The background
In today’s fast-paced digital environment, government agencies are under increasing pressure to provide timely, accurate, and accessible information to the public.
As content volume grows exponentially, website search experiences fall short of the ‘Google-like’ experience, frustrating users with outdated, irrelevant, or hard-to-find information.
For VMIA, the challenge was clear: their current search platform could no longer keep up with the diverse audience’s demands for a more powerful, accurate, and relevant search experience.
The challenge
With a vision and strategy to improve engagement and deliver simple and clear access to information, there is a need for a more advanced solution that could leverage cutting-edge technology to surface relevant content faster and more accurately than ever before.
When designing a search experience, it is essential to define the key metrics to ensure you are delivering value.
The strategy driving the successful implementation of the search experience must include the following metrics:
- Search success rate and how often relevant results are selected
- Zero-result rate indicates opportunities for content and keyword optimisation
- Click-through-rate (CTR) provides insights into the relevance of the search results returned
- Refinements per search session tracking how frequently search queries are modified and how relevant the initial results are
The solution
Committed to improving access to information and aligning with modern digital experience standards, Sitecore Search was selected to power the search experience on the VMIA website.
Sitecore Search is a powerful platform that allows a configurable search experience to show predictive and personalised search experiences designed to enhance content findability. Utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to power the experience to provide contextually relevant search results makes it ideal for managing complex digital ecosystems with diverse content requirements.
AI-driven search personalisation
Sitecore Search’s AI engine was configured to deliver personalised results based on user behaviour, context, and search history. This allowed the search engine to tailor results to individual users, reducing the need for repeated or refined searches.
Content discovery, advanced filtering, and recommendations
The search experience was designed to include related content suggestions, improving content discoverability and guiding users to relevant information they may have already considered. To help users refine their search results, Sitecore Search was configured with customised filtering options, allowing users to sort results by date, category, and relevance.
Real-time analytics and insights
Sitecore Search provided valuable analytics, enabling the agency to monitor search patterns, top search queries, and areas of improvement. This data informed ongoing content strategy and search optimisation efforts.