Adam,

This is a great point. But I think it would serve you better to go one step further than an FAQ/training - simply make it easier to search. Figure out ways to take the "advanced" queries that you perform yourself, and put that into an easy 3-step search that somebody doesn't need to read a manual to understand. Think eBay. Look at all the different ways you can drill down a search with just a few mouse clicks - no instructions necessary.

You should also think about building some VERY easy code into the site which would recognize when somebody is performing a very broad search, or one which is likely to return less-than-stellar results. At that point, a link could be inserted within the results which says something along the lines of "Your search is extremely broad. For more accurate pricing information, click here to learn about our advanced searching options." That way, users can learn how to perform advanced searches, but aren't necessarily prompted to do so from step 1, which would scare them off.

Just some food for thought.
Anthony | 05.07.07 - 3:09 pm | #