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Museums today are transforming their digital footprints, reshaping how collections are accessed, explored, and appreciated. At the Digital Collections Summit 2024, Chris Unitt, founder of One Further, and Louise Cohen, a senior content strategist at the same organisation, shared findings from their groundbreaking Discovering Online Collections Benchmark Report. The 2024 benchmark analysed 50 organisations in five countries, providing comparison points for how people discovered and used their online collections.
The Importance of Digital Accessibility
As Chris aptly quoted Mark Jones of the British Museum, “Rather than locking the collection away, we want to make it the most enjoyed, seen, and used in the world.” This ethos reflects a broader trend among museums, galleries, and libraries to extend their reach beyond physical walls, making collections accessible to researchers, educators, and the public alike.
However, until now, little context existed for institutions to measure the effectiveness of their digital collections or to identify what’s exceptional in this ever-evolving space. To address this gap, One Further analyzed data from 50 institutions across five countries, categorising them into small, medium, and large institutions based on website traffic.
Key Findings from the Report
1. Online Collections Drive Website Traffic
Across the participating organisations, online collections accounted on average for roughly 20% of website page views and entrances. The measures varied by collection type: visual art collections averaged 32% of website page views and 29% of entrances. These subset averages describe the sample, not a guaranteed result for any collection.
The reason? Artworks tend to translate well to digital formats and cater to diverse audiences, from students and designers to general art enthusiasts. This variety of uses underscores the potential for online collections to engage a broad spectrum of users.
2. Organic Search Dominates Traffic Sources
In the study’s sample, about 75% of collection traffic came from organic search. This emphasizes the importance of strong search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies, including the use of high-quality images and targeted keywords.
Image search contributed more than 20% of search traffic, rather than necessarily 20% of all collection use. The presenters discussed featured snippets as an opportunity in 2024. Adding FAQs or related copy does not guarantee a present-day search feature.
3. A Long-Tail Effect: The Role of Lesser-Known Objects
Contrary to the belief that a few star items drive the majority of engagement, the study found that the top 10 most viewed items accounted for about 5% of collection page views. The remaining views were distributed across the long tail of other objects, showing that use extended beyond the best-known items.
This finding is a reason to look beyond high-profile objects when setting priorities. Rights, user needs, cultural protocols and the resources required to prepare records also matter.
4. Content Strategy Matters
The study highlights the importance of supporting content for online collections. While foundational information on object pages is essential, institutions can also create landing pages that group related objects and content around key themes. These pages not only capture high-volume search queries but also guide audiences from general topics to specific objects, enhancing user exploration.
Wellcome’s theme-page approach offers a practical example of connecting a broad topic with individual works.
5. Future Opportunities for Growth
Chris and Louise emphasised that this benchmarking report is just the beginning. Future studies will delve deeper into how museums can build ecosystems of content that amplify the impact of their collections. Whether through rich multimedia object pages, curated topic hubs, or expanded editorial content, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer—but there’s ample room for experimentation and growth.
Use these figures as comparison points, not targets that every museum should hit. The study describes how participating collections were used; it does not show that putting a collection online will automatically increase total visits by the same percentage. Compare like-for-like page groups and measures, then investigate where your own users arrive, browse and leave.
Rijksmuseum’s collection redesign shows how teams can combine analytics with critical user feedback.
Practical Takeaways for Museums
For museums and galleries looking to improve their digital collections, the report offers several actionable insights:
- Invest in SEO: Optimize object pages for search engines, focusing on high-quality images, relevant keywords, and concise, targeted descriptions.
- Explore the Long Tail: Consider a wider range of objects while prioritising rights, user needs and available resources.
- Build Supporting Content: Use editorial content, landing pages, and structured ecosystems to enhance the discoverability and usability of your collections.
- Track Benchmarks: Use data to understand what’s normal for your institution and identify areas for improvement.
Continuing the Conversation
One Further’s Discovering Online Collections Benchmark Report is a valuable resource for any institution striving to improve its digital reach. As Chris and Louise concluded, this study marks the start of an ongoing effort to uncover best practices and opportunities for innovation in online collections.
The full report is available at One Further’s Discovering Online Collections report page. Institutions interested in participating in future studies are encouraged to get involved.
In the words of Chris and Louise: the more museums share and learn from one another, the better equipped they’ll be to create digital collections that inspire and engage audiences worldwide.
