ESAB Welding simplifies search with a Google Mini

Written by Danny Young
Manager of Ebusiness Development
ESAB Welding (www.esabna.com)

ESAB is a leading manufacturer of welding and cutting equipment and welding filler metals. More than 100 years of continuous research, development and manufacturing have made ESAB the world leader in welding and cutting.

The Google Mini has enabled ESAB to seamlessly and effortlessly mold two website search tools into one and has been selected as the global search tool for more than 40 ESAB websites comprised of 30+ languages.

Our product catalog is hosted with a 3rd party provider in Philadelphia and our company websites are hosted in an ESAB facility in Florence, South Carolina. Prior to the Google Mini, our search technology required a user to choose between two search interfaces – one specifically for product information and one for company information. This resulted in a confusing experience for many customers who often used the wrong search box for the particular information they were seeking.

The Google Mini solved the problem by providing a low-cost solution that indexes both sites and provides a single search interface for both product and company information.

The Mini's features including multi-language capabilities, intuitive administration interface, filtering capabilities, the keymatch feature, synonym functionality and the trusted Google "familiarity" have been instrumental in making search at ESAB.com a rewarding customer experience.

The key match feature allows ESAB to target specific content based on the customer’s keyword input. ESAB can suggest relevant content to improve the customers experience while at the same time, up selling ESAB products.

The Google Mini experience – from its quick, easy-to-install set up to its accurate sub-second delivery of accurate results – has enabled ESAB to migrate from a cumbersome search interface to the best in the business.

eCompressedair.com's site search is powered by a Google Mini

Written by Pat Kelly
General Manager
eCompressedair (www.ecompressedair.com)

Charlotte, NC based eCompressedair serves the compressed air market through its e-commerce business-to-business Website: www.ecompressedair.com. As a growing web-based business, offering more than 25,000 products for sale, we realized that improved search was THE business tool needed to enhance customer satisfaction and increase revenue.

Our existing search technology had several downsides: it only indexed store product pages, could not recognize partial part numbers, and often returned inaccurate search results. After considering a variety of search alternatives, we selected the Google Mini for a variety of reasons:

· It's a low risk business decision;

· delivers relevant search results formatted similar to Google.com results providing customers with search familiarity they appreciate

· provides keyword and synonym functionality;

·requires little technical know-how and can be seamlessly integrated with any site

Rolling out the Mini was a smooth process. From out of the box to crawling our website took only minutes. And for any questions, I found the Mini's online support website well organized, stocked with a wealth of data, and easy-to-use.

We've found that the Mini has added value across the board – from easily managing subcollections, URL removal and retrieval errors to assisting our inside sales and service reps for use with customer service.

Most of all, the Mini has improved our bottom line. Web, phone, and fax orders all increased as a direct result of improved search capabilities. And in a seven month period directly post installation of the Google Mini – with no additional changes to our website - website transactions increased 204%.

Williams Scotsman International has Google Minis for site search and intranet search

Written by Gary Williams
Webmaster & Application Developer
Information Technology Department
Williams Scotsman International (www.willscot.com)

Williams Scotsman International, Inc., is a leading provider of modular space solutions. With more than 100 locations across North America and Europe, the company provides customers with everything from a simple construction trailer to complex, multi-story buildings such as schools and medical facilities.

In early 2006, we committed to improving search functionality for our public facing website and corporate intranet. While information was abundantly available on both sites, customers and employees experienced difficulty finding what they needed quickly and efficiently.

We selected the Google Mini for our website because of its low cost, flexibility and overall ease of use. Plus, we wanted to leverage the same quality and reliability that powers Google.com

Within an hour, we installed the Google Mini, which instantly began crawling our website and returning accurate results. In less than two hours, we were able to provide our customers with relevant search information. The benefits were many. For example, the Mini's reporting tools enable us to remain abreast of what customers search for most, so we can quickly adjust our website to enhance and increase inbound customer product interest via email and phone.

Our successful traction with the Google Mini convinced us to utilize an additional Google Mini for our intranet efforts. Our intranet was unorganized, inaccurate, and troublesome to navigate. After incorporating the Google Mini throughout our intranet, almost immediately, positive employee reaction poured in from across the company. A typical response: "this makes my job easier."

The Google Mini has been a valuable company asset and has apprised us of the power of search to both generate sales and significantly improve company efficiency.