How can I sort my search results? First the matches in the Title

Question

I created a new searchresult page with a search result webpart. I already modified the search sorting in the webpart properties. When I search on "bra" I first got a result where the word "bra" is found in the content. The results below are matches in the Title. I would like to have the Title matches as first. What do I need to do?

This is the sort json value:

[{"name":"Titel","sorts":[{"p":"Filename","d":0}]},{"name":"Relevantie","sorts":[]}]

Answer 1

SharePoint 2013 search has Ranking Models which allows you to show most relevant data on top (for eg in your case Show Title matches on top).

Follow the below steps:

1. Configure the webpart properties and set sorting by Rank. Now the results will higher rank (or relevance) will be displayed on top.

2. Now you have to configure your search so that "Title" column has top rank than other columns.You can do that by any of following methods:

   a. Query rules

   b. Search schema

   c. Create and use a custom ranking model

   Now if you are using OOTB Title column, it is by default having the top most rank score. So if you change the sort order to Sort by Rank (Step 1), it should show Title matches on the top.