Optimizing multiple sites and languages

Because search optimization is often language-specific, Optimizely Search & Navigation supports multiple languages and websites.

Filtering on websites and languages

At the top of the most Optimizely Search & Navigation screens, use drop-down lists to choose a website and a language analyzer to filter the screen information before performing actions, such as viewing statistics and fine tuning search optimization.

Optimizely Search & Navigation indexes

Optimizely Search & Navigation needs only one main index. Multiple websites often share a single index. If you add a website, Optimizely Search & Navigation adds new content to the existing index.

In addition to the main index, your Optimizely Search & Navigation administrator can set up any number of language-specific indexes to increase search precision by employing strategies like word stemming. When content in a language with its own index is saved, Optimizely Search & Navigation uses an analyzer to interpret and index the content. For example, the English analyzer uses word stemming to identify fish as the root word for fishing and fisher. So, if a user submits a search query that includes fish, fishing, or fisher, the search returns content with any word variation.

In contrast, if a search term matches content in the main index only, it must exactly match an indexed term to return search results; word variations are ignored.

How content from different languages appears in search results

If site visitors search a multi-language website, each language version of content appears separately in search results.

Language analyzers versus CMS content language

Your site administrator can enable one group of languages in Optimizely CMS, and a different group of language analyzers in Optimizely Search & Navigation. This may confuse users because, while the language selector on Optimizely Search & Navigation screens might look like you are choosing content language, in reality, you are selecting an Optimizely Search & Navigation analyzer.

The language analyzer is used when working with search optimization. Your site content can exist in several languages - they do not all need a language analyzer. However, a search that uses an analyzer is smarter.

Optimizely Search & Navigation language analyzers are installed by a developer during implementation at a cost. Additional content languages can be added by a CMS administrator at any time and have no cost.

Examples of multiple websites and languages

The following examples illustrate search optimization with multiple websites and languages.

Enabling languages and optimizing search

You create a Fall Fashion page in the master language The language in which the first version of content is created., in English (see image). Now, you want to enable Danish and Swedish on the website, and translate the page into those languages. You also want to apply search optimization techniques to promote the translated content. It is assumed that you enabled Swedish and Danish in the website's index.

• Translate the page into Swedish and Danish.
• Because you enabled Swedish and Danish in the index, the Fall Fashion page appears in results when searching for tröjor and trøjer, the Swedish and Danish words for cardigans, even though the page contains the singular form cardigan (tröja and trøje).
• Create a best bet for the Fall Fashion page to promote it when someone searches for cardigans or jeans. You do not have to create best bets for the Swedish and Danish versions — Optimizely Search & Navigation automatically displays the translated versions. If a best bet's content is not translated, Optimizely Search & Navigation displays the master language version as a fallback language.
• Add jeans as a one-way synonym for trousers in English. If a site visitor searches for trousers, the Fall Fashion page appears at the top of search results.

  Because it is a one-way synonym, a search for jeans does not return pages containing trousers.

• Create the corresponding language-specific synonym pair for jeans in Swedish (byxor) and Danish (bukser).
• Assume that the new style brand is replacing the old XX brand in the new collection. Add style as a synonym for XX, applying to all languages. Visitors searching for the XX brand also see results for the style brand, regardless of language.

Adding websites and optimizing search

This example continues the previous one by creating two new campaign websites with targeted content: one for fashion and one for traveling, in addition to the default website. All three websites share an index and have the same languages enabled.

• Enable the desired languages in each new website, so editors can create and translate content in the sites.
• Because the campaign websites are new and have their own URL Stands for "Uniform Resource Locator". Also known as a web address such as http://world.optimizely.com., the statistics views are empty until visitors generate traffic and queries.
• All websites share an index, so best bets, related queries, or autocomplete suggestions are already defined the campaign websites.
• Similarly, any language-specific search optimization for all websites also applies to the campaign websites.
• By definition, synonyms apply to all websites. Synonyms can be language-specific, as explained the style brand example above.
• Because the campaign websites have different content (fashion and traveling), you can add website-specific related queries. For example, on the travel website, searching for warm (English) might suggest tropical destinations, like Jamaica. Searching for warm on the fashion website might suggest cardigans or sweaters.

  

• Add website-specific autocompletion of search phrases. For example, if a visitor enters car on the fashion website, an autocomplete suggestion might be cardigans. On the travel website, the suggestion might be car rental.