How to Fix Failed Searches
When you see failed searches in your Docs report, it means people are searching for terms that don't match any articles. Use this metric to improve your Docs search and content.
For more on the Docs report in general, take a look at Reports: Docs
Optimize Existing Articles with Keywords
Do you see terms in the failed searches that you'd like to match to articles you already have? Add them to the Keywords in your article! For example, if you have a word or brand name that is commonly misspelled or has alternate spellings you didn't use in your article, add those other spellings to the Keywords for that article.
Keywords are also useful if you'd like existing articles to rank higher in search results. Keywords are the highest ranking section and impact your results the most. Relevancy ranking criteria is listed below, in order of highest to lowest:
- Exact keyword - matches the text as is: search for "users", keyword is "users"
- Exact title - matches the text as is: search for "users", title contains "users"
- Partial title - for typing ahead: start typing "use", title contains "user"
- Keywords - matches closely: search for "users", keyword is "user"
- Body - exact and close matches in the body of the article
To access the Keywords entry, open the article editor and click on the Keywords tab. Separate multiples with a new line or comma.
Create New Articles
Failed searches can also serve as great inspiration for new articles that need to be created. If you find that people are searching for topics you haven't covered, it would likely be worth creating an article to address their questions.
Head over to Create and Manage Docs Articles for more help starting a new article.