lives and satiated that desire to know more while spending less time in pursuit of knowledge.

Providing relevance at your site is a vital component in promoting them to take action. Most Internet users are searchers, which means that once they arrive at your site, they're going to look for a search box to test your brand. Today's site search engines must deliver meaningful results that match user intentions. Since your users determine what results are relevant to them, they ultimately determine relevancy, not just an algorithm like other search companies say is the case. Your users make the call. Relevant? Clickable. Irrelevant? Frustrating and perhaps dissuasive toward your brand. In fact, poorly organized search results are users' biggest complaint (Vividence study, "Tangled Web 2001").

To really get serious about relevancy, you must realize that satisfying customer requests - whatever they may be - will bring them back to your site again and again. Site search relevancy should dominate your Web priorities in 2003.

Learning what's relevant to them means success for your site. Deliver customer-centric site content and tools to secure your company in their short-list of service-oriented relationships.

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