UD web and UDaily click with campus community

3:40 p.m., Feb. 10, 2004--The University of Delaware’s home page got more than 1.7 million clicks in an average month last year—more than a quarter million more than the year before.

The spike in usage began when the University put news on its home page in September 2002, according to Joy Lynam, associate director of Information Technologies. “We look at the pattern of hits. When we put news on the home page, there was a noticeable increase in the number of hits we received. Events seem to increase usage. Our home page went through the roof this November with the football championship.”

UDaily, the University’s online news service, attracted an average of 266,000 visits each month last year with 230,000 of them via e-mail subscriptions to the general UDaily home page and the specialized alumni and parents’ versions. “I think people want to be informed on a regular basis, and that is why this e-mail service has taken off,’’ Lynam said.

The subscriptions, which are free, consist of regular e-mails with links to current UDaily articles. There is a daily version and weekly versions tailored specifically for alumni and parents. For information on how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.

One of the University’s most popular sites is the classified ads site, which attracted an average of 311,000 visits each month. “It’s just like the classified pages of the newspapers, people go there to buy and to sell,’’ Lynam said.

Other often-clicked features on the UD web include “Find It,” the UD directories, information for current students and for prospective students and the athletics pages. About 80,000 visitors access the information for prospective students in an average month, and about 8,700 take the virtual campus tour. More than 68,500 check the sports pages monthly.

Lynam said prospective students have been using the University web page to get information for years; now parents and alumni are following suit. “Our audience expects to do business on the web now,’’ she said. “It’s no longer an option. Students apply on the web. As soon as parents hear something is happening, they come on the web to find out about it.’’

Susan Foster, vice president for information technologies, added, “The addition of UDaily to the University’s web offerings has been instrumental in attracting increasing numbers of our community to our site. Its attractive, concise presentation invites readers to explore further.’’

In an average month during 2003, UD’s home web page attracted 319,932 unique visitors. The average visitor accessed three pages and spent 8:58 minutes.

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