Tag Search Strategy Guide
Overview
Tag search strategies help you control how strictly the response engine matches content to your tags. By setting the right strategy for each tag category, you can ensure the response engine uses the most relevant content while maintaining appropriate boundaries between different content areas.
Understanding Tag Categories
Tag categories are the different ways you organize your content (e.g., Product, Region, Department, Content Type, etc.). Each category can have its own match strategy, allowing you to be strict about some categories while flexible with others.
Available Search Strategies
1. Filter by tags - Only matching tags
When to use: When content separation is critical and cross-pollination must be avoided.
How it works: Only shows content that exactly matches or is a parent match to the tags selected on the project. No partial matches allowed.
Example use case: Financial institutions separating fund information, where mixing content between funds could cause compliance issues.
2. Filter by tags - At least one matching tag
When to use: When you want flexibility but still need at least some tag overlap.
How it works: Shows content that has at least one matching tag from this category. This is similar to traditional tag matching behavior.
Example use case: Product categories where related products can share some relevant information.
3. Prefer matches - High Importance
When to use: When exact matches are strongly preferred but expanding scope is acceptable.
How it works: All content is considered, but exact matches get significantly higher priority. Content with poor matches is heavily deprioritized.
Example use case: RFP responses where the specific product combination matters most, but general company information can still be useful.
4. Prefer matches - Medium Importance (Recommended Default)
When to use: For most tag categories where you want balanced behavior.
How it works: All content is considered with moderate preference for better matches. Provides a good balance between relevance and coverage.
Example use case: Department tags, general product categories, or most standard use cases.
5. Prefer matches - Low Importance
When to use: For metadata or supplementary categories that shouldn't heavily influence results.
How it works: All content is considered with minimal impact on prioritization based on tag matches.
Example use case: Content type tags (like "FAQ" or "Policy"), regions (in global organizations), or other "nice-to-have" categorizations.
How Strategies Work Together
The response engine evaluates content against all your tag categories:
For "Filter by tag" strategies, content must meet the matching requirements for each category to be included
For "Prefer matches" strategies, the quality of match affects how highly the content ranks
Best Practices
Start with defaults: Begin with "Prefer matches - Medium Importance" for most categories and adjust based on results
Review regularly: As your content grows, reassess whether your strategies still meet your needs
Quick Reference
Strategy | Strictness | Use When |
Filter by tags - Only matching tags | Very High | Content mixing is prohibited |
Filter by tags - At least one matching tag | High | Some overlap is okay |
Prefer matches - High importance | Medium | Strong preference for matches |
Prefer matches - Medium importance | Balanced | Standard categorization |
Prefer matches - Low importance | Low | Supplementary metadata |
Questions to Ask Yourself
For each tag category, consider:
How important is it that content exactly matches this category?
What happens if the engine uses content from adjacent tags?
By thoughtfully selecting tag search strategies, you can create a response engine that delivers relevant, appropriate content while respecting your organization's information boundaries.