SearchBoost allows administrators to influence how prominently items appear in Activate search results. It provides a controlled way to promote important items and concepts so users find the most relevant results more quickly, without changing what content is searchable.

SearchBoost adjusts the relative priority of search results within Activate. Each searchable item is assigned an internal importance score, and SearchBoost increases or decreases that score to influence result ordering.

SearchBoost does not affect search permissions or eligibility. Items must still match the search query and be visible to the user. SearchBoost only affects how matching results are prioritised.

When Activate prepares content for search, each item is assigned a base importance based on its type (for example, services, tasks, articles, and tags all have different default importance levels).

SearchBoost modifies this base importance by adding an additional value. Items with higher resulting importance are prioritised ahead of similar items with lower importance.

This approach ensures that:

Activate supports two distinct types of SearchBoost, each serving a different purpose.

Per-item SearchBoost is configured by supplying a numeric SearchBoost parameter on a searchable object. This allows administrators to directly influence the ranking of individual services, tasks, articles, folders, roles, and other resource types that appear in Activate search.

Per-item SearchBoost applies to individual items such as services, tasks, articles, folders, or other searchable objects.

This is useful when:

Each item starts with a default importance based on its type. A SearchBoost value increases or decreases that importance relative to other items of the same type.

Positive values promote an item so it appears higher in results, while negative values can be used to deliberately lower an item’s ranking.

Because different item types have different base importance levels, the same SearchBoost value may have a stronger effect on some items than others.

Tag SearchBoost is configured directly on the tag itself using the SearchBoost property in Activate Studio.

Tags are searchable entities in their own right within Activate. Tag SearchBoost controls how prominently a tag appears when users search.

Tag SearchBoost is intended to promote important concepts or categories within your tagging strategy, rather than individual items.

Tag behaviour includes:

SearchBoost and tagging are designed to complement each other while remaining independent.

For example, you might boost an important tag so it is easy to discover, while separately boosting a key service associated with that tag. This separation avoids unintended ranking changes and keeps search behaviour clear and predictable.

SearchBoost changes are applied during the next search update cycle.

In most cases, an incremental search refresh is sufficient. A full rebuild of the search index is not normally required when updating SearchBoost values.

Changes to SearchBoost may not appear immediately in search results. They take effect when the affected objects or tags are included in the next scheduled or triggered search refresh.

SearchBoost values are integers and can be both positive and negative. In Activate Studio, tag SearchBoost values are typically configured within a bounded range to prevent extreme ranking behaviour.

Use SearchBoost to make deliberate, targeted adjustments rather than broad changes to search behaviour.

SearchBoost is most effective when used deliberately and sparingly.

General guidance:

Always consider the item’s role within Activate and how users expect search results to behave. SearchBoost should reinforce natural relevance, not override it.

SearchBoost changes search results completely

SearchBoost does not change what appears in search. It only adjusts the order of matching results.

Boosting a tag boosts everything tagged with it

Tag SearchBoost affects the tag itself. Items linked to the tag must be boosted separately if required.

Higher SearchBoost always produces better results

Overusing SearchBoost can make search results feel inconsistent. Incremental adjustments provide the best user experience.

SearchBoost in Activate provides controlled influence over search result ordering.

Used appropriately, SearchBoost helps users find the right content faster while maintaining consistent and predictable search behaviour.