Discussion group: Approaches to web search
Chair: Ted Carroll, Above The Fold

Search is a prominent feature of all council websites, and is one of the capabilities that is assessed by the Socitm Insight Programme. Search can be a heavily used feature - The National Audit Office report 'Government on the Internet: progress in delivering information and services online' identified that more than 65% of users to Directgov used the search facility.

This session will cover some of the following questions.
- How much is search used on council websites?
- How successful is search at delivering the best content to users?
- What techniques have been employed to improve the quality of search results and the user experience?
- How can search help to reduce costs?

Ted Carroll is a search specialist who has helped organisations, in both the public and private sectors, to exploit search.