Manage related tags
Related tags are keywords that help shoppers fine-tune their query. For example, if they're looking for “juice” as a generic term, this initial query is refined with tags of suggested terms, such as orange, apple, or peach. When the shopper clicks one of these options, like “apple”, the query is narrowed down and the results are more accurate, as only the products related to "apple juice" are listed.
Related tags are generated organically based on the searches of other shoppers to identify associated search terms used to refine a query. Otherwise, you may want to add customized keywords to articulate the search experience and guide shoppers toward those products that must be promoted as part of a campaign or promotion. These last are the curated related tags.
interact
Can't quite capture the concept? Learn more about Related Tags.
The Related Tags management tool is one of the Experiences controls that the Empathy Platform Playboard includes. It allows you to customize the related tags experience offered to your shoppers based on the business needs. You can preview which organic related tags are displayed in your commerce store once a query is launched and decide to hide or show them. You can also add curated related tags, determining their order of appearance listing them before any organic related tag.
Getting started with the Related Tags management tool
The Related Tags management tool lets you create a related tag configuration to control the organic and curated related tags displayed in the commerce store after shoppers perform a search.
Configurations are set up by query context: query and segments, if applicable. Segments refer to the product catalog and language, as well as any other filters, such as the store, device, etc. that you may specify during your implementation—for example, English as language or desktop as device. There can only be one configuration per query context combination. However, you can create multiple related tag configurations.
When accessing the Related Tags management tool, you see a list with all the existing related tag configurations for the instance. If you haven’t created any configurations yet, the list doesn’t contain any rows.
List view of the Related Tags management tool - (A) Filters and search, (B) Action tools, (C) Related tags list, (D) Row selector, (E) Page navigation options.
The related tags list (C) displays the details of the configurations:
- Query: the initial query that shoppers must use to search before related tags are displayed to refine the query.
- Segments: the values selected for one or several filters based on your implementation, if applicable.
- Curated: total number of curated related tags created for the query.
- Hidden organic: total number of organic related tags hidden in the commerce store.
- Updated on/by: the date and time when the last changes were made to the configuration and the person who performed these changes.
- Status: the status of the configuration. It shows whether the related tags configuration is on or off.
Use the filters and search box (A) of the configuration list view to find the related tag configuration you need. Results can be sorted by query or date. When using the search box, you can search for strict matching results to get results that match exactly the query you entered. You can choose to have non-strict matching results, including either the configurations whose name matches exactly or partially your query terms.
You can select the number of configurations to be displayed in the list with the row selector (D) and navigate to other pages in the configuration list using the page navigation options (E).
To add a new configuration from the list screen, select the + NEW button. To edit an existing configuration, click its row and the edition screen will open. To edit or clone one configuration, or delete, turn on or off several configurations, select the checkbox next to the corresponding configurations and use the action tools (B) or the options displayed on the three-dot icon on the left.
Creating a related tag configuration
To add a new configuration from the list screen, click the + NEW button.
Related Tags management tool - (A) Details, (B) Filters, (C) Settings, (D) Curated related tags, (E) Organic related Tags, and (F) Hidden organic related tags.
The Details (A) section is where you set up whether the configuration is on and running for the initial query. The filters (B) section is where you select the segments associated with the configuration, if any, that you are defining.
Shoppers must use a query before the related tags are displayed, so the Settings (C) section is where you enter this initial query and then create or delete curated related tags, and show or hide the organic ones.
The organic related tags (E) associated with the initial query are already shown and the refining keyword is highlighted in bold. Remember that whether you change the query in the search box, any unsaved changes for the configuration are lost.
To create a configuration:
Decide whether the configuration you're creating will be turned on or off with the switch toggle button in the Details section.
Select the segments you want to apply to your configuration in the Filters section.
Enter a query in search box of the Settings section and press Enter.
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Once you've entered the initial query, it's normalized. Normalization means that your configuration applies to the shopper's query despite being written in upper or lowercase, in plural or singular, misspelled, including stop words, with a different order of words, and with or without accents (e.g., "Salads" is normalized to "salad"). This is done because, when the shoppers interact with your commerce store, the system applies a normalization process to adapt the configuration to all the query's possible variations.
Add curated related tags, or hide or show organic related tags as appropriate.
You can create a configuration that contains only organic related tags, a combination of organic and curated related tags, or only curated related tags (hiding all organic related tags).Click Save.
Creating a curated related tag
You can customize the related tags experience by adding curated related tags (D) that are displayed before any organic related tags (E) in the commerce store.
Rules for curated related tags
- Curated related tags must not contain the same term as the initial query.
- Curated related tags cannot be duplicated.
- Curated related tags must bring results.
To prevent shoppers from being redirected to a page with no results for the query with a related tag, every time you create a new curated related tag, a request is sent to the search engine to check whether there are results in the product catalog. If there are no results, you cannot save it.
Since organic related tags may change over time depending on shopper behavior, you can choose to create a curated related tag that is identical to an organic one. A warning message appears to tell you that an organic related tag already exists, but you can save the curated related tag (the organic one will disappear from the panel).
Similarly, if you edit an existing configuration containing curated related tags and these have become organic related tags thanks to shopper interaction, a warning message appears to help you identify the curated related tags so you can choose to delete them or hide the organic related tags instead.
Curated related tags have an icon to identify them (D). All curated related tags are listed before any organic related tags.
Tip
To feature an organic related tag higher in the list, you can drag and drop its pill wherever you want. It then becomes a curated related tag. A blue icon is displayed to identify the originally organic, now curated, related tag. This way, the related tag always appears in the same position on the list despite any changes in shopper behavior.
To add a curated related tag:
Click the + New icon from the list screen or select a configuration to edit.
Select the segments that apply to your configuration and enter the initial query.
Click the + icon of the Settings section, from above the list of related tags, if any.
Select if you want to add the term before or after the query. Then, add your tag in the text box on the right and press Enter. The curated related tag appears at the beginning of the list.
Click Save.
still don't see the use of curated related tags?
Check a use case for an online personal care and beauty retailer.
Changing the order of related tags
Curated related tags always appear before organic related tags. You cannot alternate curated and organic related tags in the list.
The order of organic related tags cannot be changed as it's determined by the volume of shopper searches. Their position indicates which terms are more frequently used together with the initial query when shoppers try to find what they are really looking for.
You can change the order in which curated related tags appear to shoppers:
Drag and drop the curated related tag in the related tags carousel to the corresponding position.
Click Save.
Hiding and showing related tags
In addition to changing or rearranging the position of your curated related tags, you can decide which organic related tags to hide or show.
To hide an organic related tag:
Locate in the list of the Settings section the organic related tag you want to hide.
Click the X icon on the right of the query string in the organic related tag. All hidden organic queries appear as the last items in the related tags list.
Click Save.
Tip
Too many organic related tags to hide? Click the Hide all organic related tags switch toggle button in the setting section to hide them all at once. Click again to show them.
To show a hidden organic related tag (F):
Locate the organic related tag you want to show again at the end of the list in the Settings section.
Click the return arrow icon on the right of the query string in the organic related tag.
The newly activated organic related tag moves to its organic position in the list.Click Save.
Tip
Distracted by so many tags? Click the Don't show hidden related tags button in the configuration section to hide them. Click again to show them.
design tip
As well as determining the number of related tags you display in your commerce store, you can choose to differentiate somehow between curated and organic related tags. Shoppers can distinguish clearly between related tags created to customize the search experience and those organically generated based on collective behavioral patterns. For more information, see Related Tag UI.