Effective Search on 1C-Bitrix

Introduction

In today's world, e-commerce is becoming increasingly popular, making the speed and accuracy of searching for products and information on websites crucial to business success. This is especially important for large online stores, corporate portals, and marketplaces where search needs to be both efficient and provide relevant information to customers.

In this article, we will explore the search tools available in 1C-Bitrix. We'll discuss the features of these tools, which search engines are most popular, and how to improve search functionality to boost conversion rates on your site.

Search Tools in 1C-Bitrix

By default, 1C-Bitrix offers three search engine options, each providing different functionalities.

In Bitrix, the standard search engine is used by default. If desired, it can be switched to any other search engine offered by the platform.

Besides the built-in search tools, you can use third-party services and other search engines. To do this, you will need to find a ready-made integration in the Bitrix Marketplace or create your own, tailored to the needs of your business. In this case, you may need the help of a specialist.

Below, we will look at the built-in search tools, as well as popular third-party search engines that are often integrated with Bitrix.

Standard Search Engine - Bitrix

The basic search mechanism is easy to configure and provides essential search capabilities for the site. This type of search is suitable for projects with small to medium data volumes. In projects with large catalogs, it operates slowly and requires a more powerful engine.

Advantages:

Easy to configure without needing additional specialists.
Fully integrated with 1C-Bitrix, simplifying management and configuration.
No additional costs, as it comes with the system.

Disadvantages:

Not powerful enough for projects with large data volumes or specific requirements.
Less flexibility in search parameter customization compared to other engines.
Can operate slowly on sites with large data volumes, affecting load speed and user experience.
Lower accuracy and relevance of search results compared to more advanced engines.

Full-Text SQL Search

This type of search uses the built-in capabilities of the database to perform full-text queries. It is primarily effective for small projects, but as data volumes increase, its performance can significantly decrease.

Advantages:

Uses built-in database functions, simplifying setup.
Supported on most database servers: compatible with popular DBMS like MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Disadvantages:

Not suitable for large data volumes.
Limited functionality compared to more advanced engines

Sphinx Search Engine

This is an integrated solution with the separate Sphinx service, providing high speed and advanced capabilities for searching large data volumes. It is suitable for medium to large projects. Using Sphinx may require a specialist for installation and fine-tuning. Additionally, it will need dedicated server resources, which are determined by expert evaluation based on the site's data volumes.

Advantages:

Quickly processes large data volumes, providing fast search results.
Ideal for large projects with extensive catalogs.
Allows fine-tuning of search parameters for specific project needs.

Disadvantages:

Requires professional setup for maximum efficiency.
Needs dedicated server resources, such as disk space and RAM.

ElasticSearch

This service is not integrated by default, but there are ready-made solutions that make it easy to connect ElasticSearch with Bitrix. It is very popular and is used for both search and analytics of large data volumes.

ElasticSearch is flexible and widely used for tasks such as product search, faceted index storage, and other tasks involving large data volumes. This search engine is suitable for large and scalable projects, such as marketplaces and online stores with extensive catalogs.

Advantages:

Fast and efficient processing of large data volumes.
Supports complex queries and analytics.
Provides advanced search functions.

Disadvantages:

Requires significant server resources (RAM).
Professional setup and support are necessary for effective operation and maximum performance.

Yandex Site Search

Yandex provides a free site search service with the ability to integrate into any CMS, including 1C-Bitrix. This engine offers powerful tools for search configuration and analytics, as well as high performance. Yandex Site Search can be customized for various needs and types of sites.

Advantages:

Free to use.
Fast indexing and search result delivery.
High search accuracy and relevance.
Simple integration.
Supports multiple languages, search query analysis, customization of the search form, and results appearance.

Disadvantages:

Search functionality depends on the stability of Yandex's service.
In some cases, there may be fewer deep customization options compared to local search engines.
Data privacy concerns.

Each of these search engines and services has its own features and is designed for different tasks and project needs. When choosing, it is important to consider performance requirements, the complexity of search queries, available resources for setup and support, and potential project growth. It's crucial to accurately assess the current and future needs of your site to select the optimal search engine and ensure its stable operation.

Search Features in Bitrix

Before creating a product catalog in your project, it is important to consider how visitors will find products. You should account for all scenarios in which users might search for products. Special attention should be paid to product names and descriptions, as well as additional properties.

For product names, it is best to use concise text without extraneous symbols or additional characteristics. Any information that can be separated from the name should be placed in additional properties or the product description. This approach will make it easier to integrate with any search engine and improve the relevance of search results.

Additional properties should include unique and recurring product characteristics such as SKU, color, material, and brand. These properties can be configured to display in filters for product selection, as well as to enable finding products on the search page.

Search Components

Search on Bitrix sites can sometimes be complex, so understanding how search works on the site requires knowledge of two of the most commonly used search components in Bitrix: search.title and search.page.

search.title is a title-based search. It is typically placed in the website header, allowing users to quickly find a product by typing the first few letters of its name. This is also known as quick search due to its fast operation.

Example of the search.title Component

As the name suggests, this component searches only by titles (names). Therefore, if you need products to be searchable by additional properties such as SKU, color, brand, or material, customization by a specialist is required. This task is quite common and can be easily addressed by creating a handler for the search indexing event.

The search.page component is the main search page component. It is usually placed on a separate page that users are directed to when searching via search.title. This component functions as an advanced or detailed search, looking not only by title but also by properties and other fields that can be pre-configured.

Example of the search.page component

Both components can perform searches not only for products but also for the content of individual pages, news, articles, promotions, and any other information on the site. However, in online stores, the search is most often conducted on the product catalog.

Improving the Search Page

Solutions for Enhancing Search in the Bitrix Marketplace

For 1C-Bitrix owners, a wide range of solutions is available that significantly enhance the built-in search module. These solutions help increase search accuracy, enhance user experience, and improve site efficiency

Here are some key features of such solutions:

Query Correction

This allows users to receive relevant results even when there are typos and grammatical errors. The system automatically suggests correct input options, increasing user satisfaction and reducing the number of irrelevant results.

Voice Query Input

Modern technologies allow users to input search queries not only by text but also by voice. This is especially convenient for mobile device users, improving site accessibility for people with disabilities. Voice search simplifies the input process, making it more natural and faster.

Query Optimization

Solutions for optimizing search queries improve performance and relevance. They include smart filters for refining queries and analyzing user behavior to enhance search based on the frequency and success of previous queries.

Personalized Search

Some solutions enable the implementation of personalized search tailored to each user. This is achieved by analyzing the user's search history and preferences, providing more relevant and personalized results.

Analytics and Reporting

Integration of analytics and reporting tools allows site administrators to track search efficiency, identify popular queries, and optimize site content based on the data obtained. This helps improve overall search performance and user satisfaction.

Solution: Search with Filter

If the site has a large number of products and it is necessary to provide users with the ability to filter products by characteristics from the search results, Bitrix employs search with a filter.

Пример поиска с фильтром

This approach is implemented in ready-made online stores like Aspro but can also be developed by a specialist for any other project.

Transition to Another Search Engine

If you have been using the standard Bitrix search engine or full-text SQL search, over time, as your product catalog grows, you may notice that search efficiency decreases: the search results are poor, pages load slowly, and overall search quality suffers.

The first thought might be to install an additional solution from the Marketplace to enhance the search functionality. We recommend not rushing to purchase a solution but instead trying it out during the demo period and conducting a technical audit of the site. Often, as the number of products on the site increases, it is recommended to use a different, more powerful search tool.

We will review two popular and powerful search engines: Sphinx and ElasticSearch.

Sphinx is a full-text search engine offered as a separate service. Unlike ElasticSearch, it requires a moderate amount of memory but more free disk space for storing indexes. It has an advantage in the speed of indexing and query result delivery. However, the quality of search can be insufficient, requiring thorough tuning and adjustments by a specialist.

For implementing simple searches, the standard configuration available out of the box with Bitrix is suitable.

As the name suggests, ElasticSearch is flexible. It is provided as a separate service but is memory-intensive. It is important to note that the efficiency of the search depends on the available memory and the configuration limits.ElasticSearch is suitable for scalable projects and can handle multiple tasks: search, large data storage, analytics, and more.

Although Bitrix does not have built-in integration with ElasticSearch, ready-made solutions for integration can be purchased in the Bitrix Marketplace, and the search can be customized to meet business needs if necessary.

Transitioning from standard search to Sphinx or ElasticSearch is a common task among developers. The Marketplace has long offered modules that help improve integration and search quality. However, not all of them are perfect and cannot fully solve business problems like slow loading and reduced search relevance. Therefore, in many cases, another search engine is used and the mechanism is refined. This underscores the point that there will always be weaknesses in search, and perfecting it is not a simple task.

Conclusion

Effective search on a 1C-Bitrix site is critically important for user satisfaction and business success. Depending on the data volume and project requirements, you can use both built-in search engines (standard search, full-text SQL, Sphinx) and third-party solutions (ElasticSearch, YandexSearch, GoogleSearch, etc.) that offer more advanced features and high performance.

Third-party solutions from the 1C-Bitrix Marketplace allow for automatic query correction, search optimization, and personalization. Using such solutions improves search accuracy and convenience, speeds up finding the necessary products and information, and contributes to increased conversion rates and user satisfaction.

It is recommended to regularly optimize search, especially if the catalog is frequently updated. Additionally, analyze and collect user feedback. This approach will help you maintain high search efficiency, identify its weaknesses, and ensure its stable operation.

If you encounter any of the listed search issues on your site, contact our specialists. We can help identify the problem, fix errors, transition the search to another engine, and improve search functionality. We are happy to consult and assist you in solving these problems.