Study Summary
Legacy.com partnered with Millward Brown Digital, a third-party research firm with a panel of 2.3 million online households, to measure total time on site for 43 newspapers and their obituary sections. The study covers 24 months from June 2012 to May 2014.
Time Spent on Site
The study shows that the Legacy.com obituary and guest book contribute to a more engaging experience for readers, resulting in more total time spent on the newspaper’s site.
In fact, newspapers that partner with Legacy.com saw 80% more time spent in their obituary sections. Legacy.com-affiliated sites see an average of 22 minutes spent in their obit sections, as opposed to only 12 minutes in the obit sections of non-Legacy sites. (Fig 1)
Additionally, the increase in time spent in the obit section drives an average of 50% more time spent on total site. Visitors to newspaper sites that partner with Legacy.com are on the newspapers’ sites for an average of 32 minutes, as opposed to 21 minutes on the sites of newspapers that do not partner with Legacy.com. (Fig 2)
Conclusion
Obituary content is a key component to how much time users spend on a newspaper’s site. Newspapers that partner with Legacy.com benefit significantly from increased engagement on their sites overall, driven by more time spent in their obituary sections.
Claire McAlpin