wfn.org | PC(USA)s crisis page on Web was a high-traffic area

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6938 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

07-November-2001
01419

PC(USA)s crisis page on Web was a high-traffic area 

More than 18,000 people visited in 3 weeks after terror attacks 

by Evan Silverstein
              
LOUISVILLE - Visits to the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Web site rose sharply
after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

Between the day of the tragedy and Oct. 4, a total of 18,615 people logged
on to a special crisis section of the Web site, according to a report
compiled by PC(USA)'s Internet & Media Services staff. The crisis section,
headlined A Time of National Crisis, averaged 10,825 hits per day over that
three-week period.

"We got a lot of uniformly positive feedback from users about it," said Bill
Hovingh, the PC(USA's web architect. "People wrote to the Webmaster and
said, 'Thanks for the resources.' I think it was a high-traffic area, and
people found what was there very useful."

Hovingh estimated that the crisis section - www.pcusa.org/crisis - attracted
an additional 1,500 daily users to the PC(USA) Web site, which normally
averages 7,000 visitors per day.

According to the report, users often returned repeatedly to the dedicated
section. Nearly 2,600 people visited more than once, viewing an average of
three pages per visit. Many returned six to eight times. The average online
session lasted 7.5 minutes, more than twice the length of the average visit
prior to Sept. 11.

The crisis site, which currently contains 89 pages, recorded its heaviest
traffic on Sept. 14, with 4,500 visitor sessions. That peak was followed by
a steady decline that bottomed out on Oct. 4, when fewer than 300 users
visited the site, which offers worship resources, prayers, hymns, Scripture
references and tips for ministering to children.

"The people we were getting feedback from were pastors and elders in
congregations, who were struggling, asking, 'How do we interpret this? How
do we help our congregants incorporate this into their religious lives?'"
Hovingh said.

Material for the site was prepared by numerous program-area staff in the
denomination's national offices. The pages most frequently requested during
the three-week study period were the crisis homepage (www.pcusa.org/crisis);
worship resources (www.pcusa.org/crisis/worship.htm); educational resources
(www.pcusa.org/crisis/educational.htm); and childrens resources
(www.pcusa.org/crisis/children.htm).
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