Specify synonyms to refine your Rapid Search settings to get the most search results possible.
Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning - just think of notebook and laptop as an example.
To get results for different names of the same product that may not be defined as the title or in the description of your product, you may want to add synonyms in your Rapid Search settings.
How do you get started adding synonyms?
0. No-result searches
To help you define synonyms specific to your store you may use dictionaries.
The No-result searches listed in your Rapid Search admin are also helpful. These are terms that were searched for but returned zero results. Some may be genuine if i.e. a visitor had searched for an item not offered in your store. However, if you have such a product as the one they were searching for but under a different name - this is when adding synonyms comes in handy.
No-result searches can be found in the Rapid Search Admin > Statistics > Search Analytics > No-result searches tab.
If you see a search term listed here, for which you offer a product under a different name, add this term as the synonym of the product name.
1. Adding Simple Synonyms
What it does:
All terms entered as synonyms in this section will be searched for in the product fields (title, description, SKU, barcode, tag, vendor, attributes, and product type) by Rapid Search if a visitor enters any one of them.
So to follow the example of the terms notebook and laptop, when a visitor searches for a laptop, Rapid Search lists all products that are listed as laptops or notebooks, and vice versa.
NOTE: We only consider full matches. So if a word is part or in the middle of a different word it won't be considered as a synonym.
How to set this:
1. Go to Rapid Search Admin > Settings > Synonyms menu, press the button Add synonyms, and select Synonyms as type.
2. Input your synonyms separated by commas (e.g. notebook, laptop or trousers, pants).
3. Press the Add button or ENTER, save.
2. Adding One-Way Synonyms
What it does:
To get results when a visitor enters a collective term instead of a specific product name; i.e. Rapid Search lists an iPhone 12 PRO device (product) when a visitor searches for a collective term, such as smartphone.
Hint: This setting may significantly reduce the number of searches with no results.
How to set this:
1. Go to Rapid Search Admin > Settings > Synonyms menu press the button Add synonyms, and select One-Way Synonyms as type.
2. Input the collective term in the top field here (this is of course not the same thing as a collection of your store) / e.g. smartphone /, and input the products under the same term below, separated by commas /iphone, samsung galaxy, etc./.
3. Press the Add button or ENTER, save.