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Should I/am I allowed to optimize for searching and if so, how?

A topic by zment created May 23, 2023 Views: 703 Replies: 16

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zment1 year ago

Hey there, I've recently activated development on HEXvolver (https://zment.itch.io/hexvolver) again (also made a post about it on the release announcements for version 0.2 release) and I'd like to have more eyes on it for feedback and bug reports etc. to help with development and well, to also promote the game.

I'm currently having a bit of a bind with searches - and yes I've read the "Getting Indexed in Search & Browse". My game is found just fine if I search for the exact name. However, the name isn't that generic, and if people search for stuff like "hex puzzle", HEXvolver doesn't show up at all. I'd like that to be not the case - if people search for "hex puzzle", for instance, I'm pretty sure they might like my game or at least get a chance to try it out.

I've tried setting up all the relevant tags I can think of "hexagon" "match" "single-player" "hex-based", but it doesn't seem to matter. Should I just leave things as is, or is there something I could do to help discovery? I understand the search function is mainly title-based, so should I change the title to something like "HEXvolver | A Match-4 Spinning Hex Puzzle"? ...or wait, is it against the rules or something? At least I haven't seen anything disallowing that.

Any help or tips regarding search discovery would be appreciated! Thank you in advance!

No Time To PlayModerator1 year ago(+1)

The free-form search is optimized for exact title searches (also for creator names). Sounds like it's working as intended. And you can only use so many tags, to avoid abuse, but you can probably improve your tag selection. See how other people use tags, and which ones bring traffic.

But mostly, you shouldn't rely on itch.io searches to drive traffic. Be active in the community and on social media, and try other ways to make your game known.

zment1 year ago (1 edit)

Yeah, the point isn't to rely on the search or anything. To be fair I don't even _want_ LOTS of traffic, just a bunch more eyes on the game would be useful. Eventually, sure, but for now I thought I'd see what steps I could take to improve visibility on itch.io itself to get those few more eyes on the game. When the time is more ripe I'll start looking for better avenues to drive traffic to it, but that ain't right now.

Yup, like said I understood the search is for title searches. That's why my question about the title - should I change it to show up in searches more, is it even allowed? Or should I just leave it as is? I'm a bit on the fence on this, both for purity's sake (I mean, it's not the game's name if I add stuff to it), as well as not completely understanding what is and isn't kosher to do here on itch.io...

I'll be checking some other games taggings if I could optimize the tag usage, as I currently have only four tags and even those might not be the best ones to use.

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Wait... how do I check what tags other games use?

No Time To PlayModerator1 year ago

It doesn't work that way, is what I'm trying to tell you. How the search works for inexact matches is unpredictable, on purpose. And you can look at games you like, in the More Information box, or else browse tags you'd like to use and see what games are in them.

zment1 year ago

Ahhh there the tags are! The "More Information" box! How did I miss that? 😅 Thanks!

I don't understand what you mean by "It doesn't work that way"? You mean the changing the game title to have more information about the game? I'm pretty sure I saw some games in the search that did that and were hit exactly for that reason. Or did you mean something else?

No Time To PlayModerator1 year ago

I mean there's nothing in particular to optimize. Outside of exact title matches, results are unpredictable.

zment1 year ago(+1)

Well, maybe I worded myself wrong. The point is, that I wanted my game to show up on the list when someone searches for "hex puzzle", and it didn't show up on the list. Now that I changed the title to what I mentioned earlier, it does show up. So there in fact was something I could do - call it optimization or not.

Dr.Hippo1 year ago(+1)

Personally, I use the search bar to find games I've already played, know the title of, and want to find again. For finding new games based on topic, I use tags or the randomizer instead. Having the maximum number of tags + screenshots + devlogs all appear to increase the search score of a game. There's also a tagline for a short description if you need it.

zment1 year ago

Thanks! I've gone thru and added as many tags that I think fit properly without much stretching the imagination as well as add screenshots (which I was missing). I've tried to make a devlog at least on the major changes (tho only two bigger updates) and even small devlogs on the smaller fixes/updates too.

zment1 year ago

Thanks for all the tips about the tags (and how to see them in other games) and screenshots and devlogs! I went thru the tags again, and now have the full allowed 10 tags, and I also added screenshots and even video and I'll keep on making devlogs when I update the game.

I also tested and changed the Title to "HEXvolver | A Match-4 Spinning Hex Puzzle" and it immediately showed up on the search when I search for "hex puzzle". I'm pretty sure someone who comes to itch.io and uses the search "wrong", not knowing any better on how it works (just like me), might search for something like that. And I mean, on the off chance, 1 event in 10 years, I'd hate that someone would search for that and didn't see my game (which they _might_ enjoy) on the list even as the last one. Oh and just to clarify, it was never about getting my game higher up on the search for "hex puzzle", it was about _showing up_ at all.

Now the last question remains, is this kosher for itch.io? I've seen other games use descriptive words in their titles too, so if it's not, it's not at least enforced? I'll leave it like that for now as I _think_ it's okay (tried to read the docs and guidelines and quality stuff, and didn't see anything about it), and no-one here objected to it _specifically_...

Anyhoo, thanks again for the help!

redonihunter1 year ago

it was never about getting my game higher up on the search for "hex puzzle", it was about _showing up_ at all.

that boils down to the same thing. the search results are obviously limited and randomized in some arbitrary and intentionally unpredictable way. depending on the term and if it rained last tuesday. something like "the" shows only a handful, but "game" shows quite a lot, but only like 90 or so. who would have thought that there are only 90 games on itch. hmm. many games are called game. how original.

but writing on the lid what is in the tin is what those mechanisms are for.

imho "search optimizing" is euphemism for making stuff feign relevance where there is none. or in other words: lying. but there is thin line between actual lying and not understanding what a tag or a term means or simply having a different opinion. I see many games that have tagged horror but are not horror. maybe horrible. or vn, just because they have two dialogs. or adventure, because they have a sprite that walks. and so on. it is less ambigous for puzzles i think.

what is a bit odd, that the search does not search in tags. i bet many people do not realize that you can type in tag bar instead of "selecting" like the box tells you. and that this is a separate search that is not limited to the tags in the list. normal search does "find" you tags though. but only the official ones for lack of a better word.

No Time To PlayModerator1 year ago

We call them featured tags, but yes.

redonihunter1 year ago

the existance of non featured tags is poorly advertised. it is a drop down box that reads select a tag. no hint that you can write in that box. and the box that you are supposed to write in, does not search those non featured tags either.

there are 159 games with tag banana. searching for banana gives me 66 results and also no hint that is is a tag.

the tag search is also broken for non games. https://itch.io/t/2874481/tag-search-has-been-broken-for-ages#post-7835143

No Time To PlayModerator1 year ago (1 edit)

A combo box by definition is somewhere you can either type or pick from a list. It's a standard control used in countless apps, on any operating system. You can check if it's possible simply by clicking in the text box. And that's what a featured tag means: one that's suggested as an option.

And yes, the free-form search box looks at titles and short descriptions, not tags. So searching for "banana" will return games that have the word banana in one of those fields, which isn't the same thing.

Bugs are another story.

redonihunter1 year ago

Whatever a combo box could do, the suggested use is to select a tag, as that is what is written there. Selecting and guessing a tag are two different things to my understanding.

Not even the fact that I can type in that box would hint at tags existing, that are not in the list. It just says filter with. And it does filter the list if you type parts of tags, like orr for horrible and horror.

It goes even further. There is a link to the right below the box that says view all tags. And there is a button on that page that says find tag.

Why does that link not read featured tags instead of all? Also the find button does not find tags. Even if I put banana in it, it will find nothing. It is just the same combo box for the featured tags but with find written in it, instead of select.

That functionality is not poorly advertised, as I wrote. It is implied that is does not exist. I found out by accident, after deducing that it must be possible somehow, because I encountered tags in game descritptions that I could not select in browse.

To go back to topic, hexagon and match-3 are tags that have to be put in exactly to find the game in browse, and they have to be typed in the tag box. The match-3 surprised me. But the game can be found if players click the match-3 tag on one of the other 300+ games that have tagged this. And I guess it helps for related games or recommendations.

zment1 year ago

Maybe I should've not used the word optimization. The point was that a related search, very much so, wasn't showing up my game. After the changes it now shows up tho, so all's good.

redonihunter1 year ago(+1)

Oh it is the right word, but people misuse it to give a nice name to exploiting search ranking algorithms and selling services for that. The term is seo, Search engine optimization, it should be Search engine manipulation.

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