Search Analytics – Yext Help

When reviewing analytics, it's important to keep your key value drivers in mind so you can measure current performance and trends. There are three buckets for key value drivers for any search experience:

Revenue generation: Driving more clicks and conversions
Customer intelligence: Gaining insight into what users are searching for
Cost savings: Reducing support costs

You can utilize the Search Analytics metrics available in the platform to measure success in each of these areas and tailor the actions you take to the key performance indicators for the brand.

For example, if you notice the click-through rate is low for a given query or set of related queries, you could update the CTA (or add an additional CTA) for the vertical containing results associated with that query. You could then track the effect of this change on Click Through Rate over the next few weeks and compare it against the previous period.

Search Analytics in Report Builder

In Report Builder you can build your own reports using built-in Search metrics, dimensions, and filters. Navigate to Analytics > Report Builder and select Search Analytics metrics from the "Metrics" dropdown.

Here are some ways you can customize reports:

Switch out the metrics in the examples below with other metrics.
Set a dimension if you'd like to see how metrics compare across different geographies, device types, or sources.
Set the same items as filters if you'd like to dive deeper into certain demographics.
Change the chart type depending on your visual preference.

Standard Filters to Apply

Generally, add the following filters to your Search reports:

Configuration Version Label: Production — Exclude searches run in staging where you may run various searches to QA the experience.
Traffic Source: External — Exclude searches run by internal traffic, such as your employees or Yext employees and/or agencies working on your behalf. Learn how to set "Internal Traffic" in the Internal Traffic Type doc.

Common Report Examples

Metric Trends Over Time

Once you have been live for a few weeks, analyze trends over time using a week-over-week comparison of key metrics. This shows weekly patterns rather than daily fluctuations. The start of the week is set to Mondays by default.

Chart Type: Line Chart (for a visual representation) or Table Chart
Metrics: Searches, Search Sessions, Search Clicks, Search Click Through Rate, Conversion Value
Dimensions: Weeks
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External

The Production and External Traffic Type filters are important — they exclude any searches conducted by internal users while building and testing the Search experience.

Top Search Terms

Know what users are searching for the most to understand if your content meets their needs.

Chart Type: Table Chart
Metrics: Searches, Search Sessions, Search Clicks, Search Click Through Rate
Dimensions: Search Term
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External
Sort: Search Sessions: Descending

Note: "Empty Search Term" means a search query was run with no search term. See the What is a Search reference doc for more detail. If your experience has a high volume of empty search terms, check if you have a CTA or search icon that leads users to an empty search results page — change this to a search bar UI so users can type their initial search before being redirected to the results page.

Clicks by Entity Type and Click Type

Once you know what users are searching for, look at what content they're engaging with. This shows which entity types users are clicking on and which parts of entity result cards users are clicking specifically. Learn more about click types in the Search Analytics Event Types section below.

Chart Type: Stacked Bar Chart (to compare across entity types) or 100% Stacked Bar Chart (to hone in on the breakdown within each entity type)
Metrics: Clicks
Dimensions: Vertical Config ID, Click Type
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Source: External

Search Terms with No Results

Review search terms without results to decide whether and how to address them. See the Search Optimizations unit for types of optimizations you can make.

Chart Type: Table Chart
Metrics: Searches, Search Sessions, Search Clicks, Search Click Through Rate
Dimensions: Search Term, Search Vertical (no results for a specific query on a specific vertical may be expected behavior)
Filters: Has Results: No, Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External
Sort: Search Sessions: Descending

Note that if a search term is included in this report, it does not necessarily mean every search with that term returned no results during this timeframe. For example, you may have added content to address the search term partway through the timeframe. Searches based on geolocation (e.g., "locations near me") may also return no results if there are no locations near the user.

Feedback on Results by Search Term

Filter down to thumbs down clicks to see which entities in search results users don't want to see for particular search terms.

Chart Type: Table Chart
Metrics: Searches
Dimensions: Search Term, All Entities, Verticals Returned
Filters: Click Type: THUMBS_DOWN, Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External
Sort: Searches: Descending

Metrics by Referrer URL or Referrer Domain

What pages are users on when they decide to use site search? If you have placed the search bar across your website and on different domains, see how users found the Search experience.

Chart Type: Table Chart, Bar Chart, or Pie Chart
Metrics: Searches
Dimensions: Referrer URL or Referrer Domain (for a summarized version)
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External

Metrics by Integration Source

If you have installed the overlay integration method, see which user interface is preferred. Are users searching or clicking more often through one integration method over another?

Chart Type: Table Chart, Bar Chart, or Pie Chart
Metrics: Search Sessions
Dimensions: Integration Source
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External

Trends Within and Across Geographies

Are users looking for and engaging with different content across different countries, regions, or cities? The chart below dimensions by User Country.

Chart Type: Table Chart, Bar Chart, or Pie Chart
Metrics: Searches
Dimensions: User City, User Country, User Locale, User Lat Long
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External

Deflection Metrics for Support Search

Yext also has specific deflection metrics including Case Starts, Case Submits, Case Deflections, and Case Deflection Rate. These allow you to quantify the impact Support Search has on your business and customers.

Search Terms That Led to Case Submission

If a user started their journey with search and ended up submitting a case, they weren't able to find what they were looking for. Review these search terms for sufficient answers to decrease the number of cases you receive.

Chart Type: Table Chart
Metrics: Case Submits
Dimensions: Search Term
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External
Sort: Case Submits: Descending

Deflected Search Terms

If a user started their journey and did not submit a case, they found what they were looking for and saved your support agents a case. Analyze the Case Deflection Rate to determine how often a certain search term meets a user's needs.

Chart Type: Table Chart
Metrics: Case Deflections, Case Deflection Rate
Dimensions: Search Term
Filters: Configuration Version Label: Production, Traffic Type: External
Sort: Case Submits: Descending

Segment Analytics Further

There are many built-in ways to segment your data using dimensions and filters:

Internal Traffic Type: Mark IP addresses as internal — see the Internal Traffic Type doc.
Event Types: Change to a different built-in event type — see the Search Analytics Event Types section below.
Visitor Analytics: Track how individual users engage with Search — see the Analyze Trends with Visitor Level Analytics guide.

Search Analytics Event Types

All Search Analytics metrics are compiled based on data gathered on individual user interactions in the Search experience — called "events." All Search Analytics event types can be split into two classes: clicks and non-clicks.

Note: You cannot retroactively update clicks to use a newly updated click type. Only clicks going forward will be categorized with the event type you set.

How to Set Event Types

Search UI React

Use the @yext/analytics library to send Yext Analytics events. Specify an event from this list.

Hitchhikers Theme

To set the event type for CTA clicks, navigate to the card component.js file and edit the eventType property in the CTA object (fork the card first if it isn't already):

CTA1: {
  label: profile.c_primaryCTA ? profile.c_primaryCTA.label : null,
  iconName: 'chevron',
  url: Formatter.generateCTAFieldTypeLink(profile.c_primaryCTA),
  target: '_top',
  eventType: 'CTA_CLICK', // Type of Analytics event fired when clicking the CTA
  eventOptions: this.addDefaultEventOptions()
},

Click Event Types

All Search Click Event Types are aggregated into the Search metric for "Search Clicks." Individual Click Event Types can be broken out in Report Builder when you dimension by Click Type.

Available click event types:

ADD_TO_CART
ALL_TAB_NAVIGATION
APPLY_NOW
AUTO_COMPLETE_SELECTION
BOOK_APPOINTMENT
CTA_CLICK
DRIVING_DIRECTIONS
EMAIL
FOLLOW_UP_QUERY
ORDER_NOW
PAGINATE
QUESTION_FOCUS
QUESTION_SUBMIT
RESULTS_HIDDEN
RESULTS_UNHIDDEN
ROW_COLLAPSE
ROW_EXPAND
RSVP
SCROLL_TO_BOTTOM_OF_PAGE
SEARCH_BAR_IMPRESSION
SEARCH_CLEAR_BUTTON
TAP_TO_CALL
THUMBS_DOWN
THUMBS_UP
TITLE_CLICK
VERTICAL_TAB_NAVIGATION
VERTICAL_VIEW_ALL
VIEW_WEBSITE
VOICE_START
VOICE_STOP

Non-Click Event Types

Search also collects data on non-click events based on other interactions in and around the experience. Currently there are two non-click event types:

CASE_START
CASE_SUBMITTED

Both are rolled up into their own Search metrics in Report Builder: Case Starts and Cases Submits.

What Each Event Type Represents

TITLE_CLICK — A click to the heading of a result card. Also includes clicks to links in the Links section.

CTA_CLICK — A click on a result card to a CTA (including the CTA on an FAQ result card).

To help differentiate between different types of CTA clicks in Analytics, the following more specific click event types can be used in place of CTA_CLICK:

ADD_TO_CART
APPLY_NOW
BOOK_APPOINTMENT
DRIVING_DIRECTIONS (use with the built-in "Get Directions" CTA)
EMAIL
ORDER_NOW
RSVP
TAP_TO_CALL (use with the built-in "Call" CTA)
VIEW_WEBSITE

ROW_EXPAND — A click to expand an FAQ result card. By default, all FAQs start collapsed, so the initial click to expand is registered as a ROW_EXPAND event.

ROW_COLLAPSE — A click to collapse an FAQ result card after initially expanding it.

THUMBS_UP — A click on a thumbs up button on a result card. Clicks on the thumbs up button do not directly change search ranking, retrain the model, or alter featured snippet selection. To change predictions, use Experience Training.

THUMBS_DOWN — A click on a thumbs down button on a result card. Same behavior as THUMBS_UP — does not directly change search ranking.

ALL_TAB_NAVIGATION — Event for navigating to the "all" tab (a universal page) from a vertical page.

VERTICAL_TAB_NAVIGATION — Event for navigating to a vertical tab in the top navigation.

VERTICAL_VIEW_ALL — Event for clicking on a vertical's View All button on a universal page.

SCROLL_TO_BOTTOM_OF_PAGE — Event for scrolling to the bottom of the page.

PAGINATE — Event for when a user interacts with the pagination component at the bottom of search results within a vertical.

QUESTION_SUBMIT — Event for submitting a question/query in the search bar.

SEARCH_CLEAR_BUTTON — Event for clicking the button to clear text in the search bar.

AUTO_COMPLETE_SELECTION — Occurs when a user begins a search and selects an autocomplete suggestion to submit.

VOICE_START — Event for starting voice search.

VOICE_STOP — Event for stopping voice search.

CASE_START — Captures searches run in a Search experience integrated on a ticket form. Search can be set up to deflect case volume by allowing users to search directly from a ticket form or integrating search with the form category field.

CASE_SUBMIT — Captures whether a case ticket was submitted after a user ran a search on a ticket form integrated with Search.