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How to semantically enrich search results with the thesaurus in Control Desk

  • Updated June 15, 2020 ● Published April 25, 2018
  • Etienne Roser
  • Reading time: 5 min.

As an e-commerce professional, you try to make it as easy as possible for your customers to find products in your online shop. Your keywords are undoubtedly of particular importance for this. Often, it is only deviating search entries that cause inappropriate results or a zero-hit page. With the help of the thesaurus in the Control Desk, you can prevent this problem by semantically optimizing the keywords according to your individual requirements. Want to know how it works? Our blog article provides the answers!

The picture shows a shelf with various cardboard letters.

Howdoes the thesaurus work?

The Thesaurus section can be found in the Control Desk under the Keywords tab. This tool allows you to semantically expand any keywords with just a few clicks. This increases the likelihood that visitors to your online store will actually find what they are looking for thanks to intelligent search.

The following four rules are available to you:

  • Expand
  • equate
  • Exclude
  • Replace

You can semantically expand the desired search terms individually using the Create entry button. To do this, simply select the rule that should apply to the respective keyword in the user interface.


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Expand

Expand allows you to expand search terms with an alternative term.

Example: Customers searching for"dress"should also see search results for"evening dress."If someone searches for"evening dress," only results for that search term should appear.

  • First, type in thesearch term"dress."
  • Under "Expand with," select the option "evening gown." If necessary, you can also add additional synonyms for the search term here using the plus icon.
  • Select one of the options Exact or Contains. The Exact option, which is selected by default, means that the entry only applies if the search term is searched for on its own and consists exclusively of exactly these letters. If the option "contains" is selected, search terms that contain the specified search term are included. This option should only be used for search terms that are certain to have no other meaning, such as the term "Advent calendar."
  • Set the country code. Additionally, select a country code if the entry is to be used for a specific language.
The screenshot shows an excerpt from the thesaurus in epoq Control Desk. It shows an example of the Expand rule.

Example of expansion: While entering the search term "dress" also displays results for "evening dress," users searching for "evening dress" will only see results for "evening dress."

equate

By equating , you assign synonymous terms to a search term.

Example: Customers searching for "socks" or "stockings" should receive the same search results in both cases.

  • To do this, enter all keywords that should be synonyms for each other under " Equate search terms."
  • In this case, those would be the terms "socks" and "stockings."
  • Choose one of the options: exact or includes.
  • Set the country code.
The screenshot shows an excerpt from the thesaurus in epoq Control Desk. It shows an example of the Equate rule.

Example of equating: From now on, identical search results will appear for both the keyword "socks" and the synonym "stockings."

Exclude

The Exclude rule allows you to exclude inappropriate search terms.

Example: Customers searching for "embroidery" should not receive search results for "knitting."

  • First, enter"embroidery" asthe search term.
  • Under Exclude word , you can exclude "knitting. " Here, too, a plus icon allows you to select multiple rule terms at the same time.
  • Choose one of the options: exact or includes.
  • Set the country code.
The screenshot shows an excerpt from the thesaurus in epoq Control Desk. It shows an example of the Exclude rule.

Example of exclusion: Search results for the keyword "knitting" should be excluded.

Replace

The Replace rule is used to replace search terms.

Example: Customers searching for "mini skirt" should only receive results for "skirt. "

  • In the first step, enter"mini skirt"as the search term.
  • Under Replace with, enter the replacement term "skirt. "
  • Choose one of the options: exact or includes.
  • Set the country code.
The screenshot shows an excerpt from the thesaurus in epoq Control Desk. It shows an example of the replace rule.

Example of replacement: The search term "mini skirt" is replaced by "skirt," and the results are adjusted accordingly.

All saved keywords can be found in the thesaurus, collected in a table. Here you can see not only the search term, rule term, rule, and last modification date, but you also have the option to activate or deactivate entries, edit them, or delete them.


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Want to further improve your search? In addition to the thesaurus, the Control Desk offers you further interesting intelligent search tools with Link Finder, banner management, and results management.

Our conclusion: Semantic keyword optimization without much effort

Whether you want to equate keywords, define alternative terms, exclude search terms, or choose replacement terms, the thesaurus makes keyword optimization a simple and time-saving task. At the same time, you ensure that visitors to your online store are more likely to find the products they are looking for.

Log in to yourControl Desknow and start optimizing your keywords. Don't have access to the Control Desk yet? You can request your account here »Request Control Desk account

Etienne Roser
Working student in marketing
Etienne gained experience in personalization as a working student in marketing. His responsibilities included content creation, e.g., for our blog or our social media channels. In addition to his work at Epoq, Etienne studied marketing/sales/media.