An easy way to find products is important in the fast moving world of ecommerce.
Finding the right products quickly once a visitor visits your Magento store can usually mean the difference between a sale and a bounce.
This is where search terms and Magento 2 search settings are useful.
Gaining proficiency with Magento 2 search features may greatly enhance your store's functionality, from increasing search accuracy to figuring out what users are typing into the search bar.
We'll go over everything in this comprehensive guide, from fundamental ideas to sophisticated setups, providing answers to queries like:
What are search terms in Magento? How does Magento search work? How can you fix the Magento 2 search not working properly?
What Are Search Terms in Magento?
Magento search terms are the keywords entered by users into your store’s search box. Magento tracks these terms to help store owners understand customer goals and improve both search relevance and product visibility.
These terms are stored in the Magento search terms report, which can be found under:
- Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Terms in the Magento 2 Admin Panel
Each term comes with data like the number of results it returned and how many times it was searched.
Understanding these search terms also helps store admins find hidden opportunities.
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Explore our custom Magento 2 development services tailored for performance and scalability.
How Does Magento Search Work?
Magento 2 uses Elasticsearch as its default search engine. It indexes your product catalog and provides fast, scalable, and appropriate search results.
It supports:
- Full text search
- Search suggestions
- Synonyms and misspellings
- Search weighting and relevance tuning
Here’s a quick and easy flow:
- The user types a phrase into the search box.
- Magento sends the query to the Elasticsearch engine.
- Elasticsearch fetches relevant products based on content indexed from your product attributes.
- Results are displayed according to your sort order and layered navigation.
This entire process happens in milliseconds, but only if your Magento search settings are properly configured.
Magento 2’s search engine is highly configurable. Admins can adjust the weighting of different product attributes to filter search relevance.
For example, you may want the product name to carry more weight than the short description. You can also define synonym groups and implement auto suggestions to make searching more intuitive.
Why Magento 2 Search May Not Work Properly
One common issue store owners face is that Magento 2 search does not work properly.
Common signs include:
- No results returned for common queries.
- Irrelevant results.
- Empty results even when products exist.
Common Fixes:
1. Check if Elasticsearch is properly configured and running
2. Reindex Magento: Run php bin/magento indexer: reindex
3. Verify product attributes used in search: Make sure relevant attributes (like name, SKU, description) are marked as searchable.
4. Review Search Terms: Go to the Magento search terms report to identify problematic keywords.
5. Enable Flat Catalog (deprecated in recent versions, but still used in some setups)
Another overlooked cause is incorrectly configured visibility or status settings.
If your product is disabled or not visible in the catalog/search,it won’t appear in search results even if everything else is configured correctly.
Regularly auditing your catalog visibility and stock settings can prevent these issues.
Magento 2 Search Settings Explained
Customization of search behavior is allowed in Magento 2 through the Admin Panel.
Steps to Access Search Settings: Navigate to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search
Check below key options:
- Minimal / Maximum Query Length: Controls the allowed length of search queries.
- Search Engine: Set to Elasticsearch.
- Autocomplete Limit: Limits the number of suggestions shown.
- Search Suggestions: Enable/disable keyword suggestions.
- Search Recommendations: Allow product based recommendations based on user search practices..
Enhancing these settings can improve the usage of your Magento site search and increase conversion rates.
You can also adjust how Magento handles misspellings and typos. This can greatly improve search accuracy, especially on mobile, where users make more typing errors.
For multilingual stores, consider configuring locale specific settings in Elasticsearch to support different alphabets and word orders.
Hire Expert Magento 2 Developers to audit and enhance your store’s search architecture.
Managing Magento Search Terms
Magento 2 gives you direct access to manage search terms.
Go to: Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Terms
Here you can:
- Edit terms to point users to specific landing pages.
- Redirect keywords that frequently yield poor results.
- Delete outdated or low performing search queries.
This feature is especially useful when analyzing seasonal trends or addressing high bounce rate keywords.
Proactively managing these search terms lets you control user journeys more effectively. Diverting outdated search terms to new or similar products ensures customers always find value.
You can also utilize this area to test advertising phrases or campaigns and monitor user engagement with them.
Want to optimize performance and improve front end search speed?
Consider a Hyvä theme development service to upgrade your store’s UX.
How Do I Search for a Product in Magento 2?
As a customer:
- Enter a product name, keyword in the search box.
As an admin or store owner:
- Use the Product Grid search under Catalog > Products.
- Use filters like name, visibility, or status to cut down.
What Are Product Keywords?
Product keywords are terms associated with your product that help improve its discoverability via search engines (Google, Bing) or internal store search.
In Magento 2, keywords are derived from:
- Product title
- Meta title & meta description
- Product description
- Searchable attributes (custom tags, color, brand)
Well-optimized Magento keywords can increase both organic SEO and on-site discoverability.
Using long-tail keywords in product descriptions can also improve relevance for specific customer queries.
For example, instead of just “jacket,” using “men’s waterproof winter jacket” targets niche search terms more effectively.
Magento Search Terms Report: Why It Matters
The Magento search terms report is a goldmine of customer behavior data.
Use this report to:
- Discover trending keywords
- Identify poor performing queries
- Learn about products customers want but can’t find
- Add synonyms or redirect specific terms
Bonus Tip : Combine this with Google Analytics’ site search tracking for even deeper insights.
Over time, you can build a planned content and inventory around what customers are actively searching for. This helps with forecasting, marketing ads, and SEO alignment.
Check out our extension: Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for Magento 2
Magento Popular Search Terms & How to Leverage Them
Magento popular search terms are the most commonly searched phrases on your store.
These can be highlighted on your homepage or search result pages as “Trending Searches.”
This not only improves user experience but also helps guide shoppers toward best selling or occasional products.
You can also manually update or boost visibility for high converting search terms through:
- Landing pages
- Paid ad campaigns
- Featured product sections
Monitoring popular search terms helps you identify gaps in product offerings. If a term consistently appears but shows low or zero results, that’s a sign to consider stocking that item or optimizing related product metadata.
Magento 2 Change Search Query: When & How? Them
Sometimes, customers search using confusing or irrelevant terms. Instead of letting them see empty results, Magento lets you change or redirect the query.
Example: Redirect searches for “cell phone” to “smartphone.”
How to do it:
- Go to Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Terms
- Click on the term
- Use the Redirect URL area to lead them to an appropriate page.
This ensures that consumers always get to useful pages, even if their search keywords are somewhat inaccurate.
You may even apply this strategy to branded phrases or common mistakes, resulting in a more forgiving and effective search experience.
Conclusion
Magento 2 search is more than just a comfort; it's a major tool.
When properly configured, it can:
- Improve product discoverability
- Enhance user experience
- Drive conversions
- Provide valuable insights
Take action today:
- Audit your current search terms.
- Fix irrelevant results.
- Explore advanced search extensions.
- Turn every search query into a conversion opportunity.
Every keyword they type into the search box reflects your customer's requirements and goals.
You're enhancing functionality and making the shopping experience smarter and more responsive by utilizing Magento's extensive search options and actively manipulating search phrases.
Check out our related extensions:
