American Legion's website traffic surges

The American Legion’s primary website, www.legion.org, has experienced record growth in the first six months of this year.

The number of website page views has increased 73.4 percent, from 5,725,513 in the first six months last year compared to 9,925,852 January through June of this year. Other key metrics show similar upward trends:

Unique visitors: Rose 34.5 percent year over year – 1,950,471 uniques this year as compared to 1,450,039.

Mobile usage: This year, 34 percent of visits to legion.org have been via a mobile device, compared with 7 percent last year.

The increases are directly tied to the recent revitalization of the website, which organized the main page into more clearly labeled sections. Secondary pages are also being reorganized to improve the navigation for web visitors, said Walter Ivie, commission chairman of Media & Communications, which oversees the website.

“In today’s fast-paced media world, we need to continually innovate to keep up with consumer demand,” Ivie said. “The changes to our website indicate that our readers have embraced these changes, especially those viewing our content on their cellphones and tablets.”

The trend is not slowing down, either.

In June 2016, page views were up 243 percent – more than 4 million this year, as compared to last year when there were just under 1.2 million. During that same period, unique visitors were up 45.6 percent.

“In today’s media world, this is a significant accomplishment,” Ivie said. “What this means to me is that The American Legion’s core programs, veterans outreach and other initiatives resonate with its members, military supporters and the general public. The American Legion makes a difference in people’s lives every day. And that’s why people are visiting our website with such high frequency.”