| Building on affiliation with more than 650 newspapers, online pioneer enhances popular site with expanded content, expert advice, interactivity and social networking features |
Jun 17, 2008 - Legacy.com, the Web’s dominant obituary resource and the leader in online memorialization, has launched an enhanced portal that builds upon its affiliation with more than 650 U.S., Canadian and British newspapers. The portal adds new expert content and a number of advanced features to create the most complete and interactive memorialization site available on the Internet. Complementing its daily obituary feeds from newspapers with its comprehensive database and powerful search function, the 10-year-old category pioneer has added social networking features similar to those available through MySpace and Facebook but specifically geared toward its targeted audience.
“Our goal has always been to provide a place for individuals to create lasting memorials to their deceased loved ones and to offer support to those seeking advice or solace during times of grief and loss,” said Stopher Bartol, president and CEO of Legacy.com. “As more and more people turn to the Web to search for information, connect and find comfort, our hope is that Legacy.com and our affiliated newspaper Web sites will provide welcoming destinations for people during the most difficult times in their lives.”
LEGACYCONNECT
Among the new site enhancements is an interactive microsite called LegacyConnect, through which visitors can network and gain access to a rich assortment of expert counsel from leading educators, authors, grief counselors and psychologists on topics related to grief and loss. New content and experts will be featured each week. Visitors also can share experiences or seek and offer wisdom or support though a variety of community discussions and message boards.
“LegacyConnect was created as a place where people going through one of life’s most difficult experiences can come to share their thoughts, find comfort and begin to heal,” explained Bartol. “From inspirational poetry to practical advice on estate settlement, LegacyConnect offers tools and access to experts to help people cope with the aftermath of loss.”
LEGACY MEMORIAL WEBSITES
Another exciting addition to Legacy.com is a new online tribute product called Legacy Memorial Websites. Available as stand-alone pages or linkable to printed obituaries, Legacy Memorial Websites enable users to combine a biography, cherished photographs, music, and video and audio clips in a unique way to honor and remember their loved ones. A Legacy.com Guest Book may also be included, allowing visitors to express their sympathy and share thoughts and fond memories. Additionally, these sites can host links allowing visitors to quickly and easily make memorial donations to favorite charities or causes.
These new enhancements build upon the already robust Legacy.com content, which includes:
- The most comprehensive and searchable database of obituaries available on the Web. Through its partnerships with more than three-quarters of the nation’s largest 100 newspapers, Legacy.com features obituaries and online Guest Books for more than two-thirds of people who die in the United States. Additionally, Legacy.com uploads government death records and maintains a searchable database for some 85 million deaths dating back to 1936.
- Online Guest Books – made popular by Legacy.com – enabling visitors from around the world to offer condolences and memorials to their loved ones. Nearly 800,000 new Guest Book entries are logged each month through Legacy.com.
- Customized e-mail alerts that automatically notify users of the deaths of former friends, colleagues and associates. Users immediately can be notified by e-mail if someone from a hometown, place of worship, workplace, university or other affiliation passes away.
- Timely information about the deaths of celebrities and other noteworthy individuals, including movie and TV stars, public officials, and business, philanthropic and civic leaders.
- Profiles of more than 8,000 U.S. funeral homes including maps, contacts and other useful information. Funeral service providers not currently on the site are invited to post information free of charge to Legacy.com, including links to their own Web sites, which enable them to build traffic to their site and enhance awareness of their services.
- “In Remembrance,” a special section of the Legacy.com site that features profiles for every service member who has died during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Special memorials honoring the lives of those lost during events that impacted the entire country, such as 9/11 and the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University.
Legacy.com’s network of sites attracts 12 million unique visitors per month and credits this volume of use to its highly comprehensive, searchable database of obituaries and rich, relevant content – accessible directly via every local newspaper site affiliated with Legacy.com.
“People automatically turn to newspapers when looking for obituaries of friends and family,” commented Bartol. “Through strategic partnerships with our newspaper affiliates, we have taken that top-of-mind association and coupled it with innovative technology that allows anyone around the world to remember a friend or family member and automatically learn of the passing of valued friends and former colleagues via their local hometown newspaper sites. All of the new Legacy.com enhancements will be accessible through our affiliates’ Web sites, bringing added value to these partnerships and providing our users with more and better ways to commemorate their loved ones’ legacies.”
For more information or to experience the new site enhancements first-hand, visit www.Legacy.com.
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