When it comes to running an online store, one of the most important features is the search functionality. Customers need to be able to easily find the products they are looking for, and if they can’t, they will quickly become frustrated and look elsewhere. That’s why it’s crucial to configure your Magento 2 store for advanced search. In this article, we will go through the steps you need to take to do just that.
Table of Contents
Install and Activate Elasticsearch
The first step to setting up an advanced search in Magento 2 is to install and activate Elasticsearch. Elasticsearch is a powerful search engine that is designed to handle large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. Installing Elasticsearch is relatively simple, and there are plenty of tutorials available online to guide you through the process.
Once Elasticsearch is installed, you will need to activate it in Magento 2 by going to the admin panel and navigating to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search. From there, you will need to select Elasticsearch as the search engine and enter in the details of your Elasticsearch server. You should also configure the search settings to suit your needs.
Configure Search Settings
Now that Elasticsearch is activated, you can configure the search settings to fine-tune the search results your customers see. To do this, go to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search and click on the Search Engine Optimization tab.
From there, you can configure several settings that affect the search results, including:
- Search Weight – This determines how much weight is given to product attributes when calculating relevance. You can adjust the weight for each attribute to ensure that the most important attributes are given more weight.
- Term Weight – This determines how much weight is given to each search term. You can adjust the weight for each term to ensure that the most relevant search terms are given more weight.
- Search Synonyms – This allows you to define synonyms for certain search terms, so that if a customer searches for a synonym, they will see the same results as if they had used the original term.
- Stop Words – These are common words that are ignored when searching. You can configure the list of stop words to suit your needs.
Add Advanced Search Filters
Magento 2 comes with several built-in search filters, such as category, price range, and availability. However, if you want to provide your customers with a more advanced search experience, you can add additional filters using Magento’s layered navigation feature.
To do this, go to the admin panel and navigate to Products > Categories. From there, you can create new categories or edit existing ones. Under the Display Settings tab, you will see an option to enable layered navigation.
Once layered navigation is enabled, you can add additional filters by editing the filter attributes under Stores > Attributes > Product. You can also create new filter attributes if needed.
Conclusion
Configuring Magento 2 to provide an advanced search experience for your customers is a crucial step in running a successful online store. With Elasticsearch as your search engine and the right configuration settings and filters in place, your customers will be able to quickly and easily find the products they are looking for. If you have any questions or need further guidance on configuring an advanced search in Magento 2, be sure to consult the Magento 2 documentation or reach out to a Magento partner for assistance.