What role do synonyms play in e-commerce? Why does your search engine need to be able to search with synonyms? What types of synonyms can be embedded in the site's search engine to better understand your customers and avoid the “No results" page? Learn about how synonyms are used in our intelligent Evinent Search engine.
Internet users search for the right content or products using their own vocabulary and language. Ten people can refer to the same product in completely different ways. Therefore, it's very important for your site's search engine to support synonyms. In offline stores, everything is simple — a customer can speak to a employee about their specific request to clarify what they're looking for.
In the online world, everything is different. A person can ask for the same product in different ways with minimal context. But everything is easily solved if the site is equipped with artificial intelligence search. In this case, search engines use synonyms to recognize a person's request and provide all the appropriate options. If the search leads a customer to a zero-results page, then that person will likely go to competitors.
According to research, more than 60 percent of search engines do not use search synonyms and require the customer to use the exact name of the product. This repels actual users who are used to getting information quickly and easily. To avoid this, you should implement a smart search engine on your site that's capable of supporting synonyms.
Synonyms: Applications and Functions in E-Commerce
Search engine synonyms are designed to create equivalence between different search queries. For example, if a person writes “pullover" in the search box but at the same time implies “jacket," then your search engine should show the results for jackets.
Synonyms are not just words. They are a powerful tool for increasing click-through rate.
Modern users are very fond of having a search bar where they can enter their queries. However, they write them in their own ways while waiting for the right results from the system. If your search uses synonyms, then you'll have the maximum number of chances to satisfy the user's request and show the right product. As a rule, customers who use search are warm and ready to make a purchase. This means that your smart search engine will bring you closer to the next sale.
A convenient search service with synonyms can also attract a new audience and increase conversion.
Having a search function with the ability to understand synonyms expands business opportunities because the site understands more customers' inputs. Plus, such a tool most often helps to avoid a zero-results page, which can irritate online shoppers.
Types of Search Synonyms for Your E-Commerce Site
Many languages are characterized by ambiguity, in which one word has several meanings at the same time. It all depends on the context. In order to avoid confusing your customers, it is important to improve synonym recognition. If customers use a certain semantic context, then the dictionary of synonyms in the search function should be able to understand and give specific results for those queries.
The most common type of synonyms are identical expressions
For example, the city of New York may be called NY, New York City, or NYC. In other words, when requesting one of the forms, the site should give the same results.
The second type is asymmetric or one-sided synonyms
If you sell smartphones, then be sure to enter the word iPhone or Android as synonyms. If you sell different phones, then people will not always search for smartphones and will instead specify their requests.
How to Determine Which Search Synonyms to Use
It's not difficult to decide whether to use synonyms, but it is more difficult to understand which synonyms can help you understand customers. As a rule, competent analytics promotes accuracy and being able to show customers the products they're looking for.
To understand which search synonyms to use, you need to highlight a few of the most important ones that users like:
- Abbreviations: People try to convey the idea faster and write many abbreviated words. For example, many people prefer to write U.S. instead of United States of America. In fact, this is a synonym, and it should be on your site in search synonyms.
- Multilingual synonyms: If you work with an audience from different countries, then the search engine on your site should include a search for synonyms in the appropriate languages. Therefore, it is important to introduce as many synonyms of the same word in different languages as possible so that people can easily find products.
- Alternative meanings: Different words can be combined based on a single context. For example, the phrase Black Friday can mean promotions, discounts, and sales. In fact, these are synonyms that should be configured in your search engine.
How to Use Synonyms and Evinent Search to Increase Conversion
Our Evinent search tool has functions to understand synonyms. But these are not the only features of the tool. In addition to synonyms, our smart search engine offers transliteration, morphology, understanding of typos, voice search, and more. With this broad range of services available, users are able to achieve superior conversion results and bring their brands to a new level.
Advantages of Evinent Search
- Artificial intelligence: Thanks to advanced technologies, our system easily outputs results, taking into account synonyms, typos, and other forms of queries.
- Search analytics: This feature helps analyze users' requests in order to understand their behavior and improve overall search performance. With the help of analytics, you can understand what terms people use to search for products on the site, which queries they enter most often, and which products they end up purchasing. Based on analytics, you can determine which inputs are relevant to use as synonyms with Evinent Search. With as much information as possible about the quality of the search results, you will be able to select the right strategy to improve functionality.
Your site may be visited by customers from different countries. Therefore, it is important to take into account the different backgrounds of the audience when writing queries. Remember that some phrases may have a comparative meaning. The synonyms function in Evinent search can capture your customers' most common phrases and clarify your search accordingly. Try the
demo version of our tool to evaluate all the features and build convenience.
Top 3 Recommendations for Searching on an E-Commerce Site
Modern search has already gone far beyond a simple search bar in the corner of a site. Effective search engines include various functions such as dynamic filters, intelligent autocomplete, synonym recognition, advanced analytics, and more.
If you want your site search to match the requirements of contemporary users and meet their needs, consider the following points when choosing a system:
Pages with zero results should work
People may enter a query into the search bar with complex formulations or unusual context and receive zero results. It also happens that the site does not have the right product. But you shouldn't just push away that user without making another suggestion. A competent search function will refer customers to a page with relevant products or recommendations based on previous purchases instead of an empty screen.
Search should be optimized for mobile use
Many people prefer to shop through a mobile phone. It's important to remember that the screen scale in smartphones is much smaller than that of a computer. Therefore, it is important that customers are comfortable working with search and that they can quickly enter their queries.
The search bar must be visible
If a person knows what they want to buy when they get to a site, they're likely to immediately look for a search bar or a magnifying glass sign. Your task is to clearly understand where it will be easiest for that user to find the search bar and place it in a prominent location. It shouldn't blend into the background of the site and get lost next to other elements. In that case, the user could decide that there is no search on the site and leave.
Choose the best search engine for your site by evaluating the capabilities of different tools and drawing your own conclusions. Pay attention to search solutions with machine-learning capabilities that easily collect information about products and customers. Remember that they must understand synonyms and have additional features that will help increase sales and satisfy customers' needs. An effective search function is an opportunity to personalize a service that internet shoppers love so much. Increase your chances of getting closer to customers with a smart search engine!
