# Ecommerce Search Relevance and Ranking

> Search results should put the products that best match a shopper’s words and intent near the top. Check exact product names first, then use category, attributes and availability to improve broader searches.

- Type: Merchant guide
- Level: Intermediate
- Reading time: About 4 minutes
- Audience: Written for store owners, builders, and designers refining high-performance ecommerce stores.
- Last updated: 2026-11-04
- Canonical page: https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/ecommerce-search-relevance-and-ranking/
- Part of: [Merchant Questions](https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/) on ZenBasket Academy

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## What you need to know

### What should rank first?

If a shopper types an exact product title, that item should appear before unrelated products that share one of its words. For a broader search, such as a small gift in a given scent, title, characteristics, size and gift category may all matter. Treat popularity and past shopper behavior as secondary signals when they would hide a precise match.

### Why might an exact product fail?

The storefront might search only titles while the item has a different displayed name, or an unpublished product might be excluded. Check the product’s public status, indexed fields, variant names, and the exact query. Test a few-word query as well as a full title.

### How should stock affect relevance?

A sold-out exact match can still help someone identify an item. Show its status clearly and offer suitable alternatives; for broad searches, available products can be easier to act on. Decide placement based on shopper needs, not one rule for every query.

### A simple check to try

Run one exact search and one broad search. Check the first results, sold-out items, and whether the shopper can understand why each item appears.

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## Frequently asked questions

### Should titles weigh more than descriptions?

Usually give distinctive titles and product identifiers strong weight, then test whether descriptive attributes rescue useful matches without flooding the results.

## Related articles

- **Spelling, Synonyms and Languages in Store Search**
- **Ecommerce Search Metrics and Demand**
- [ZenBasket Build Guide](https://help.getzenbasket.com/zenbasket-builder/)