Optimizing and personalizing search results

Optimizely's Digital Experience Platform includes Optimizely Search & Navigation, which provides advanced search features. Personalized Search & Navigation uses the personalization service to track visitor behavior then deploy that information to personalize search results, such as products with a user's favorite brand or color.

In addition, Optimizely Search & Navigation provides optimization features that enable you to promote selected content and add related queries and synonyms. You can also modify search results by including content from external websites. Developers can create advanced search facets and filtering, and dynamic landing pages whose content is based on search queries.

Example scenarios

The following examples show how to work with Optimizely Search & Navigation and Personalized Search & Navigation.

Analyzing search statistics

Use Optimizely Search & Navigation's Statistics View to monitor search activities for a day, week, month, or year. Use that information to decide if search optimization actions are needed.

Image: Find statistics view

Manually optimizing search results

Analyze the statistics to decide on optimization actions. In addition to updating content to improve search results, you can work with search optimization in Optimizely Search & Navigation. As examples: promote selected content as best bets, add suggestions as related queries, or add synonyms for similar search phrases. You can also manipulate search results through the weighting of content properties.

Image: Boosting view

Including external content in search results

To have your search include results from external websites, add connectors.

Image: Search Connector

Setting up personalized search

Personalization is based on tracking site visitor behavior, such as search phrases submitted and pages clicked. If your solution includes Personalized Search & Navigation, visitor actions are tracked and processed. Based on this data, search results can be ordered in an optimal way for each visitor.