Search is a powerful feature in WordPress that allows your readers to quickly find content on your site. But sometimes you may want to narrow the scope of the search to just post titles. Why limit search this way? For starters, it can reduce confusion for your readers by preventing unrelated content from appearing in the results. It also puts the focus on your catchy titles and main themes.
The good news is, restricting the search to post titles in WordPress is super easy to do. In just a few clicks you can have this tweak in place and your search feature laser-focused on the headlines you’ve so carefully crafted. Read on to learn how to make this simple but impactful change to your site.
Why Restrict the Search to Post Titles?
Restricting your WordPress search to just post titles can be really useful. Here are a few reasons why:
Focus Search Results
When visitors search your site, they’re probably looking for a specific post. Limiting the search to post titles will filter out pages, categories, tags, and other content, giving them precisely what they need.
Improve Relevance
By narrowing the search scope, you’ll return more targeted results related to the actual search term. Searching all content can turn up unrelated posts that just happen to contain the word or phrase.
Reduce Load Times
Restricting the search to just post titles also puts less strain on your server since it has less data to sort through. This can noticeably improve search speed and responsiveness.
Simplify for Users
A search that returns only concise post titles is more scannable and easier to navigate. Visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for without wading through excerpts, categories, or other clutter.
SEO Benefits
Focusing your internal site search on post titles may also provide some SEO advantages. The search terms visitors use on your site can indicate what content they’re really interested in, which you may want to optimize or build upon.
So if fast, relevant, user-friendly search results are a priority for your blogging website, limiting the search scope to post titles is definitely worth considering.
Restricting the Search in WordPress
By default, the WordPress search feature searches your entire site, including posts, pages, comments, and more. If you want to narrow the search results to just your blog post titles, you’ll need to make a few quick code changes.
Just follow these steps:
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard > Appearance > Theme File Editor.
- Now go to the function.php file under Theme Functions.
- Now go ahead and paste the code provided below at the end of the functions.php file.
Code:
* Search SQL filter for matching against post title only.
*
* @link http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/a/11826/1685
*
* @param string $search
* @param WP_Query $wp_query
*/
function wpse_11826_search_by_title( $search, $wp_query ) {
if ( ! empty( $search ) && ! empty( $wp_query->query_vars[‘search_terms’] ) ) {
global $wpdb;
$q = $wp_query->query_vars;
$n = ! empty( $q[‘exact’] ) ? ” : ‘%’;
$search = array();
foreach ( ( array ) $q[‘search_terms’] as $term )
$search[] = $wpdb->prepare( “$wpdb->posts.post_title LIKE %s”, $n . $wpdb->esc_like( $term ) . $n );
if ( ! is_user_logged_in() )
$search[] = “$wpdb->posts.post_password = ””;
$search = ‘ AND ‘ . implode( ‘ AND ‘, $search );
}
return $search;
}
add_filter( ‘posts_search’, ‘wpse_11826_search_by_title’, 10, 2 );
- Finally, click Update File.
By following these steps, you’ve narrowed the focus of WordPress search to exclusively post titles. Readers searching your site will now find precisely the posts they’re looking for, rather than wading through unrelated pages, comments, or categories. Keeping your search targeted is an easy way to improve the user experience on your WordPress blog.
Plugin Options for Restricting Search to Titles
There are a number of WordPress plugins that allow you to restrict the search to only post titles. We’ve narrowed it down to five:
SearchWP
SearchWP is a leading WordPress search solution that offers advanced search capabilities. It allows you to index and search not only post titles but also post content, custom fields, categories, and tags. SearchWP provides accurate and relevant search results by using its powerful indexing process. It also offers various customization options to enhance the search experience for your users. With SearchWP, you can stem keywords, exclude results, log customer searches, and even index PDFs and text documents stored in your media library.
Price: Apart from the free version called SearchWP Live Ajax Search, SearchWP is available in three tiers: Standard ($99/year), Pro ($199/year), and Agency ($399/year).
Relevanssi
Relevanssi is another popular search plugin for WordPress that replaces the default search functionality with a more powerful system. Relevanssi provides features like result highlighting, weights on results, fuzzy matching, and bbPress integration. It also offers additional features such as indexing text documents and PDFs, a “Did you mean?” suggestion, and related post links.
Price: Relevanssi has a free version, but the premium version is available for $109/year or a one-time payment of $379.
Ajax Search Pro
Ajax Search Pro is a WordPress plugin that adds live search capabilities. Without needing to load a new page, search results are displayed in real-time as users type. This provides a more interactive and dynamic search experience for your visitors. Ajax Search replaces the default WordPress search module with a clean and responsive search bar. It also offers options for customization, such as adding image thumbnails to search results and filtering by content and metadata.
Price: Ajax Search has a free version called Ajax Search Lite. The pro version, Ajax Search Pro, is available for a one-time payment of $39.
Advanced Woo Search
If you have a WooCommerce website, Advanced Woo Search is a dedicated search solution for your online store. This plugin enhances the search functionality of WooCommerce by indexing product listings and providing fast and accurate search results. Advanced Woo Search uses AJAX to display live search results as users type, making it easier for them to find the products they are looking for. It also offers customization options, such as displaying product images and prices in search results.
Price: Advanced Woo Search has a free version, but the premium versions that include advanced settings start at $69 for 1 website and go up to $199 for unlimited websites.
Jetpack Search
Jetpack Search is a paid upgrade for the popular Jetpack plugin that replaces the default WordPress search with an optimized search functionality. Jetpack Search offers features like real-time filtering, multi-language support, and mobile responsiveness. It allows you to customize the format and sorting of search results, as well as configure filters based on post type, tag, category, custom taxonomies, and more.
Price: Apart from the free version, Jetpack Search is available as a paid upgrade starting at $8.25 per month, with pricing based on the number of records on your site.
As you can see, there are several plugins available to help you modify the default WordPress search and restrict results to only post titles. Any of the options above would work great for limiting search to titles.
Additional Tips for Optimizing WordPress Search
A few other tips to help optimize the search function in your WordPress site:
Use Related Keywords
Include synonyms and related keywords in your post titles, content, tags, and categories. For example, if your post is about “WordPress plugins”, also include terms like “add-ons”, “extensions” and “tools”. This helps search engines make connections between related content.
Write Clear, Keyword-Rich Content
The content in your posts, pages, titles, tags, and categories provides context for search engines. Focus on clear writing, use keywords naturally, and provide value for readers. Don’t just stuff keywords in for search rankings.
Categorize and Tag Generously
Assign posts to relevant categories and be generous with tags. This gives search engines more ways to classify and connect with your content. When users search, category and tag pages also provide another access point to your content.
Internal Linking
Link to related content on your site. This helps search engines discover and rank that content, and gives readers more to explore. But only link when it genuinely adds value for users.
Title and URL Optimizing
Choose clear titles, URLs, and headings that accurately reflect your content. Include keywords when possible, but avoid being spammy. Short, simple, and memorable is best.
With some optimization of titles, content, categories, tags, and internal linking, you’ll be well on your way to improving how search engines index and rank your WordPress site’s content.
For all our visual learners, we have a YouTube video on the same topic that guides you through the entire process with a simple and easy demonstration.
Conclusion
So there you have it, an easy but efficient way to restrict your WordPress site search to post titles only. Now your visitors can quickly find that post they were looking for without wading through pages of irrelevant search results.
Keep your content organized and your users happy. The small tweaks can make a big difference. Go ahead, give your search function a refresh, and watch as your readers find exactly what they need.
Additionally, if you wish to rely on a plugin to do the work for you, check out any of the ones we listed above. These plugins provide more accurate and relevant search results, improving the overall user experience.
We hope this post has helped you restrict and customize the search feature on your WordPress website!
