Example: Improving search results on your site using detailed product information

Better-selling products typically tend to show up at the beginning of search results. Well-chosen and clear product descriptions increase your product's visibility so that they appear earlier in search results. Consider the following example that might help your product gain visibility in search results.

About this task

The following products are compared in this example:
Product Description
Product A
Product A
Product B
Product B
Where:
  • Product A typically displays before other products because its title is descriptive. It provides a manufacturer name (Cool Canuck), gender (women), category (t-shirt), and description (short sleeve). To further increase the title's effectiveness, adding the color (white) could increase relevancy.
  • Product B, in contrast, is missing descriptive words in its title, and uses abbreviations (S/S T). It is typically better to spell words out in full to increase the chances of being returned in search results.

Procedure

Consider the following tips when working with product details, so that they are displayed earlier in search results:
  • Avoid using abbreviations in any part of the product descriptions. Instead, spell each word out in full.
  • Select common words to use, as shoppers are less likely to search for obscure terms.
  • Avoid repeating the same word, or having variations of the same word in one field.
  • Use descriptive information in product titles. For example, include the following information:
    • Brand
    • Description
    • Color
    • Size
    • Materials
    • Key ingredients

    You do not need to include attribute information in the title, as the product's attributes are contained within the product details page, and is included as relevant in search results.

    In the preceding example, Product A is titled well, without using a title that is excessively long in length.

  • Provide as much information as possible, by completing as many fields as possible, while reducing redundancy. If you include a keyword in the title, try using one of its synonyms in the description if you must mention that keyword again.
  • If you typically enter information into the long description field instead of the short description, copy the first few lines of the long description to quickly generate a short description. This ensures that the short description is considered when boosting is applied to search results.
  • Consult your site administrators to ensure that you work with fields that are being boosted in the storefront. Depending on your store catalog, some search index fields might be more relevant than others when shoppers search in the store. Site administrators can fine-tune the relevancy of search index fields to improve search results that are based on your store catalog. For more information, see Changing the relevancy of search index fields.