A promotion is an absolute boost to one or more result-items, moving them to the top of the results list. It is triggered by a keyword or phrase in the search string.
For instance, in this example the phrase “service limits” triggers a promotion leading to the Site Search page on request limitations.
Types of Promotions
- External Promotion: An “external” promotion is a banner-like message above the results list. Clicking on it can link to any URL anywhere.
- Indexed Promotion: An “indexed” promotion is an item in your search index. When activated, the item goes to the top of the results (but not above any “external” promotion that might also be active).
Note that "external" and "indexed" promotions are formatted differently. The "external" ones demand more attention from the user.
The missing-item warning applies to indexed promotions because they rely on documents in the current search index. External promotions point to URLs directly, so they aren't checked against the indexed items pool in the same way.
Best Practices
The following points will help you get the most from this feature:
- In Site Search, one promotion can activate multiple target items, both indexed and external, at the same time.
- A Site Search promotion can have multiple trigger phrases, any one of which will activate it.
- If you wish, you can put the URL of an indexed item into an external promotion. This lets you make an indexed item really pop out.
- You can promote the same indexed item in both external and indexed formats at the same time, providing parallel pathways to the promoted item.
When you update promotions in Site Search, remember to scroll down the screen and Publish them.