Taxonomies

What are taxonomies?

Taxonomies in Site Topic refer to the hierarchical classification of data. Site Topic:

• categorizes products into a taxonomy of type, category, and sub_category
• brands into brand, product_line and model (and sometimes trim).
• vehicles into automotive makes, models and trims

This way of analyzing data gives the possibility to find multiple patterns in the search queries of customers and therefore also the way these customers think. The structure helps you to filter to find the right keywords and labels. For instance, you might want to find only the brands that appear for type: electronics, or only find the product_lines associated with brand: trek bikes.

Note that sometimes a brand has a model as a child and skips product_lines altogether. Some product_lines don't have any models as children. Generally, the type/category/sub-category taxonomy is stricter.

Types of taxonomies

We have two types of taxonomy built into Site Topic today, one for brands and one for categories:

• The category taxonomy is built out of type, category & sub_category label groups. One way to think about the category taxonomy is that sub-categories are a “kind of” category, and categories are in turn a “kind of” type. For instance, A-line dress is a kind of dress, and a dress is a kind of clothing in turn.

• The brand taxonomy is built out of the brand, product_line and model label groups. A way to think about the brand taxonomy is that a brand “has a” product line, and a product line “has a” model. For example, Visa is a brand and it has the Signature product line (of credit cards). Or Marriott is a brand and it has the Residence Inn product line (a hotel chain).

Examples in Site Topic

This connection can be seen in the search queries analyzed by Site Topic. For example the software recognises taxonomies like the brand Apple having the product line iPhone, which contains the model 13 pro max.

iPhone 13 pro max → brand: Apple, product_line: iPhone, model: 13 pro max

Or that trench coats are a type of coat, which are a type of clothing.

trench coat → type: Clothing, category: Coat, sub_category: trench coat

Like these there are many examples where Site Topic recognises the relationship between separate labels and can place them into a taxonomy. A few of these examples are:

evoque range rover → brand: Land Rover, product_line: Range Rover, model: Evoque
mini cooper s → brand: Mini, product_line: Clubman, model: Cooper S
adidas ozweego → brand: Adidas, product_line: Originals, model: Ozweego
trainers → type: Footwear, category: Shoes, sub_category: Trainers

Why is this useful?

These taxonomies found by Site Topic can be useful as they show how a customer thinks. By using these taxonomies as your site’s structure, it can make it more understandable and intuitive for the customer. For example it could show you that when customers search for the model iPhone 13 in your website, they would expect to be able to filter your Apple phones by which models of iPhone you have. If this taxonomy is not found in your website, the customer might not find what they are looking for. So by visualizing which taxonomies the customer expects in your website, Site Topic shows you how to improve your website to avoid this confusion.