How to Order MySQL Search Results by Relevance: Beginning Matches First?

Ordering MySQL Results by Relevance: Best Match First

In a MySQL database, live search functionality often involves sorting results based on relevance. By default, results are ordered alphabetically, but what if we want to prioritize results where the search string matches the beginning of the word?

To achieve this, we can utilize the CASE statement and pattern matching to create a custom order:

SELECT word
FROM words
WHERE word LIKE '%searchstring%'
ORDER BY CASE
    WHEN word LIKE 'searchstring%' THEN 1
    WHEN word LIKE '%searchstring' THEN 3
    ELSE 2
  END

This query assigns a priority of 1 to results where the search string appears at the beginning of the word, 3 to those where the string matches within the word, and 2 to the remaining matches.

Alternatively, for ordering based on the position of the matched string, we can employ the LOCATE function:

SELECT word
FROM words
WHERE word LIKE '%searchstring%'
ORDER BY LOCATE('searchstring', word)

This query sorts results based on the position of the search string within the word, giving priority to matches found earlier in the word.

Finally, in case of ties where multiple words match the search string, we can add a secondary sorting rule to alphabetize the results within each priority group:

SELECT word
FROM words
WHERE word LIKE '%searchstring%'
ORDER BY <whatever>, word

By performing a custom ordering based on the search string position, we can enhance the relevance of search results and improve the user experience.

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