The SearchStax Site Search solution offers two features where the system modifies an incoming query to steer the user toward better results: synonyms and related searches.
Both features recognize an incoming keyword or phrase and perform a search based on a different query.
At first glance, the features seem very similar but there are a couple of significant differences.
- In a synonym substitution, the term requested by the user is not submitted for matching. The synonym is the basis of the query.
- In a related search, the user’s original query is run, and then the related search term is suggested to the user at the bottom of the results. Click on the suggestion to run a second query.
Both features let you enter substitution rules one-by-one or by uploading a text file. For related searches, Site Search utilizes Artificial Intelligence analysis to discover related queries. There is no such discovery process for synonyms.
The two features do not interact. When you enable both at the same time, the synonym substitution occurs before the query is run, and search strings related to the original query are displayed at the bottom of the page.
Questions?
Do not hesitate to contact the SearchStax Support Desk.