December 31, 2024
Tom Humbarger
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As 2024 comes to a close, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our customers, employees, and partners who have helped us shape the future of search experiences. This year was all about learning, growing and delivering value to our community.
What Trends We Saw in 2024
Search continues to grow in importance
In most industries, especially in Higher Education, search is taking on a bigger role in the user experience. As digitally native users navigate websites, they naturally jump right to the search bar to quickly find what they need. This means that it is critical to ensure that the search results are relevant and that the right content is surfaced.
Search analytics are critical to optimize the search experience
In order to optimize the search experience on websites, it is critical to have the necessary data to uncover the insights. Understanding what users are searching for, what they’re finding or not finding, how far they had to scroll, and what content is being consumed is key.
The importance of AI in search
This year, we saw increasing interest in artificial intelligence for search solutions. We believe the best solutions take a practical approach that combines human involvement and curation with leading edge technology, including machine learning, natural language processing and large language models.
Product Innovations: Turning insights into action
We stayed focused on solving the challenges our customers face with cutting-edge updates that drive value. Here are some highlights:
SearchStax Site Search: Empowering marketers
- Site Search Crawler – The Crawler simplifies search creation by indexing content across websites and documents with ease.
- Smart Match Assist – Our AI-powered tool helps eliminate no-result queries, offering marketers control over spelling corrections and term recommendations.
- Additional language support – Site Search can now be configured for search in over 40 languages.
SearchStax Managed Search: Scaling Solr performance
- Enhanced Solr Backup and Restore– We made backups and restorations even faster and more reliable for our Managed Search Solr customers – especially larger users with high search volume and larger datasets.
- Sitecore 10.4 Support – We continue to have seamless integration for customers using the latest version of the Sitecore CMS.
SearchStax In the News
We continue to be a Momentum Leader on the G2 Enterprise Search Momentum Grid and a High Performer on the G2 Enterprise Search Grid. In addition to making the Deloitte Fast 500 List, we also announced a strategic partnership with Terminalfour for Higher Education Site Search and expanded technology partnerships with Optimizely and Magnolia.
Practical Tips and Resources
We committed to creating educational content that empowers marketers to deliver better search experiences. These were some of the most impactful resources we shared in 2024:
Site Search for Higher Education
2024 was a pivotal year for connecting with the higher education community. Through events like the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education and HighEdWeb, as well as webinars featuring Bridgewater State University, Harvard University and Brown University, we focused on practical strategies for improving digital governance and content discovery.
Insights from Industry Experts
Our team shared their expertise in blogs, podcasts, and thought leadership articles to help you stay ahead in the rapidly evolving digital landscape:
- EdTech Podcast – Site search for higher education with Sameer Maggon
- Connect the Dots Podcast – Sameer Maggon and Nadjya Ghausi on Mythbusting the Search Experience
- CMSWire – Nadjya Ghausi bylined articles: Your User Experience Needs an Overhaul: Here’s How and 3 Moves Leaders Can Make to Improve Marketing Agility
Looking Ahead to 2025
This year, we reaffirmed our commitment to innovation, education, and partnership. As we move into 2025, we’re excited to continue helping our customers achieve their goals through impactful search solutions. Thank you for being part of this journey—we can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together next year.
