Magento 2 Product Catalog Search Settings, Types, Best Practices

When looking for a product in a Magento store, customers very often use the catalog search along with Magento layered navigation. However, having a search bar at the top of the page doesn't always mean customers will find relevant results.

They can misspell words, type in alternate product names, and use different synonyms when looking for the same item. Therefore, your task is to optimize Magento product catalog search so that it returns the most suitable products in any case.

This guide explains how Magento 2 catalog search works, how to configure it along with search terms, and how to troubleshoot the most common search problems.

What is Magento 2 Product Catalog Search?

Magento product catalog search (or Native Catalog Search) is the built-in system that allows customers to find products by typing keywords and product information, such as product names, SKUs, attributes, and descriptions, in the search bar or by using other catalog search features. This is the fastest way to help shoppers discover relevant items in your catalog. 

Behind the scenes, Magento catalog search gathers information and passes the search keywords to a background program called OpenSearch or Elasticsearch (depending on your Magento version and configuration).

This engine scans all the products and pushes the results back onto the screen, and the process looks like this: customer > Magento Catalog Search > OpenSearch/Elasticsearch > matching products.

Magento relies on a combination of backend components and frontend searching tools to control and improve the search results:

• Magento search bar: the search field at the top of the page for customers to enter search queries.
• Search-as-you-type functionality: displays product suggestions in the popup instantly while customers are typing.
• Search result page: shows the page with products that match the customer's query.
• Advanced search: a special form where customers input extra details to narrow down product search.
• Searchable product attributes: backend setting to control which product details Magento uses to match the customer's query.
• Search terms page: shows the keywords customers use to search for products and allows you to configure specific queries to lead specific queries to relevant products or categories.

Native Catalog Search vs Adobe Live Search

Native Catalog Search is a default Magento product functionality available for both Open Source and Adobe Commerce users. It relies on OpenSearch or Elasticsearch, keyword and attribute matching, and requires manual control over terms/synonyms/suggestions.

Adobe Live Search is a separate cloud-based search service which is only available for Adobe Commerce users. It extends the standard Magento functionality with more advanced capabilities, including AI-powered search relevance, merchandising tools, and advanced search analytics.

Now, let's look at all the Magento search components in more detail to help you configure your store for maximum search accuracy.

Magento Catalog Search Types

To ensure customers receive the best experience on your store, Magento provides two types of catalog search out of the box: Quick Search and Advanced Search. 

Quick Catalog Search

Quick Catalog Search requires customers to type just a few characters or a phrase in Magento search bar that matches the name of the product or some other product information. 

After customers enter a search query, Magento immediately redirects them to the search result page with matching products.

Advanced Catalog Search

Magento Advanced Search allows customers to be more specific about the products they are looking for. They can search for a product not only by Product Name but also by SKU, Price, Long and Short Descriptions.

You can even add product attributes to the advanced search, so customers can search for products by color, size, etc. Configure Magento product attribute Storefront Properties to add attributes to product search

Magento advanced search example

Weighted Catalog Search

Weighted Catalog Search allows store owners to control which product details carry the most value the same query can matches multiple searchable attributes.

It works like a scoring system for the product attributes across both Quick and Advanced catalog searches.

How to Configure Magento Product Catalog Search?

To configure product catalog search, you need to set up the Magento 2 search engine (OpenSearch in our case) along with individual product attribute weights to control result priority. 

Step 1: Configure OpenSearch for catalog search in Magento

OpenSearch is a recommended search engine for Magento 2 since Elasticsearch has already paused its support and recent Adobe Commerce releases dropped compatibility completely. To set up OpenSearch on a current Magento version, do the following:

• Go to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search and select OpenSearch in the Search Engine field.
• Enter the OpenSearch server hostname in the corresponding box. By default, it's localhost.
• Set the OpenSearch Server Port. The default is 9200.
• Set an Index Prefix to prevent data issues when multiple environments share the same OpenSearch cluster.
• Enable HTTP Authentication if your server requires a username and password, and enter the credentials.
• Set an OpenSearch Server Timeout, i.e., how long Magento waits before giving up on a request. The default value is 15 seconds.
• Click Test Connection to confirm Magento can actually reach the server before you save. Then Save the configuration and reindex.

Step 2: Configure Magento 2 search settings

Navigate to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search.

• Set the Minimal and Maximum Query Lengths, which define the minimum and the maximum number of characters in a search query. These options have to be compatible with search engine settings. It's better to set a higher minimum number of characters since a small number can impact performance.
• Enter the Number of top search results to cache for faster responses. The default number is 100, but you can also set 0 to cache all search terms and results entered the second time.
• Enable EAV Indexer if indexing speed matters, and you're not relying on a third-party extension that needs direct access to that indexer. 
• Set the Autocomplete Limit. This is the maximum number of suggestions shown to a customer as they type. A higher number gives shoppers more to choose from but can slow down the search-as-you-type popup if pushed too high.

After saving the config, reindex your catalog search index and clear the cache to see the changes on the storefront.

Step 3: Enable suggestions and recommendations 

Search suggestions and recommendations help customers find products while typing or if their initial query returns no results. Go to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search and set the following:

• Enable Search Recommendations to show related search recommendations as customers enter a query.
• Set the Search Recommendation Count to limit the number of search recommendations displayed when customers type in the search query.
• Set Show Results Count for Each recommendation to Yes so each recommendation displays how many products it would return.
• Enable Search Suggestions to display suggested search terms as customers type.
• Set the Search Suggestions Count to limit the number of search suggestions to show to customers. 
• Set Show Results Count for Each Suggestion to Yes so each suggestion displays how many products it would return.
• Configure Minimum Terms to Match in Magento Catalog Search to control how many of the words in a customer's search query have to match a product for it to show up in results. Set it low to avoid zero-result searches.

Step 4: Configure Magento weighted search for product attributes

To configure the attribute priority and boost key products higher in search results, go to Stores > Attributes > Product and choose the attribute you want to weight.

• Open the Storefront Properties section and set Use in Search to Yes. Then the system will show you the Search Weight option.
• Choose the search weight value from 1 to 10, where 1 is the lowest priority and 10 is the highest.
• Set Visible in Advanced Search to Yes.

Once you're finished with all configurations, don't forget to Save Config and reindex.

Now, when Magento catalog search is configured, it's time to configure search terms and synonyms to let customers find what they need even when they misspell words or use different names.

How to Configure Search Terms in Magento 2?

You can configure Magento product search keywords by going to Marketing > SEO&Search > Search Terms and adding a word or phrase you want to be used as the search query.

This way, you can connect the search term with specific search results and control where shoppers land after pressing the search icon.

Therefore, you won't need to completely rely on the search engine's relevance scoring, since this section will guide customers to the most relevant results. 

Magento also allows you to see analytics for each term, showing how many times it's been searched and how many results it returned. This information can help you adjust your search keyword strategy. 

How to Prevent Magento Search Spam?

Since there is no default feature to protect Magento catalog search from bots, use the Search Spam Filter provided by the Magento 2 Spam and Bot Blocker extension. It allows you to block known spammy search queries and prevent your search from being attacked by automated scripts.

Bots may hit the search bar to overwhelm the store and waste your server resources, not to mention breaking your search analytics. Therefore, it's always a good idea to monitor your search to spot malicious and spam bot traffic.

Search Spam Filter settings in Magento 2 Bot Blocker extension

Magento Blog Search and Catalog Search Integration

If you manage a blog on your Magento 2 store, enable blog search integration feature in the Magefan Blog module to display both products and blog posts in the search results. This way, your customers will be able to find not only products, but also useful blog posts connected to the search query.

An example of blog integration in the search provided by the Magefan Blog extension

Troubleshooting Magento Catalog Search

If a product doesn't appear in the Magento search results, check the following settings:

• Reindex status: go to System > Index Management and make sure the Catalog Search doesn't show Reindex Required, and run a reindex if needed.
• OpenSearch connection: go to Stores > Configurations > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search and press the Test Connection button to check if Magento can connect to OpenSearch.
• Product status: make sure the product is enabled, is in stock, and is assigned to the correct store view and website. If not, it won't show up.
• Visibility settings: check if the product's visibility is set to "Catalog, Search" or only "Search" if needed, but not to "Not Visible Individually".
• Searchable attributes: go to Stores > Attribute > Products > Storefront Properties and make sure the attribute has an enabled Use in Search option. 
• Query Length limits: go to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search and check if the search term in the search box is not shorter than the Minimal Query Length and not longer than Maximum Query Length configured in Magento.
• Cache: after changing Magento search settings or reindexing, don't forget to flush the cache. Otherwise, the system may still show old search results.

Catalog search is an integral part of your Magento 2 store, because it improves your website navigation and shows customers relevant products. Together with other navigation tools they create a better experience and faster purchasing workflow in your store.

FAQs

How do I add synonyms to Magento 2 search?

To add synonyms to the Magento catalog search, go to Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Synonyms, press the New Synonym Group button, and specify the needed synonyms in the Synonyms field. If you notice in the search term report that your customers use "phone case", "cellphone case", "mobile case", "phone cover", "smartphone cover" interchangeably, you can group these terms together to help Magento return relevant products no matter which term customers use.

What is the difference between Magento 2 catalog search and Live Search?

The difference between Magento catalog search and Live Search is that the former is a built-in Magento functionality available for Open Source users that allows customers to find products using keywords and searchable product data, whereas the latter is a separate, advanced search solution with AI-powered search capabilities and is available for Adobe Commerce users only.

How to Improve Magento 2 Search Results?

You can improve Magento search results by using clear and descriptive product names, making important product attributes searchable, setting appropriate search weights for important attributes, and using search terms to redirect customers to relevant product or category pages.