Managing the Search Experience in Microsoft SharePoint 2010

  • 6/24/2010

Working with Keywords and Best Bets

Keywords are terms identified and managed by site collection (search) administrators. When terms have more than one meaning within an organization, keywords can be used to clarify their usage and meaning. More commonly, they are used to display search results so that the results recommend the most appropriate source of information related to the term. These recommended results are known as Best Bet locations.

When a keyword is used in a query term, both the keyword definition and the Best Bet location appear in the Best Bet Web part on the search results page. Keywords and Best Bets are configured at the site collection level by the site collection administrator. They are not configured as part of the search service, nor are they transferable between site collections.

To open the Manage Keywords page, shown in Figure 9-31, from the Site Actions menu at the root of a site collection, select Site Settings. The Search keywords link in the Site Collection Administration group will open the page.

Figure 9-31

Figure 9-31 Manage Keywords page.

In the Quick Launch area are links to three views: All Keywords (the default), Expired Keywords, and Keywords Requiring Review. Two links to usage reports are Best Bet Usage and Best Bet Suggestions. These will be covered later as part of the usage reports discussion.

Because the number of keywords can be quite large, these filter views are useful, as is the keyword search tool shown in Figure 9-32. Using this tool, you can locate keywords by choosing either Keyword, Synonyms, Best Bet Title, Best Bet URL, or Contact.

Figure 9-32

Figure 9-32 Keyword search tool.

Click the Add Keyword link to open the Add Keyword page. The first section of the page, as seen in Figure 9-33, manages the keyword phrase and any synonyms. Any phrase entered in either box will return the keyword results when used as a search term. Synonyms should be separated by semi-colons.

Figure 9-33

Figure 9-33 Keyword Phrase and Synonyms text boxes.

The next section of the page, shown in Figure 9-34, manages the keyword definition, which is the optional editorial text that will appear in the keyword result. Use this rich text editor control to enter a keyword definition that will help explain the keyword result in the result set. The text can include hyperlinks.

Figure 9-34

Figure 9-34 Keyword Definition rich text editor.

The display of a keyword definition in a search results page when the keyword has no associated Best Bet configured is shown in Figure 9-35. This definition is presented on the results page even though there are no search results to display.

Figure 9-35

Figure 9-35 Presentation of a keyword definition only.

The next section of the page, shown in Figure 9-36, manages Best Bets. A keyword can have multiple associated Best Bets. They will appear in the order specified in this section up to the limits determined by the Best Bets Web part on the results page.

Figure 9-36

Figure 9-36 Best Bet management section of Manage Keyword page.

Clicking the Add Best Bet or Edit links opens the Best Bet management dialog box shown in Figure 9-37. The URL and Title fields are required, while the description is optional. For Best Bets, the description is a text-only entry.

Figure 9-37

Figure 9-37 The Add Best Bet dialog box.

The next section, displayed in Figure 9-38, is management information for the keyword. Enter information for the person to be contacted on the review date. You must schedule a publishing date, but the review and expiration dates are optional.

Figure 9-38

Figure 9-38 Keyword contact and publishing information.

After configuring a keyword, you must run a full crawl of all your content indexes so that the new keyword entry is properly associated with content.

The keyword definition and Best Bet will be displayed in search results, as shown in Figure 9-39, even if no other results are located for your search term. The keyword definition and Best Bet display will be the same whether the search term was the keyword phrase or a synonym but, of course, the search results would differ.

Figure 9-39

Figure 9-39 Keyword Definition and Best Bet illustration.