It's been almost a year since we launched URAC's new website. In case you've forgotten what the old website looked like, there's a screen shot of the old home page at the end of this article. 

The goals of the new website include providing an easy-to-navigate, visually compelling experience for users, positioning URAC as a thought leader and as a resource for accurate, reliable information on topics that matter to our audiences, and increasing engagement. Customers and prospects can easily find the content they want, including helpful, relevant articles, industry insight reports, webinars, industry-related news, and more information on the URAC measures process.

Now that we have a year behind us, how did we do? 

While the number of sessions in 2018 decreased by 18.9 percent compared to 2017, the percentage of new visitors rose to 85 percent from 83 percent. The quality of sessions also rose, based on the increase in session duration and decrease in bounce rates. The bounce rate (which is the percentage of sessions to the site in which users viewed only a single page) was reduced by around eight percent. The previous website’s bounce rate was more than 57 percent, which is higher than average. The average session duration rose a little more than nine percent compared to the previous website, which indicates that visitors are spending more time on the site.

Another area of improvement was traffic and conversions from social media. We increased site visits from social media by 138 percent, decreased the bounce rate by near 18 percent, and increased session duration by 67 percent. Also, more than 11 percent of social traffic converted on the site (that is, users that came to the site from social media, and then took an action such as downloading an industry insight report, filling out a form, etc.), which is an 8,317 percent increase from the previous site.

Content marketing plays a key role in driving website traffic, developing brand awareness, establishing thought leadership and generating contacts and leads. 

To that end, URAC publishes articles in The URAC Report, including interview-based articles on topics of interest and articles on regulatory/policy developments that may affect our audiences. The government update articles, which are written inhouse by Brittany McCullough and Aaron Turner-Phifer, are some of the most popular content. In 2018, we published 66 articles and four Industry Insight reports. While the articles in The URAC Report help drive engagement with shareable content, the Industry Insight Reports generate contacts/leads. Below are the number of downloads generated from the four reports in 2018:

• Accelerating Telehealth Adoption: Telemedicine’s Role in the Volume to Value Journey (November 2018) – 613 downloads
• Deep Dive: Challenges, Successes and Outlook of Three Clinically Integrated Networks (August 2018) – 60 downloads
• Retail Community Pharmacies: Adapting and Innovating to Succeed in a Turbulent Marketplace (June 2018) – 153 downloads
• Leading the Way: Success Stories of Three Telehealth Innovators (March 2018) – 652 downloads

The content on the website provides valuable, easy-to-read information relevant to our clients and prospects, and is a great resource for staff to gain a better understanding of the healthcare industries that we work with. We encourage you to explore the website, particularly the Insights and Ideas section.

Here's that screen shot of the old home page I promised you. Remember this?