Optimizing SharePoint Search vs Enterprise Search

Microsoft SharePoint is a widely-used platform for content management and collaboration, and well known for its built-in search capabilities. But for many legal and professional services firms, optimizing SharePoint Search can be a cumbersome and expensive journey, which often still leaves important gaps unaddressed.

This blog covers:

• Understanding SharePoint Search
• Limitations of SharePoint Search in legal and professional services sectors
• Best practices for optimizing SharePoint Search
• Scalability and cost considerations in search optimization
• Search solutions: a broad perspective
• Comparing SharePoint Search to other solutions
• Choosing the right solution for your firm
  
  

Understanding SharePoint Search

In this blog, I’ll explore how to optimize SharePoint’s native search and then compare its features and limitations with enterprise search solutions. The focus here is therefore on the “traditional” SharePoint Search infrastructure and capabilities, and not Microsoft Search which is Microsoft’s newest search infrastructure closely tied to the Microsoft Graph and many of the modern applications. 

This article is about SharePoint Search, but here are the high level differences between SharePoint Search and Microsoft Search.

The main purpose of SharePoint Search is naturally to search for documents, emails, and other key content which is managed within SharePoint sites. To deliver on this, SharePoint search is powered by a number of features/capabilities such as indexing, ranking and relevance algorithms. 

The key features of SharePoint Search include:

• Keyword search: Search by keywords or phrases, including the ability to using KQL (Keyword Query Language).
• Refiners: Filter results by file type, location, or metadata.
• Content sources: Search content sources from one or multiple SharePoint sites. With connectors, external content from other systems can also be sourced and added to the index.
• Customizable search schema: Adjust how content is indexed and how it can be used in search queries/results by configuring managed search properties, result sources and more.

More advanced configurations and customizations are often required, as these out-of-the-box settings, configurations and user interfaces rarely align with user expectations or the unique demands of legal and professional services.

While SharePoint indexes various content types, metadata as well as user profiles, legal and professional services firms typically need more specialized approaches—especially around taxonomy, metadata consistency, and confidentiality.

Limitations of SharePoint Search in legal and professional services sectors

In the legal and professional services sectors, the volume and complexity of documents and data are significantly higher compared to many other industries. SharePoint Search faces several challenges in these environments, including the need for consistent tagging and well-implemented, flexible and manageable taxonomy, as well as handling of sensitive and confidential information.

Moreover, the collaborative nature of legal work means that documents are frequently updated and shared among multiple users, making it crucial for the search functionality to be both accurate and up-to-date. Without proper configuration and optimization, SharePoint Search often fails to deliver the accurate and reliable results that legal professionals require.

Summary of key challenges with SharePoint Search:

• By default there is in effect only one search experience with limited admin controls.
• It is not uncommon to see firms with multiple sets of terms covering the same thing, while good search requires consistent tagging schema.
• Tagging is sporadic, but pervasive tagging across your content estate is necessary to improve search results.
• Any line-of-business focused search experience requires either complex “verticals” to be configured in the M365 backend and/or custom/bespoke web parts or use of 3rd party search webparts.
• The flexibility and customization of SharePoint Search is limited, in particular with regards to combining filters, search verticals, sorting and different results display options (Microsoft Search is even more limited in terms of configuration options).

Best practices for optimizing SharePoint Search

To optimize SharePoint Search, it is essential to start with a thorough understanding of the common needs and user journeys within a PS or Law firm. Customizing search settings, refining search scopes, and configuring managed properties are some of the steps that can enhance search performance.

Implementing robust information architecture, including well-defined content types and associated metadata, can significantly improve search accuracy. Additionally, leveraging and configuring SharePoint's advanced search features, such as query rules and result sources, can help tailor search results to better meet user expectations.

Below are some of the key best practices that I would recommend:

1. Effective tagging strategies for improved search results
   Tagging content with relevant metadata is crucial for improving search results in SharePoint. However, the manual nature of tagging can be a challenge. To ensure consistency, it is important to establish clear guidelines and standards for metadata and tagging practices. Regular training and awareness programs can encourage users to consistently apply tags and metadata, thereby enhancing the overall search experience.
2. Frictionless end-user experience
   To ensure effective and consistent tagging, you need to remove end-user involvement, i.e. when users create or upload content. The biggest blocker is typically that users can’t be bothered or are simply too busy to tag content. Tools like Atlas automatically assign metadata, minimizing human intervention while ensuring consistency.
3. Deal with ROT: Redundant, Obsolete, and Trivial Content
   ROT content can clutter your SharePoint environment and significantly degrade search performance, making it harder for users to find relevant information. Conducting regular content audits to identify and address redundant, obsolete, and trivial content is essential for maintaining an efficient and user-friendly search system.
   To enhance this process, leveraging tools like SharePoint Advanced Management can streamline the enforcement of governance policies, including automated retention and deletion rules. These features help ensure ROT content is handled systematically, reducing manual intervention and improving compliance.
   Additionally, Microsoft 365 Archiving for SharePoint offers advanced capabilities for classifying and archiving content. By automatically moving less frequently accessed content to archive libraries or lower-cost storage, Syntex reduces clutter without sacrificing accessibility to important documents.
   Combining these tools with proactive content management strategies ensures a cleaner, more organized repository, ultimately improving search relevance and user satisfaction. This holistic approach empowers organizations to maintain an optimized SharePoint environment that supports productivity and efficiency.
4. Customize search schema and search query rules
   Adjust the search schema to prioritize key fields in queries. You can also create custom managed properties and map them to crawled properties.
5. Search Query Rules 
   Although hard to manage at scale, these can provide a simple yet powerful way to improve the relevance and usability of search results. By defining conditions—such as specific keywords, content types, or audience groups—you can trigger actions like promoting key documents, grouping related results, or applying refiners. For example, you can ensure that searches for "HR policies" always surface the HR portal as a top result. Coupled with features like synonyms to account for varied terminology and consistent monitoring through search analytics, query rules help deliver a more tailored and efficient search experience, boosting productivity and user satisfaction.

Scalability and cost considerations in search optimization

While the above best practices can elevate SharePoint Search, they also demand time, resources, and expertise. The cost of ongoing maintenance and support is no small matter. You’ll need to factor in not just immediate needs, but also how your search system will scale as data and user counts grow.

Given that the use of Microsoft 365 (including Teams and SharePoint) will very likely continue to expand with your firm, the proliferation of new SharePoint sites and libraries will quickly outpace your ability to manage search effectively. Building a robust, scalable and supportable in-house solution that addresses all these complexities can be both difficult and expensive.

Search solutions: a broad perspective

While SharePoint can be configured for better outcomes, many organizations—especially in legal and professional services—turn to specialized enterprise search solutions. These often feature advanced capabilities like machine learning, AI-powered relevance, and natural language processing. When weighing these options, consider integration with existing systems, ease of customization, user experience, and total cost of ownership.

Comparing SharePoint Search to other solutions

When comparing SharePoint Search to other enterprise search solutions, it is important to evaluate key aspects such as search accuracy, customization capabilities, user experience, and scalability. Some solutions may offer better performance in specific areas, while others provide a more comprehensive set of features.

Conducting a thorough comparison and potentially running pilot programs can provide valuable insights into which solution will best meet the needs of your legal firm.

SharePoint Search vs. Atlas Intelligent Knowledge Platform Search vs General Enterprise Search Solutions: A Comparison

Choosing the right solution for your firm

Selecting the right search solution for your firm involves a careful assessment of your specific requirements, budget, and long-term goals.

SharePoint Search or Microsoft Search are the logical options for those deeply invested in Microsoft 365, but its inherent limitations may not always meet the specialized demands of legal and professional services.

The ultimate goal is to reduce end-user frustration, enhance productivity, quickly surface the right information, and reinforce the broader strategic objectives of your firm. In many cases, supplementing or even replacing native SharePoint Search with a purpose-built solution is the key to delivering the fast and accurate results your users need.

Final thoughts

Optimizing SharePoint Search can substantially boost user satisfaction and operational efficiency—but for complex scenarios, the native functionality often falls short. By assessing your specific requirements and exploring both SharePoint optimizations and enterprise-level alternatives, you can build a search experience that’s not only powerful, but also easy to maintain as your firm evolves.

After all, the right search solution is one that gets your people to the right information, at the right time, every time.

Useful links

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/modern-search-optimization?view=o365-worldwide
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/overview-of-search