Best Bets

What is Best Bets?

Best Bets are curated results configured to appear prominently (often at the very top) when certain queries or triggers match. Unlike algorithmic ranking, Best Bets are editorial picks—used to highlight a specific product, category, landing page, help article, or promotion.

How Best Bets work (quick)

• Triggers: Exact keywords, phrases, regex patterns, synonyms, query intent, or merchandising rules.
• Placement: A pinned card or link block above organic results (sometimes also mirrored within them).
• Content: Title, short description, URL, badges (e.g., “New”, “Sale”), and optional image.
• Governance: Start/end dates, audience/geo conditions, and conflict rules with other promos.
• Analytics: CTR, conversion, bounce, and query-level uplift tracked separately from organic ranking.

Why they matter in e-commerce

• Fewer wrong turns: Route “returns”, “shipping”, or “size guide” queries directly to the right page.
• Campaign control: Feature seasonal collections or hero PDPs instantly—without reindexing.
• Zero-results rescue: Provide a helpful fallback (popular category or help article).
• Brand consistency: Keep marquee pages visible for navigational queries (e.g., “gift card”).

Best practices

• Use sparingly: Reserve Best Bets for high-intent, high-impact queries; let relevance handle the rest.
• Be transparent: Label as “Featured” to preserve trust; don’t hide organic relevance.
• Expire promos: Add time windows and automatic decay to avoid stale placements.
• Match intent: Map informational queries to guides/FAQ; transactional to categories/PDPs.
• Test & measure: A/B test presence, copy, and destination; monitor query-level CTR and conversion.
• SEO hygiene: Point to canonical, indexable pages; avoid duplicate promo URLs and redirect chains.
• Guardrails: Never surface out-of-stock or restricted items; respect ACL/geo rules.

Challenges & trade-offs

• Overuse = trust erosion: Too many pinned items feel like ads and can lower satisfaction.
• Conflict with ranking: Make sure Best Bets don’t bury clearly better organic results.
• Maintenance debt: Outdated campaigns or broken links waste clicks and mislead users.

Examples (storefront)

• Query “size chart” → Best Bet to the brand’s universal size guide.
• Query “gift card” → Best Bet to the gift card PDP.
• Query “nike trail” → Best Bet to the curated “Nike Trail Running” category page during a campaign.
• Query “return policy” → Best Bet to the policy page, reducing support load.

Summary

Best Bets are a lightweight, editorial tool to route key queries to the most useful page. Used carefully—with labels, expiries, and measurement—they raise clarity and conversions without undermining organic relevance.