Jan 05, 2015 - EVANSTON, IL – Legacy.com, the global leader in online obituary solutions for newspapers and the customers they serve, has begun testing new models in local markets where a comprehensive, engaging online newspaper obituary site offered by Legacy.com is not available to readers.
In the vast majority of U.S. towns and cities, the local newspaper website is the single best resource for anyone wishing to find news and information about deaths in their area. In most of these markets, Legacy.com is a hosting partner of the newspaper, helping them better serve funeral homes and readers in the area.
In some markets, however, readers have lost that central information hub following the newspaper's decision to curtail its obituary offerings and end its relationship with Legacy.com. As a result, online traffic and user engagement have typically declined more than 50 percent. It is in these markets that Legacy.com will introduce its Next Generation Obituary platform and extensive suite of local, national and topic-related content, along with its powerful search tools, with the goal of establishing a new central obituary hub in that local market.
"Legacy's platform will offer the most comprehensive and timely obituary news source in these local markets," said Stopher Bartol, Legacy.com's CEO. "For example, in Richmond, Virginia, we have the ability to not only report on obituaries published by funeral homes in that local market, but also include obituaries with a Richmond connection being published anywhere in Legacy's national newspaper network, all while updating site content regularly throughout the day."
If successful, Legacy.com will not just provide the best experience for readers, but also do so in a way that helps its funeral home and newspaper network partners benefit from renewed referral traffic and user engagement from these once-vibrant markets.
"We intend for everyone to win – newspapers in our network, funeral service providers in these local markets, and of course readers seeking information to help them honor people's lives," said Bartol.
ABOUT LEGACY.COM INC.
Legacy.com collaborates with more than 1,500 newspapers in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.K. and Europe to provide ways for readers to express condolences and share remembrances of loved ones. It also provides online obituary solutions and marketing opportunities for thousands of funeral homes globally. Legacy.com is headquartered in Evanston, Illinois.
For more information contact:
Kim Evenson
Legacy.com
847-492-2113
kevenson@legacy.com
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