Benchmark Report: Cultural website performance

SUMMARY

Substrakt have analysed the performance of the websites of 76 cultural organisations based in Europe and North America and summarised the key findings in this comprehensive report. Full of insights that help guide your thinking, priorities, and planning around your website, in addition to giving you a sense of what the sector at large is doing.

Your organisation’s website will be seen by more people than any other single touchpoint. For most cultural organisations it is their most important commercial asset.

We know from conversations with cultural organisations in both Europe and North America that while individual organisations have a fairly good sense of how their own website is working in isolation, they have little idea of how that performance looks compared to the sector at large.

So we have analysed the performance of the websites of 76 cultural organisations (theatres, dance companies, arts centres, museums, galleries, opera companies, orchestras, and heritage sites) based in Europe and North America. This encompasses over 110 million user sessions for 2023 and we have summarised the key findings in this report.

How can this research help?

Our research uncovers insights that can help to guide your thinking, priorities, and planning around your website, in addition to giving you a sense of what the sector at large is doing.

This research is for you if:

you need to make decisions about your organisation’s website as part of your role
you lead a team that manages an organisational website
you’re interested in how data can inform your website strategy
you want to understand how your organisation’s website performance measures against the wider cultural sector
you have a limited budget and need to make informed decisions about where to spend it
you’re interested in how users are engaging with cultural websites

Analysis and findings: five key areas

Devices, traffic sources, and landing pages
Ticketing
Memberships and donations
Retail
Engagement

For example, our analysis found that:

On average, mobile devices are now responsible for more than 69% of traffic to cultural websites. However mobile conversion rates are on average 68% lower than desktop traffic.
Your homepage is the entry point for just 16% of traffic to your website.
Traffic from emails converts at a higher rate than any other source.
Basket abandonment rates on cultural websites are 52% better than other ecommerce sites.
The average value of mobile donations increased by over 70% in 2023.
Engagement rates for cultural websites are 40% lower than other sectors.

Five key takeaways

Adopt a genuinely mobile-first mindset: Given the substantial increase in mobile traffic, prioritise optimising your website for mobile devices. Ensure that your website is responsive, loads quickly on mobile, and offers a seamless user experience across different devices. Shift focus from desktop-centric approaches to prioritise mobile experiences. Allocate resources towards mobile optimisation, including design, testing, and user experience enhancements, to better align with your users’ behaviour and maximise engagement.
Optimise for organic search (but understand that changes are happening): Recognise the importance of organic search as a significant traffic source. Invest in search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies to improve visibility in search results, enhance content relevance, and attract more organic traffic to your website. However also be aware that AI tools are rapidly changing the search landscape, we all need to closely monitor this area and how it may impact search traffic in the future.
Enhance your landing page experience: Focus on optimising landing pages, particularly event-related pages, to create impactful first impressions and improve user engagement. Analyse user behaviour to understand where visitors enter your site most frequently, their intent and needs in those moments, and tailor content and calls-to-action accordingly for a seamless, rewarding user experience.
Optimise revenue-focused journeys: Focus on optimising the transactional experience, particularly on mobile devices. Streamline checkout processes, simplify form fields, improve error messages, and implement mobile- friendly payment options, to improve conversion rates and average order values.
Iterate: Continuously monitor trends in traffic, revenue, and engagement metrics to identify emerging opportunities and challenges. Adapt your strategies accordingly, iterating on website enhancements and marketing initiatives to stay aligned with evolving user preferences and industry standards.