Search box in header or body?

Question

I am designing recruitment sire where focus is not to search job but to write resume .As I know focus is on resume writing service , I have option to place job search box in header or down after introduction paragraph

Which one you think is better?

Answer 1

A good rule of thumb for where to put any UI element is keep it within close proximity of what it affects.

In your case I'm guessing the search box is searching globally and not something within the page you suggest it might be placed in. In that case move the box to the top or wherever the rest of your 'global' elements (E.g. login/logout buttons) are.

If your place the box in the content then it will appear (to some) that the search is not global and in other cases, because of the way we scan pages in an 'F' shape, it will be missed. I'd suggest most of your users will be looking for the search box as their primary route through the site so make it big and obvious.

HTH.

Answer 2

The Scent of Search by Tyler Tate includes the following recommendation:

Place the searchbox in the top right corner of the page. Users have come to expect it in this location, so moving it anywhere else will reduce the number of users who actually find it.

György Fekete in Designing The Holy Search Box: Examples And Best Practices makes a similar recommendation:

The most convenient spot for users would be the top left or top right of every page on your website, where users could easily find it using the common F-shaped scanning pattern.

Answer 3

You need to provide more information. A recruitment site where resume writing is a higher priority than job search seems odd, but nonetheless, what personas and use cases have you developed, if any?

You can only really decide on element placement and their relationship to one another when you have a good picture of your user, how they'll behave and the main focus of the site.

For example, if it is about resume 'writing' then why would I as a user conduct a search? Is it about seeing other examples, or how does search play into your site strategy? In what order do you expect users to do things and at what point would they conduct a search? These are all questions you need to think about and then you'd need to test those assumptions.

Answer 4

The most usual place for the search box is in the header area. That's where the majority of users will expect it to be (having observed this first hand in usability tests). Keep it simple - label the input field "search" and have a "go" button to the right of it.

The key to an effective search tool is 1. making sure the results are clearly listed, allowing the user to filter results by date, category (e.g. jobs), relevance etc. and 2. that articles in the site are tagged properly, so the 'right' results appear.

I'd suggest reading this article for some more ideas about how to properly implement search functionality: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/advancing-advanced

Answer 5

This is very interesting question and alternative request.

Here are two alternatives considered, please see which one is suitable for your application.

1) Considering your prior Resume writing service for search, Alignment - Top Right area Visual - Stronger than Search Job Search box Search box presentation - If in Input Box lable is "Resume Writing Service" then Button lable should be "Search" or Empty the input box and make the button of "Resume Writing Service".

Design the Search box for "Job"

Considering your prior Resume writing service for search, Alignment - Bottom Right area Visual - Standard Search box Search box presentation - If in Input Box lable is "Search Jobs" then Button lable should be "Search" or Empty the input box and make the button of "Search Jobs".

another Alternative is -

2) Design (common for both)Input box little longer than standard and crate two button with label as per their functionality. Please google box, it is common for all the functionality like web, images etc.