How to Improve Magento Search: Admin Settings, Speed and Engines

Site search is where shoppers with the clearest intent go: they know what they want and type it in. If Magento search returns nothing, the wrong products or a slow page, they leave. This guide shows how Magento 2 search works today, what you can improve in the admin without a developer, and when it's time for a different search engine.

How Magento 2 search works

Magento 2.4 doesn't search the MySQL database directly. It sends products to a separate search engine and queries it for every search and every filtered category page. Current Magento 2.4 releases use OpenSearch by default; Elasticsearch support is being phased out.

When you change a product, Magento updates the search index through its indexers. Results are ranked by relevance: which attributes contain the search term, and how much weight each attribute has.

Quick wins in the Magento admin

These need no code.

Check which attributes are searchable

In Stores > Attributes > Product, open each attribute and check Use in Search and Search Weight. Give the product name and SKU a high weight, and turn search off for attributes that only add noise.

Add synonyms

In Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Synonyms, group words your customers use differently: "sneakers" and "trainers", "sofa" and "couch". Each group can apply to all stores or to one store view.

Use search terms and redirects

In Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Terms, you see what customers search for, how often, and how many results they get. For popular queries, set a redirect URL to the right category or landing page.

Fix zero-result searches

Reports > Search Terms shows queries that return nothing. Each one is either a missing product, a missing synonym or a misspelling, and all three are cheap to fix.

Clean up product data

Search can only find what's in the data. Complete product names, attributes and descriptions, and consistent naming across the catalogue, improve results more than any extension.

Improve the search experience

• Autocomplete with product suggestions as the shopper types, including images and prices.
• Typo tolerance, so "iphnoe" still finds iPhone.
• Filters on the search results page, the same as on category pages.
• A visible search bar, especially on mobile, where it's often hidden behind an icon.
• A useful "no results" page with popular categories and products instead of an empty screen.

Magento's default search covers the basics. Autocomplete with products, typo tolerance and good relevance on large catalogues usually need tuning or a different search engine.

Search speed and server load

Every search and every filtered category page is a query to the search engine and to Magento. On a busy store this adds up: search competes with shoppers, bots and reindexing for the same server. Signs of trouble: search gets slow during campaigns, or the whole store slows down while products reindex.

Check that indexers run on "Update by schedule", that the search engine has enough memory, and that it runs on its own server on larger stores. A performance audit shows whether search is what slows your store down.

Other search engines for Magento

• Tuning OpenSearch. Better analysers, synonyms and relevance rules on the engine Magento already uses.
• Hosted search services. SaaS search with autocomplete, typo tolerance and merchandising built in, paid by usage.
• Meilisearch. An open-source search engine with fast, typo-tolerant search, which you host yourself.

In a headless Magento store, search moves off Magento completely. In our headless setup, for example, Meilisearch handles site search and OpenSearch handles the catalogue and filters, with search falling back to OpenSearch if Meilisearch is down.

Questions about Magento search

Why does Magento search return irrelevant results?

Usually because too many attributes are searchable with the same weight, or because product data is incomplete. Start with Use in Search and Search Weight.

Can Magento search handle typos?

OpenSearch supports fuzzy matching, but out of the box it's limited. Better typo tolerance needs tuning or a search engine built for it.

Do we need Elasticsearch or OpenSearch?

Yes. Magento 2.4 needs a search engine, and current releases use OpenSearch. Check the versions supported by your Magento release before an upgrade.

Does better search increase sales?

Shoppers who search usually know what they want, so every failed search is a likely lost sale. Measure it: track searches, zero-result searches and conversion from search before and after changes.

SYSINT has worked with Magento since 2012. We tune search, fix performance and build headless storefronts for agencies and online stores. See our Magento development and Magento support services.