Search plays a key role in helping shoppers find products quickly. When search results do not match shopper expectations, customers may leave the site without purchasing.

The Insights dashboard helps you identify search terms where shoppers struggle to find relevant products. By reviewing these terms and addressing the underlying issues, you can improve product discovery and increase sales.

This article outlines a workflow for reviewing search performance and resolving common issues using Insights.

Identify search terms that need attention

Start with the “Search term performance” tile on your main dashboard. The tile has two tabs: Worst performing and Zero result terms.

Worst performing search terms

This tab shows search terms for which products were shown but users did not click on any of the provided results. For each search term, the tab shows the total number of searches and the view-to-total-impression rate, which is often close to zero.A low view-to-total-impression rate indicates that shoppers did not find the shown results relevant and therefore did not engage with them.

Zero results search terms

This tab shows search terms that didn’t return any products.

Note: In some cases, it is valid for a search term to return no results., i.e. if the searched product lies completely outside of your product range or is otherwise unrelated to the products sold.

Decide whether to optimize a term

First you must decide whether a search term is worth optimizing. If the search term is used infrequently by shoppers, it might not require immediate action. If a search term is irrelevant to your business then it might not require any optimization, e.g. if someone searches for “F1 car” in a furniture catalog.

Investigate why the search performs poorly

Once you select a term worth optimizing, use the Insights report as well as Preview pages to determine why the search performed poorly. However, if the search metrics seem implausible, first test the search directly in your live webshop.

Consider the following common patterns that can be relevant for both worst performing and zero results search terms:

• Missing synonym: If a search term performs poorly, it might be because a relevant synonym is missing, e.g. if a shopper searches for “jogger” but your data only includes the word “sweatpants”. Create an "exact"-synonym to ensure relevant results are shown for “jogger”.

• Foreign language term: If a search term represents a term in a foreign language that is relevant in your product catalog, you can either create a synonym, include translations in your data and add the translated attribute fields to the search index, or utilize AI search.For example, if you sell shoes and a shopper on your English website searches for the Spanish term “zapatillas”, you might consider adding "zapatillas" as a synonym given that it is a top keyword.

Note: Synonyms should only be used to solve translation related search term issues for your top keywords. To address translation issues in bulk, consider the other options mentioned. 

•   Missing product: Some search terms might be relevant for your product catalog but produce poor search results because the relevant products are either out of stock or are actually missing from your product catalog. In this case, speak to your buying team to fill this potential gap.

• Product type not sold: If the search term refers to a product type not sold, consider setting up a “similar” synonym or creating a campaign to set up a message that directs shoppers to a related product type. For example, if a shopper searches for “cardigan” but your product range includes jumpers only, consider creating a “similar”-synonym for “cardigan” and “jumper”.

Note: If campaigns are not part of your initial integration, speak to your Crownpeak representative.

• Missing data or missing attributes in search index: If a search term performs poorly, it might be because relevant data is missing in the data feed or, if the data is part of the feed, the relevant attribute not being included in the search index. To investigate whether this is the case, go to your Preview Page. The Preview page allows you to simulate the search result and inspect product data to understand why certain products appear (or do not appear). In Preview pages, open the product you would expect the search term to return. Investigate all fields to see if the search term is included in the product data. If it is, take a closer look at the search index to investigate whether the relevant attribute field is part of the search index. If the search term is not in the data, check your Product Information Management (PIM) system to investigate whether the data is non-existent or not part of the data feed.

Note: Contact your Crownpeak representative for assistance with this issue.

• Missing redirect: Some search terms should redirect shoppers to specific pages, rather than show search results. To optimize the performance for these kind of search terms create a redirect.

Example

The following example illustrates how you can investigate a poorly performing search term using Insights. Assume the search term “1/4 zip sweatshirt” appears in the Worst performing search terms tab.

1. Check similar search terms
   First, check whether shoppers use similar search terms. For example, test the search term “1/2 zip jumper” on your live site or check the term in the Insights search term performance report.
   If “1/4 zip jumper” performs similarly to “1/4 zip sweatshirt”, the issue likely lies with the phrase "1/4 zip". As a next step you should check whether the term exists in product data (see below).
   If “1/4 zip jumper” performs better than "1/4 zip sweatshirt", the issue is likely "sweatshirt". Ensure that the results shown are relevant to your customers.
2. Check whether the term exists in product data
   Next, check whether the term “1/4 zip” appears in the Fredhopper product data. To do so, open the Preview page, search for a product you would expect to appear for this search term, and inspect the product attributes.
   If “1/4 zip” appears in the product data, the attribute containing this value may not be included in the search index. In this case, check whether the attribute field containing “1/4 zip” is configured as searchable. If the attribute is not searchable, update the search configuration so that this field can be searched.
   If “1/4 zip” does not appear in the Fredhopper product data, check whether the alternative wording “quarter” appears instead. If that is the case, check how "quarter" performs as part of the search term. If it performs well, create an "equals"-synonym. If neither term appears in the product data, the issue is likely related to missing product information.
3. Check the product data source
   If the relevant information is missing from the Fredhopper product data, check the product data source, such as a Product Information Management (PIM) system.
   If the information exists in the product data source, the data is not being transferred to Fredhopper. In this case, the issue lies in the data feed configuration and the relevant attribute must be included in the feed.
   If the information does not exist in the product data source, the product data itself is incomplete. The solution is to update the product information in the source so that the relevant attribute is included and ensure the newly added information is included in the Fredhopper data feed.

Perform deeper analysis using the full report

The search performance tile on the main dashboard tile is designed for high-impact outliers, but you can also perform deeper analysis:

• Open the full search term performance report.

• Apply filters (e.g., a view to total impression rate below 5%).
  

• Sort the returned list by search volume.
  → This shows poorly performing search terms ordered by search frequency and helps you uncover trends beyond the outliers shown on the main dashboard.

Learn more: For a more general introduction to the Insights performance reports, take a look at the User Guide.

Track and re-evaluate over time

Search optimization is an ongoing process. By regularly reviewing Insights, you can quickly identify search terms where shoppers struggle to find products. Addressing these issues improves product discovery and helps ensure that potential customers reach the products they want to buy.

Important: Make it a habit to review the dashboard regularly and track your optimizations to see whether they improve search engagement.