Use this page as your relevance control map. It helps you choose the right setting before you start tuning, so your changes stay measurable and aligned with user intent.
Prerequisite: Review the Get Started articles before using this article, especially the analytics workflow and the guidance on cookies and session interpretation.
When to Use Each Setting
Use this guide when you need to decide whether to apply Ranking, Rules, Smart Ranking, or Promotions for a specific problem pattern.
- Use Ranking for consistent scoring policies across many queries.
- Use Rules for conditional, query-triggered behavior.
- Use Smart Ranking for AI-assisted, intent-aware ordering.
- Use Promotions for fixed-priority placement of key content.
How to Apply These Settings
Start with one profile and one problem pattern. Keep changes small so you can measure what had an effect.
- Confirm the profile scope before tuning. Relevance behavior is profile-dependent.
- Apply settings in a controlled sequence that matches processing order: filters, ranking, rules, smart ranking, and promotions.
- Start with one mechanism, then add others only if the first one doesn't solve the target behavior.
- Use preview checks before you publish so you can catch obvious overcorrection.
- Document each adjustment with the date, scope, and intended outcome.
Note: Smart Ranking is an optional add-on feature.
How to Validate Impact in Analytics
Validate relevance tuning with equivalent date windows and a stable scope:
- Average Click Position: See whether useful content moved higher.
- Click-Through Rate: See whether results became more useful.
- No Result and No Click patterns: Confirm whether friction declined for targeted queries.
- Content item engagement: Make sure tuning helped the intended items, not just isolated terms.
When results improve for one profile but regress in another, keep profile-specific policies instead of forcing a single global rule.
Review Schedule: Review this analysis on a regular schedule, such as weekly for active programs and monthly for stable programs. Keep a short change log with the date, owner, target query or feature, and expected outcome. Use the same scope and date ranges each cycle so you can connect metric changes to specific edits.
When to Ask Your Developer or Web Team
Escalate when you need detailed control behavior, function logic, or execution-order details that go beyond marketer workflow guidance. Use Rules as the main technical reference.