While searching GovSpend, the keywords you use are the most important part of your search. In this article, we will discuss several tips and tricks to help make your search the best it can be, including using AI suggestions.
Please note: Using the methods discussed below may lead to varied results, depending on the product or service that you are searching for. If you have any questions after building a search, save the search and reach out to our Customer Experience team for support.
Watch a video:
Follow these steps:
1. Avoid General Keywords
In most cases, using a generic keyword may bring back results that do not supply you with enough detail. Let's go through an example:
"We are a janitorial supplies company and sell products related to that industry."
Scenario 1: If we search for just "janitorial supplies," we get back a lot of results. However, some of the line item descriptions appear vague (do not supply enough detail.) What we will usually see is the term "janitorial supplies" and a price. This means that we cannot get enough detail on what specific product(s) they purchased. This can also limit your results if the agency does not say "janitorial supplies" on their purchase order.
Scenario 2: We enter each of our products individually. GovSpend is keyword-driven (not based on categories.) Entering each of our products will bring back purchases that specifically state any of our products. Being more detailed will usually display more purchases as well.
2. Use Different Variations of Keywords
Using multiple variations of keywords is helpful for products that can be named, or spelled, in different ways.
In this example, we sell antivirus software. Anyone who purchased antivirus software can be considered a lead. "Antivirus" alone will bring back many results. However, it will not paint the full picture in GovSpend. Our database will search specifically for what you type in. So, we will want to use both "antivirus" and "anti-virus" to capture more results. Depending on what you are searching for, you can use any number of keywords to find what matters most to you.
Please note: If you use a keyword that has a "-" the search will also display results with a space in between the keywords.
3. Fuzzy vs. Exact
If your keyword has more than one word in it, your results by default will find purchases with any of those words in any place. Let's try searching for Chromebooks.
In our search bar, we want to find purchases that say "chromebook" and "chrome book." "Chrome book" with a space in between will find any purchase with "chrome" and "book" together or separated (read "fuzzy" below for more details.)
If we click on the keyword in the search bar, we will see two options:
- Fuzzy will allow up to 3 words in between "chrome" and "book." This may be helpful if there are different ways agencies write the product on their purchases.
- Exact will find purchases where both "chrome" and "book" are directly next to each other (with no words in between them.)
If you have multiple keywords where you would like to apply "fuzzy" or "exact," click on the 'APPLY TO ALL KEYWORDS' button.