Data from online marketing research group Hitwise has found that websites which focus on free content receive 73 percent more visitors than transactional sites.

Published: 17 Aug 2009

Data from online marketing research group Hitwise has found that websites which focus on free content receive 73 percent more visitors than transactional sites.

During July 2009, content driven sites picked up 73 percent more UK Internet visits than their transactional counterparts. This means that an increasing proportion of online time is spent browsing content, communicating and networking, rather than buying things. According to Robin Goad, Hitwise UK research director, clearly this is long term trend, but the falls in consumer spending that are a consequence of the recession have clearly helped to increase the gap over the last 12 to 18 months.

Interestingly, in July 2006 transactional sites accounted for five percent more UK Internet visits than content driven ones. It has been observed that in the past three years, free sites in categories such as entertainment, social networks and news and media had, on average, increased their share, while share of visits had declined for sites such as shopping and classifieds, business and finance, and travel.