This is the fifth tutorial in the Getting Started with Engaggit series. In the previous tutorial, you created your first Interest. Now we'll give it teeth: the search rules that tell Engaggit exactly what to look for on Reddit — and what to skip.
Why Search Rules Matter
Engaggit scans Reddit posts automatically. But "scan Reddit" on its own is far too broad — Reddit gets millions of posts a day, and nearly all of them are irrelevant to you.
Search rules are the filter between Reddit and your feed. They do two jobs:
- What to look for — the keywords and communities to check
- What to skip — the terms that mark a post as noise
Get this right and your feed fills with relevant leads. Get it wrong and you'll spend your time dismissing posts that have nothing to do with your business. Good rules = relevant leads. Bad rules = noise.
The good news: search rules are easy to tune, and Engaggit re-runs them on every scan. So don't aim for perfect on the first try — build something reasonable, scan, and refine based on what actually shows up.
One Interest can have multiple search rules, each independent of the others. With PRO you can add as many rules as you want to a single Interest — for example, one rule with strong keywords and strict filters for high-intent leads, and another with broader keywords to catch demand signals. The free tier is limited to a single rule per Interest, which is plenty for testing.
The Search Rule Builder
Here's the full set of controls you'll find when you open your Interest's search rules:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Search Keywords │
│ [alternative to] [recommend] [best tool] │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Subreddits │
│ [r/sales] [r/SaaS] [r/startups] │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Must Contain │
│ [CRM] [automation] [workflow] │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Must NOT Contain │
│ [free] [crack] [torrent] │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Time Range │
│ [Today] │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Let's walk through each field, starting with the most important one.
Choosing Keywords (The Core)
Keywords are the heart of your search. Engaggit uses them to query Reddit, so think in terms of what people actually type in the posts you want to catch.
The most effective keywords aren't your product names — they're intent phrases. These are the words people use when they're actively looking for a solution:
| High-Intent Phrase | What It Signals |
|---|---|
| "alternative to" | People actively comparing options |
| "recommend" | People asking for suggestions |
| "looking for" | People searching for solutions |
| "best tool" | People researching what exists |
| "how do I" | People with a specific problem |
| Competitor names | People already aware of the space |
Example keyword set (CRM product):
"alternative to", "recommend", "looking for",
"best CRM", "HubSpot alternative", "Salesforce vs",
"CRM for small business", "automation tool"
Notice the mix: some broad intent phrases ("alternative to", "recommend"), some product-specific terms ("best CRM"), and a couple of competitor comparisons ("HubSpot alternative", "Salesforce vs"). That combination catches both people discovering the problem and people who already know exactly what they want.
A few practical tips:
- Start with 5–10 keywords. The free tier allows 5 per Interest; PRO allows more. Quality beats quantity — five intent phrases outperform thirty random words.
- Use phrases, not single words. "CRM" alone pulls in everything from resume tips to hobby threads. "best CRM for small business" points at the people you actually want.
- Include competitor names. People searching "HubSpot alternative" are pre-qualified — they know the space, they have a problem, and they're looking to switch.
Adding a Must-Contain Filter
The Must Contain field narrows your results to posts that include at least one of your listed terms. It's a second, stronger filter on top of your keywords.
For a CRM product, that might look like:
[CRM] [sales] [leads] [pipeline]
Why use it? Suppose your keyword "alternative to" matches a post about the best alternative to a restaurant chain. Must Contain doesn't change the keywords — it just insists that any matched post also mentions one of your terms. "Alternative to HubSpot" passes. "Alternative to Chipotle" doesn't.
A good Must Contain set is a short list of core topic words that any relevant post is very likely to use. Two to five terms is plenty.
Using Must-Not-Contain (Exclusions)
The Must NOT Contain field does the opposite: any post that contains one of these terms is skipped, no matter how well it matches your keywords otherwise.
Common exclusions:
[free] [crack] [torrent] [gaming]
Some notes on how to use them well:
- "free" is a trap. Plenty of legitimate posts mention "free" ("free tier", "free trial"). If you add it to Must NOT Contain, you'll lose real leads. Only exclude it if you genuinely can't serve free-seekers — and expect to lose some good matches.
- Exclude whole off-topic worlds. "[gaming]" is a handy single word that clears out an entire category of noise.
- Add exclusions reactively. Start with a clean set, run a scan, and add exclusions for whatever noise you actually see. Don't guess — let the results tell you.
Choosing Subreddits (Optional)
Defining subreddits is optional. Skip it and Engaggit scans all of Reddit, relying on your keywords and the AI's relevance scoring to surface the good posts. For broad monitoring, that's often the right call — you might discover communities you didn't know existed.
Use the Subreddits field when:
- You know exactly where your buyers hang out
- You want to avoid whole communities of irrelevant posts
- You want to concentrate scanning effort on high-value niches
Good subreddit examples:
| Audience | Subreddits |
|---|---|
| B2B SaaS | r/SaaS, r/startups, r/sales |
| Developer tools | r/webdev, r/programming, r/reactjs |
| Marketing | r/marketing, r/contentmarketing, r/SEO |
Subreddits that are usually noise for lead gen:
- r/funny, r/memes, r/gaming — low commercial intent
- r/freebies, r/coupons — people looking for free stuff, not paying customers
A common pattern: start by scanning everything, notice which subreddits keep producing quality matches, then pin those in the Subreddits field to focus future scans.
Setting Time Range
The Time Range controls how far back each scan looks. It's a trade-off between freshness and volume:
| Time Range | Best For |
|---|---|
| Past hour | Highest urgency — catch conversations while they're hot |
| Today | High-urgency leads where speed wins; competitive niches |
| Past week | Balanced approach for steady monitoring |
| Past month | Broader search volume, but older posts are likelier to be dead conversations |
| Past year | Trend research and market signals, not lead generation |
| All time | Niche/demand research — seeing the full history of a topic |
Today is the default — it's a solid starting point: fresh enough that most posts are still worth replying to, but wide enough to give you a steady stream of matches. If you're missing opportunities, widen to Past week. If your feed is full of cold, answered threads, narrow to Past hour. Use Past year or All time when you're researching demand for a topic, not hunting for leads.
Good vs Noisy Rules
Here's how the same Interest looks done right and done wrong:
| Good Rule | Noisy Rule |
|---|---|
| Keywords: "alternative to", "recommend" | Keyword: "tool" |
| Must Contain: "CRM", "sales" | No must-contain filter |
| Subreddits: r/sales, r/SaaS | Subreddits: all of Reddit |
| Exclude: "free", "gaming" | No exclusions |
The noisy version isn't broken — it's just unfiltered. It will technically work, but your feed will be mostly noise, and the good posts will get buried. The tuned version produces a smaller, far more useful feed.
Testing Your Rules
Search rules are meant to be iterated. Here's a reliable loop:
- Start with a broad keyword set — your intent phrases and product terms
- Run a scan (covered in the next tutorial)
- Check the feed for relevance — is the top of the feed actually your target audience?
- Add exclusions if you see noise in the results
- Refine based on actual results — tighten keywords that pull in look-alikes, add subreddits that keep producing winners
Expect to adjust your rules a few times in the first week. That's normal, and it's how you build a search that reliably feeds you leads.
What's Next
Your Interest now has everything it needs: descriptions that tell the AI who you're looking for, and search rules that tell it where to look. Time to put it to work.
Next tutorial → Running Your First Scan — hit scan and watch Engaggit search Reddit, analyze matches, and build your feed.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How many keywords can I add per Interest?
The free tier allows 5 keywords and 5 subreddits per Interest. PRO (with a 14-day free trial) removes those limits. Start small — five well-chosen intent phrases beat thirty random ones.
2. Do keywords need to match the exact words in a post?
No. Engaggit matches variants and related forms of your keywords, and the AI relevance scoring does the final judging. Still, use the words your audience actually types — "best CRM for small business" is more useful than "CRM".
3. Should I add my product name as a keyword?
Probably not. Your product name only appears in your own posts or mentions of your competitors — it won't help you find new leads. Competitor names are far more valuable.
4. Does Must Contain check comments too?
No — Engaggit scans posts, not comments. The search rules (keywords, Must Contain, Must NOT Contain, subreddits) all apply to the post's title and body. Comments aren't scanned for matching.
5. What if I leave Subreddits empty?
Then Engaggit scans all of Reddit for your keywords. This is a valid choice — it's broader, and you rely on relevance scoring to surface quality. Many users start this way and add subreddits later.
6. My feed has too much noise. What should I change first?
Add Must-Not-Contain exclusions for the pattern you see, then tighten your keywords. "free" and "gaming" are common first exclusions. Then scan again and compare.
Engaggit is a privacy-first, AI-powered Reddit lead generation app. It runs on your machine, keeps your data to yourself, and helps you never miss a relevant conversation again.