Search Troubleshooting Guide

Why are results missing?

Basic checks

Incorrect result modification

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Apply all necessary filters/triggers.
3. Check for Result Modification info message(s).
   
4. Review if the relevant products are being blocked.
5. Adjust the result modification if necessary.

Use of jargon or specific terms

1. Use Preview Pages to search/navigate to the missing product.
2. Optional: click on the PDP.
3. Optional: change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
4. Check if the product data contains the equivalent terms semantically. For example, ‘triple sec’ for ‘cointreau’.
   
5. Set up a synonym if possible.

Missing attribute

1. Use the preview pages to search/navigate to the missing product.
2. Optional: click on the PDP.
3. Optional: change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
4. Check if any product attribute contains the relevant information.
   
5. Add the missing information to the product data.

No spell check for misspelt terms

1. Execute a search in Preview Pages.
2. Check the ‘Results by pass’ facet.
   
3. If you see an OR search pass or no results:
   1. Check how many different letters there are to the correct spelling. Note: reversed letters like ‘ab’ vs. ‘ba’ count as one difference.
   2. Check how long the misspelt word is.
   3. If there is a three or more letter difference, or the misspelt word is two letters long, set up a permanent synonym.
   4. If there is a one letter difference and the misspelt word is three letters or longer, or if there is a two-letter difference and the word is five letters or longer, set up a temporary synonym and review the spell check search pass configuration.
4. If you see an EXACT or EXACT description match
   1. Most likely there are spelling mistakes in the product data. Review spelling of the products returned.
   2. If there are no spelling mistakes in the returned products, check if the searched term has a similar word stem as the words in the returned results. Alternatively, use the search engine tester for more advanced checks, see 'Word ending not detected?'

Advanced Checks

Advanced: Attribute not searchable

1. Use Preview Pages to search/navigate to the missing product.
2. Optional: click on the PDP.
3. Optional: change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
4. Check if the product data contains semantically equivalent terms. For example, ‘Triple Sec’ for ‘Cointreau’.
5. Follow instructions for ‘Use of jargon or too specific terms?’
6. Open System > Search > Search Index in Merchandising Studio
7. Check if relevant attribute appears in source fields. Note down corresponding search field
   
8. In the Merchandising Studio, open System > Search > Search Passes.
9. Open EXACT.
10. Check if the relevant search field is active.
    
11. If the relevant search field is not active, consider adding it to the search index and the search pass. Please ensure that only the attributes with high-quality data are added to the search index.

Word ending not detected

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter a search term in different word forms, such as plural and singular.
   
3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyser, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
5. Review the entry in the last row.
   
6. Add stemming override if different forms of the same word return different results

Incorrect replacement filter

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter the search term.
3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyser, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
   
5. Review the entry for the Character Replacement Filter and Multi Character Replacement Filter and the entry in the last row.
   
6. Adjust Multi Character Replacement Filter if unexpected words are being concatenated or split

Missing stop word

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter a search term.
3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyser, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
   
5. Review the entry for StopFilter and the entry in the last row.
   
6. Add a stop word if the irrelevant word is not removed.

Only stop words

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter a search term.
3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyser, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
   
5. Review the entry for StopFilter and the entry in the last row.
   
6. Remove one or more stop words if the entire query gets deleted

Why are there too many irrelevant results?

Basic checks

Wrong attribution or categorisation

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Find irrelevant results.
3. Click on the PDP.
4. Optional: change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
5. Check each term in the search to see which attribute(s) contain the information.
   
6. If any data is incorrect, please adjust the product data.

Match on marketing categories

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Find irrelevant results.
   
3. Click on the PDP.
4. Optional: change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
5. Check matches in categories.
   
6. If the category name combines different types of products, add a temporary Result Modification.
7. [Advanced] Add a temporary Multi Character Replacement with the name of the category.

Match on terms in the description

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Check if ‘Results by pass’ shows EXACT DESCRIPTION.
3. Find irrelevant results and click on the PDP.
4. If the long description is not visible by default, change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
5. For each term, check the search to see which attribute(s) contain the information.
   
6. If the long description contains a search term in a different context, for example, if a search for jeans returns a jacket with the description ‘wear with dark jeans’, change the product description or consider disabling long descriptions entirely.

Spell check of correct spelling

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Check if ‘Results by pass’ shows SPELL CHECK.
   
3. Check the product catalogue or use shop navigation to check if any relevant products are available
4. Add a Spelling Exception for the spell checked term.
5. Search will now return OR match or zero results.

Incorrect synonym

1. Open Merchandising Studio > Synonyms and select applicable scopes.
2. Search for the search term or part of the search term in the synonym list.
   
3. Execute search in Preview Pages.
4. Find the irrelevant results.
5. Validate that the synonymous term appears in irrelevant products.
   
6. Adjust synonym

If synonyms cannot be found in Merchandising Studio, use the Search Engine Tester.

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter the search term and pick a locale.
3. Execute search.
   
4. Check in the entry for, as an example, englishS if any misleading entries appear in the list of synonymous terms.
5. Open Merchandising Studio > Synonyms and select the applicable scopes.
6. Search for the misleading word in the synonym list.
   
7. Execute search in Preview Pages.
8. Find irrelevant results.
9. Validate that the synonymous term appears in irrelevant products.
10. Adjust the synonym.

Brand names with categories, colours

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Find irrelevant results and click on the PDP.
   
3. If the brand is not visible by default, change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
4. For each item in search, check which attribute(s) contain the information.
   
5. If the brand name contains the name of a colour (e.g. ‘Black Diamond’) or category (e.g. ‘Armani Jeans’), add a Multi Character Replacement to remove spaces in the brand name.

Advanced checks

Wrong ending removed

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.

2. Enter a search term.

3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyser, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
   
5. Review the entry in the last row.
   
6. Execute search in Preview Pages.
7. Find irrelevant results and click on the PDP.
8. Change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
9. Check which attribute(s) contain words starting with the same word stem.
   
10. Add a stemming exception.

Incorrect stop word

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter a search term.
3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyser, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
   
5. Review the entry for StopFilter and the entry in the last row.
   
6. Execute search in Preview Pages.
7. Find irrelevant results and click on the PDP.
8. Change the view to show ‘All Fields’
9. Check if the difference between relevant and irrelevant results can be explained by irrelevant results not matching the identified stop word.
   
10. Open web analytics and filter search term report on searches containing the stop word.
11. Remove the stop word if it generally has a meaning in a search, for example, ‘go’ in ‘go pro’.

Special characters removed/replaced

1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
2. Enter a search term.
3. Pick a relevant Linguistic Analyse, for example, EnglishS.
4. Select Execute from the dropdown.
   
5. Review the entry for ChracterReplacementFilter and the entry in the last row.
   
6. Execute search in Preview Pages.
7. Find irrelevant results and click on the PDP.
8. Change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
9. Check if the difference between relevant and irrelevant results can be explained by irrelevant results not using the identified special character.
10. Open web analytics and filter the search term report on searches containing the special character.
11. Remove the entry in the CharacterReplacementFilter if shoppers consistently use the special character with meaning and tend not to skip it or replace it with a base letter.

Why is the order of results not relevant?

Basic checks

Different Match Rate

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Enable Advanced Mode.
3. Check that the products are sorted by Match Rate.
   
4. Review Match Rate for examples of relevant, irrelevant and/or partially relevant results.
   
5. Click on the PDP.
6. Change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
7. For each term, check the search to see which attribute(s) contain the information.
8. Check if the different number of attributes contain relevant information.
9. Set up temporary Result Modification to change the order.

Different number of fields match

1. Execute a search in Preview Pages.
2. Click on the PDPs for examples of relevant, irrelevant and/or partially relevant results.
3. Change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
4. Check for each term in the search which attribute(s) contain the information.
5. Check if the different number of attributes contain the relevant information.
   
6. Set up temporary Result Modification to change the order.

Different ranking cocktail values

1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
2. Enable Advanced Mode.
3. Check that the products are sorted by Ranking Cocktail value and note down which Ranking Cocktail has been applied to this search.
4. Find examples of results in the wrong order.
5. Check Ranking Cocktail values for each example. Validate that all other ranking criteria, e.g. Match Rate, are equal.
6. If values are directly visible on the PLP, click to PDP and change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
7. Check if results are ranked in a way consistent with business goals.
   
8. Set up a specific ranking or temporary Result Modification to change the order.

Advanced checks

Matches on synonymous terms

1. Identify which synonyms have been triggered (same as 'Incorrect synonym?')
   1. Open the Search Engine Tester.
   2. Enter a search term and pick a locale.
   3. Execute search.
      
   4. Check the entry for, as an example, englishS if any misleading entries appear in the list of synonymous terms.
      
   5. Open Merchandising Studio > Synonyms and select the applicable scopes.
   6. Search for the misleading word in the synonym list.
   7. Execute search in Preview Pages.
   8. Find irrelevant results.
   9. Validate that the synonymous term appears in irrelevant products.

2. Follow the steps for ‘Different match rate?’ Look for all synonymous terms in addition to the original search term.

   1. Execute search in Preview Pages.
   2. Enable Advanced Mode.
   3. Check that the Match Rate sorts the products.
   4. Review the Match Rate for examples of relevant, irrelevant and/or partially relevant results.
   5. Click on the PDP.
   6. Change the view to show ‘All Fields’.
   7. Check for each term in the search which attribute(s) contain the information, including synonymous terms and the original search term.
3. Check if some products match multiple synonymous terms in the same product attribute.
4. Set up a temporary Result Modification to change the order.