Search Analytics
The plugin tracks every search query and result click in your WordPress database — no external analytics services required. Use the dashboard to understand what visitors search for, what they find, and where the gaps are.
Where to find it
Go to Settings → Opensolr Search → Analytics tab.
Overview cards
Six stat cards give you a snapshot of search activity for the selected time range:
Total Queries
Total number of searches performed — every search bar submission counts
Unique Queries
Number of distinct search terms (case-insensitive) — the real variety of what people look for
No-Results Queries
Searches that returned zero results — your content gaps. The most actionable metric
Avg Response Time
Average Solr query time in milliseconds — a measure of how fast search feels to visitors
Total Clicks
How many times visitors clicked on a search result to visit the page
Unique Visitors
Distinct visitors who used search, based on anonymized IP hashes
Query volume chart
A 30-day line chart (powered by Chart.js) shows search volume over time. Use it to spot trends — seasonal traffic spikes, the effect of publishing new content, or drops that might indicate a site issue.
Time range filter
A filter bar above the dashboard lets you narrow all data to a specific period:
- Today — searches from the current day
- Last 7 days — the past week
- Last 30 days — the default view
- Last 90 days — a quarterly view
- All time — everything since the plugin was installed
The overview cards, chart, and all tables update when you select a different range.
Data tables
Top Queries
The most searched terms with search count and average number of results. High searches with low results might indicate content gaps or search tuning issues.
No-Results Queries
Queries that returned zero results. This is your content gap report — create content for the most common ones, add synonyms in your Solr config, or use query elevation to pin relevant pages.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Per-query CTR showing which queries lead to clicks and which don't. Low CTR means visitors aren't finding what they expect — consider tuning or pinning better results.
Top Clicked Results
The most clicked URLs across all searches. These are your highest-value search landing pages — make sure they stay indexed and up to date.
Click tracking
Clicks are tracked automatically using navigator.sendBeacon — a non-blocking browser API that fires when visitors click a search result. This means:
- No delay when clicking — the tracking call happens in the background
- Works even if the visitor navigates away immediately
- Does not affect page load performance
Privacy
IP addresses are hashed with SHA-256 using your WordPress site's salt before storage. Raw IPs are never saved. All analytics data lives in your own WordPress database — in the opensolr_search_queries and opensolr_search_clicks tables — not sent to any external service.
Data storage
opensolr_search_queries— stores each search: query text, result count, response time, anonymized visitor hash, timestampopensolr_search_clicks— stores each click: query text, clicked URL, result position, anonymized visitor hash, timestamp
Data purge
A "Purge Analytics Data" option is available to delete all stored query and click data. Use this if you need to reset analytics after testing or to comply with a data deletion request.
The most valuable table is No-Results Queries. Check it weekly — every entry is a topic your visitors want but your site doesn't cover. Create content for the top ones and watch your search satisfaction improve.
For related topics, see Query Elevation (promote results for underperforming queries) and Tips & Best Practices.