I'm not a professional UI/UX designer but here's a guess. It should not be the prominent thing on your page. Prominent search bars like the one on Google's home page convey to users the idea that this is the primary way to navigate and use this website, and therefore be loaded with higher expectations. So don't make the search bar look prominent.
Next, make it context-specific. Don't put a search bar at the top of the page suggesting that this bar can search for everything. If you use a simple implementation like a SQL LIKE to implement search, put the search bar right next to the thing that is displaying results from the table. Make it look like it's filtering the table.
Finally, label the search bar using words like "Keywords," which also suggest to users that they should be typing keywords instead of a more complicated natural language phrase.
Those are interesting ideas thanks for the thoughts. FWIW I’ve seen users try to use even non-prominent search boxes like those as if they can do more than SQL LIKE. Most users have no idea how any of this works and just want answers.
Mostly I think this whole thread demonstrates the point of the original article, but I appreciate your response.
Next, make it context-specific. Don't put a search bar at the top of the page suggesting that this bar can search for everything. If you use a simple implementation like a SQL LIKE to implement search, put the search bar right next to the thing that is displaying results from the table. Make it look like it's filtering the table.
Finally, label the search bar using words like "Keywords," which also suggest to users that they should be typing keywords instead of a more complicated natural language phrase.