Record numbers of users visit ASME.ORG

Benedict Bahner
ASME NEWS
During the last week of November, ASME.ORG set a new record for the number of visitors using the site. For the week of Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, ASME's Web site amassed 61,822 user sessions, or separate visits to the site. That number surpasses the previous user-session milestone of 61,256 visitors for the week ending Sept. 30.

The new record also represents a 93 percent increase in usage compared to the same time the previous year — 32,048 user sessions for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 1999.

In addition, visits to ASME.ORG (www.asme.org) were up nearly 80 percent from November 1999 to November 2000. In 1999, ASME. ORG averaged approximately 33,000 user sessions per week for the month of November. In November 2000, roughly 59,000 people visited the site each week.

User sessions were also on the rise during the Thanksgiving holiday, traditionally a time when there is a steep fall-off in Web use. From Nov. 19-25, user sessions were up 90 percent over what they were during the week of Thanksgiving 1999 — 51,689 user sessions for the week in 2000 compared with 27,191 visitors for the week in 1999. On Thanksgiving Day specifically, 6,265 people visited the site, compared with 3,249 visitors for Thanksgiving Day in 1999.

Usage was on the rise in 2000, primarily because members became more aware during the year of just what opportunities, products and services were offered by ASME through the Web site, said Denman Wall, director of ASME New Media.

For example, 17,581 members used ASME.ORG to renew their memberships from July through November 2000, compared with the 5,080 people who renewed their memberships using the site during those months in 1999. That was a jump of more than 200 percent, which has been attributed to increased member awareness of the service.

While the number of visitors to ASME.ORG is on the rise, the amount of time visitors stay on the site is decreasing, from about 10 minutes and 30 seconds in 1999 to roughly 9 minutes and 30 seconds in 2000. That's actually a good sign, Wall said, as it shows that streamlining efforts the New Media Department has undertaken for ASME.ORG have been successful, and that users are becoming more familiar with ASME's site and its features.

Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online (www.memagazine. org) also hit an all-time record for user sessions during the week of Nov. 26 to Dec. 2. That week, 18,785 people visited ME Magazine's Web site. That number is an increase of more than 10,000 over the previous 12 months. During the week of Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, 1999, ME Magazine Online had 8,685 visitors.

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