2004 Survey of Visitors to Museums’ Web Space and Physical Space: Survey Documentation and Findings

3. HIGHLIGHTS

3.1 Survey of Visitors to Museums

• 22% of internet users used that tool to plan their visit to the museum.
• 80% of internet users who did not use the internet to plan their visit said it was either because they didn’t plan the visit, they already knew the museum well or they had the information they needed from other sources.
• When looking for information over the internet to plan a visit, people refer equally to the website of the museum and to tourism, Chamber of Commerce or municipal sites.
• When planning a visit, people mainly look for general information about the museum (directions, opening hours, etc.).
• People visiting the web space of a museum as a follow-up to a visit in person are looking for a richer content than those planning a visit.
• Museums that put collections information and images on their web sites will not reduce visits to the physical museum, and will likely enhance interest in making an in-person visit to the museum.

3.2 Survey of Visitors to Museums’ Web Space

• There is a strong positive tie between visits to museums’ web spaces and in-person visits to museums. The more one visits museum web spaces, the more likely one is to visit museums in person.
• When asked how they found out about the site from which they took the survey, respondents mention mainly internet search engines and links from another museum’s site. Thus, search engine optimization is important for museum web sites.
• Almost half of the respondents were neither planning a visit to a museum, nor following up on a recent visit.