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29.05.2019 | News How a better search engine increases range and helps to monetize digital content more efficiently

As the Internet is the first point of contact for information and product research, operators of websites and content portals have developed new revenue models in which retention time and access rate play a crucial role. Search specialist IntraFind shows how these companies are improving search quality and traffic on their websites.

The longer a visitor browses the digital content of an online portal, the better it is for the website operator. Operators of content portals such as media and publishing houses, but also other companies, are under high competitive pressure. With a user-friendly presentation of content they can increase the level of long-term customer loyalty.IntraFind, the specialist for Enterprise Search and Natural Language Processing, explains which measures are necessary for this:


1. Improve the search quality: The integration of a linguistic component into a classic full text search improves the quality of the search results. The generation of basic forms and the decomposition of multiword terms are core features of the solution. They determine the language- and word-type-specific normal forms for each word in order to achieve maximum completeness of the search results - independent of upper and lower case, typos or a distinction between singular and plural form of the search term. The autocompletion starts already when a user enters a few letters: It completes the term, improves the spelling of typos and suggests alternative terms.

2. Automatic keyword assignment: Editors, bloggers, and companies add keywords to articles, contributions, and product information. However, manual enrichment is often error-prone and subjective. Solutions that automate keyword assignment facilitate this task: They deliver high-quality keywords and suggested topics for the content created according to objective standards. It is important that the content creator is able to to make corrections to the proposals of the software as part of a quality assurance process. On the one hand, this takes the burden off the content creator, and on the other hand, the content is easier to find when it is availablein a portal or on a website.

3. Semantic search: An intelligent website search guides the visitor through the research process. The search engine also suggests further semantically related content on the website and provides supplementary information, for example as links to related content that are either automatically created or  editorially curatedautomatically or editorially. The website thus achieves higher click rates, is classified as more relevant by search engines, and is easier to find.

4. Adapt content to customer requirements: It is important for website operators to know for what visitors have been looking and which topics are of interest. A "click-to-rank" option gives frequently selected hits a higher relevance in future search queries. In addition, companies can align their offerings more easily with their customers and place relevant content more prominently, or expand their offerings if necessary. With modern AI procedures, a search engine has a quick learning curve.

5. Place the search option in a prominent position: Even the best search offers no added value if it is not used. On many websites, the search option is hidden behind a magnifying glass icon in the top navigation of the website and is simply overlooked by many website visitors.


"Often it is simple things that are done wrong with search integration. When companies improve their search and combine it with automatic keyword assignment, they can interconnect contents intelligently and offer website visitors further links. This allows them to keep visitors on the website longer and to market content better," explains Franz Kögl, CEO of IntraFind Software AG.