How to Create Synonyms

Introduction to synonyms

This guide will explain what synonyms are, but understanding how synonyms function within search is equally important. Below will explain everything you need to know about how to set up a synonym in your Merchandising Studio, provide step by step instructions based on a scenario as explained. 

Synonyms are set up in the Fredhopper Merchandising Studio to help return relevant products when a shopper performs a search, without the merchandisers having to change all the product data in general. An example of this is where a search for "tv" has been executed, products containing "tv" and "television" should be returned.

Another example could be where women's underwear is categorised as lingerie within the product data, so when a customer searches for "women's underwear", they should be returned all lingerie products i.e. "women's underwear = lingerie". 

Therefore, synonyms can be defined as different words with identical or at least related meanings. 

Getting synonyms right will improve search recall and therefore lead to more purchases!

In the context of Fredhopper, the following types of operator synonyms exist:

Operator	Synonym Syntax	Description
Equals	=	Both terms effectively mean the same thing, e.g. tv and television; therefore the synonym created is "tv = television", and therefore have an equal match rate: tv (1) = television (1)
Contains	>	Additional words should only be linked in one direction: "Clothing > Tops, Shirts, Skirts, Coats, Jackets, Dresses" this means that if "clothing" was the search term used by a shopper, the results would include; Tops, Shirts, Skirts, Coats, Jackets and Dresses. The term on the right has half the match rate of the term on the left: Clothing (1) > Tops (0.5), Shirts (0.5), Skirts (0.5), Coats (0.5), Jackets (0.5), Dresses (0.5)
Similar	~	The first term is more relevant than the second, but all relevant products should still be returned, e.g. "Jumper ~ Sweatshirt". If the shopper searched "jumper" Fredhopper would return products for jumpers and sweatshirts, in that order. If the shopper searched for sweatshirts, then the relevant sweatshirts and jumpers would be returned, in that order. The term on the right receives a significantly lower match rate score (0.1), so will feature at the bottom of the result set, unless the match rate is blended: Jumper (1) ~ Sweatshirt (0.1)

This functionality provides sophisticated match and rank algorithms that ensure relevant search results. The majority of good synonyms exist to take inconsistent product naming and referencing into account. They can help merchandisers to return both sets of products (e.g. tv and television) to customers without having to change all the product titles.

Prerequisites

• It is recommended that you have read Getting started with synonyms before you create a synonym.
• You need to have permissions in Fredhopper's Merchandising Studio to create a synonym.
• Fredhopper is integrated successfully and search has been configured.
• Basic understanding of Fredhopper Search including search index, passes, redirects and modified queries.
• Access to onsite search reports and most frequent search queries within the onsite search.
  • A good understanding of your customer's search behaviour will help you define which synonyms you need to put in place.
  • Use good data regarding actual customer behaviour not assumed customer behaviour on your site.
• A good understanding of your product catalogue data.

Scenario

We want to ensure that when a shopper searches for either a makeup bag or a cosmetic bag they are returned with the same products. Therefore we shall set up a synonym as follows; 'makeup bag = cosmetic bag' against our GB scope and then copy this to our FR scope.

Step by step guide

1. From your Merchandising Studio navigation bar, click Synonyms.
2. Click New.
3. Click Select Scope.
4. Choose the scope to which you want the synonym to be applied. In this scenario we will choose Store- en_GB, then click Select.
5. Next, type 'makeup bag' into the Synonyms field.
6. Click on the Equals operator. The Equals sign is automatically added after the words 'makeup bag'.
7. Add the term cosmetic bag after the equals sign.
   
8. Click Save.
9. Check your synonym in Preview, found on the top right side of the page.
10. Search for 'cosmetic bag' and then 'makeup bag', the same number of products should be returned for each search.
11. Click Send for Publication if you are ready to publish. Once this synonym has been published, it will be live across your site according to your cache process.
12. Next, copy this synonym to your FR scope. So, click on Synonyms from the main menu.
13. Check the box to the left of the 'makeup bag = cosmetic bag' synonym. Click on More actions > Copy, and then select the scope Store_fr.
    
14. Click Copy and send the FR synonym for Publication.

Best practices

• Check your site or Preview if there are any products missing in a search result before setting up any synonyms.
• Have good knowledge of your product data which makes it easier to predict how a search will influence search results.
• Have good knowledge of your shopper's search queries, what shoppers expect to find, and the products that are actually returned when a search is executed
• Don't create too make synonyms.
• A good synonym can help bring the most relevant products to the top of a page, while an unnecessary synonym can give undeserved emphasis on less relevant results.
• Check synonyms in Preview before publishing.