Where this fits in the Get Started sequence: This is article 4 of 5. Use it after How to Use SearchStax Analytics to Improve Search Relevance so you can connect the patterns you see to the right features.
Search relevance improves faster when you match each problem to the right feature. This guide summarizes the main relevance levers in SearchStax Site Search and when to use each one.
Two Types of Relevance Levers
Most relevance work falls into two categories:
- Query levers: Improve what the system does with what users type.
- Result levers: Improve which results appear first.
Use Query Levers
Use these levers when users struggle to express intent, misspell terms, or need better follow-up guidance.
Synonyms
Use Synonyms when users search with different terms for the same concept. Synonyms broaden matching by adding related vocabulary to queries.
Tip: If Synonyms doesn’t behave the way you expect, review Synonyms for implementation details.
Spell Check
Use Spell Check to recover from no-result searches caused by misspellings. Spell Check runs when a query returns no results and retries with similar terms from data, dictionary entries, or both.
Auto-Suggest
Use Auto-Suggest when you want to guide users as they type. Auto-Suggest can use historical query data, a curated dictionary, or both.
Related Searches
Use Related Searches to offer next-query options after a user reviews results. This can help users keep refining intent instead of abandoning search.
Note: Related Searches includes optional AI augmentation and tends to become more useful as search history grows.
Smart Match Assist
Use Smart Match Assist when you want AI-generated recommendations for no-result queries. Your team reviews suggested replacements, then accepts and publishes the ones you want to activate.
Note: Smart Match Assist is an optional add-on feature.
Stopwords
Use Stopwords to remove high-noise terms from queries. This helps when common words reduce precision.
Tip: If Stopwords doesn’t affect queries the way you expect, review Stopwords for implementation details.
Use Result Levers
Use these levers when good results exist but aren’t ranked in the right positions.
Ranking
Use Ranking to boost documents by field match, field value, or function-based logic. Ranking also supports Smart Ranking, an add-on that uses AI to reorder results by inferred intent after filtering and boosting steps.
Promotions
Use Promotions to place selected items at the top of results for targeted queries. Promotions support indexed and external items and are useful for campaigns, launches, and high-priority content.
Search Profiles apply data filters first, then ranking and rules logic, and finally promotions.
Choose the Right Lever by Signal
- Users search for important topics and get no results: Start with Synonyms, Spell Check, and Smart Match Assist.
- Users pause while typing or use different wording for the same idea: Start with Auto-Suggest for in-session guidance and Synonyms for repeated wording mismatches.
- Users run searches but rarely click results: Review Related Searches, Ranking, and Promotions.
- Good results exist but appear too far down: Focus on Ranking and Promotions.
- Common filler words are lowering result quality: Review Stopwords.
Scope Reminder for Lever Changes
Most query levers are configured at the App level, while Ranking and Promotions are profile-level controls. If the scope isn’t clear in your setup, use Understand Analytics at the App, Profile, and Language Levels before rollout.
Next Steps
Next, read Understand Cookies and Sessions (article 5 of 5). Then continue to Use Searches to Find High-Impact Queries and Content Gaps.