How London Borough of Tower Hamlets uses search data for content creation

Building bridges between user data and content delivery

With over 300,000 residents in one of London’s most culturally diverse boroughs, London Borough of Tower Hamlets needs to serve a wide range of audiences - from residents seeking council tax information, to visitors looking for parking, to job‑seekers and businesses. The council website plays a key role in this. In 2019 alone, the site recorded more than 3.5 million visits - each one generating search and behaviour data to learn from.

“With a population of over 300,000, Tower Hamlets boasts one of the most culturally diverse communities in London and as a council we need to cater for a variety of needs”, says Phillip Nduoyo, Digital Officer at London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

These insights give the council actionable levers for content optimisation, navigation redesign, and promotion of key pages.

How the London Borough of Tower Hamlets uses search analytics in their content strategy

With Cludo’s insights in hand, the council can:

• Prioritise content creation where searches reveal high unmet demand (e.g., “renew permits” suddenly spikes → review content and navigation).

• Restructure or reposition popular content so users find it faster (e.g., if many searches start from a general “parking” page, consider moving detailed “parking permits” link higher).

• Adjust language and terminology to match how users search, not just internal jargon.

• Monitor seasonal cycles and anomalies in search behaviour, allowing proactive content planning (for example: around admissions, waste‑collection schedules, or council tax deadlines).

In effect, the council has turned search behaviour into a feedback loop:

Visitor searches → insight dashboards → content & navigation changes → improved user experience.

“As we plan on re‑engineering the website, the data will help us make crucial decisions about the new information architecture and design by telling us what our audience is looking for. When we know what they want, we develop our offering to cater to their needs.”
 -  Phil Nduoyo, Digital Officer, London Borough of Tower Hamlets

How Cludo's insights and analytics discover user intentions

By focusing on user search insights rather than just internal assumptions, Tower Hamlets is delivering a more responsive, user‑centred website. Cludo supports this transition with a robust analytics engine and a dashboard designed for marketers and digital teams - bringing clarity to what visitors actually want and need.

“We check what's trending and see how this marries up with seasonal patterns,” says Phillip. “For example we expect to see 'school applications' or 'admissions' when we start promoting the opening of our school admissions process.”

The data provided by Cludo will help the team understand whether user expectations are met or if there are any content gaps that they need to address.

How London Borough of Tower Hamlets uses Intents in their content strategy

Tower Hamlets believes Cludo has been a hugely impactful resource when it comes to monitoring and adapting to user behavior. The Intents feature especially helps them track visitor behavior and trends – and adapt to them.

“It’s especially helpful when plugging gaps in the content we share with our audience”, says Phillip. “Seeing an increase in ineffective search intents for ‘renew permits’ tells us we need to take action. We can then resolve it in a number of ways from adding a banner to moving a page to a more prominent part of the website.”

Cludo was founded in 2015 with a clear message: Your search is the only place on your website where your users tell you exactly what they’re looking for – in their own words. Make sure you listen to them. London Borough of Tower Hamlets has taken this truly to heart, paying close attention to search behavior whenever they make a change on their site:

“As we plan on re-engineering the website, Cludo will help us make crucial decisions about the new information architecture and design by telling us what our audience is looking for. When we know what the users want, we develop our offering to cater to their needs,” said Phillip.