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Public health sites rank among the most visited US Federal Government sites

3 Nov 2011

RESTON, US: comScore, Inc has released a study of audience visitation to public health sites in the US The study found that health-focused sites represented 3 out of the top 10 federal Government sites in September, indicating a high level of public interest in health information.

NIH.gov, the flagship property of the National Institutes of Health, drew 10.6 million Americans in September 2011, making it the most popular site in the Government category.

"Public health information sites produced by government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have proven to be invaluable resources to many Americans," said John Mangano, comScore vice president for Health Marketing Solutions. "We have seen that leading public health sites attract as many visitors as some of the top properties in the commercial Health category, indicating that consumers continue to look to public health sites for objective and credible information on topics ranging from health conditions to pharmaceutical information."

NIH.gov ranks as leading government health site, followed by CDC.gov

In September 2011, NIH.gov ranked as the leading public health site with the most unique visitors within the Government category, while having a comparable audience size to top sites within the Health category such as Yahoo! Health and MSN Health. NIH.gov received 10.6 million visitors in September, growing 22% from the previous year partly driven by a continued partnership with Google that returned NIH results as the first unpaid listing for pharmaceutical-related searches. The growth of the site outpaced both the Government sector's 3% overall category growth and the Health sector's 15% category growth over the past year.

Also ranking among the top ten federal government sites were CDC.gov, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention site, and USDA.gov, the Department of Agriculture site. USDA.gov showed a similar increase in traffic as NIH.gov, with a 20% gain over the previous year. HealthFinder.gov, an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services, saw the highest increase in traffic from the previous year (69%), drawing 113 000 unique visitors in September 2011.

Selected Government Health Sites by Unique Visitors (000) September 2011 Total US Home and Work Audience (Source: comScore Media Metrix)
	Total Unique Visitors (000)	% Change from September 2010
NIH.gov	10,579	22%
CDC.gov	2,443	9%
USDA.gov	2,297	20%
HHS.gov	1,387	-6%
FDA.gov	818	13%
MedlinePlus.gov	694	-1%
Cancer.gov	553	-9%
WomensHealth.gov	423	-2%
ClinicalTrials.gov	308	19%
HealthCare.gov	121	-58%
HealthFinder.gov	113	69%
Health.gov	59	-20%

Flu searches drive visitors to CDC.gov and Flu.gov

In September 2011, broad-matched searches for flu information drove a significant amount of search click-throughs to CDC.gov and flu information site Flu.gov, illustrating the important role of search in driving visitors to public health sites. In September, 1.8 million searches were conducted related to the flu, increasing 116% from August as many people began flu season preparation earlier. CDC.gov accounted for the highest share of click-throughs at 17.7% during the month, followed by New York Times Digital (3.7%) and WebMD Health (3.4%). Flu.gov accounted for nearly 2% of all click-throughs.

Top Term Destinations for Search Activity Related to Flu* September 2011 Total US - Home and Work Locations (Source: comScore Search Planner)
Property	% of Click-Throughs
CDC.gov	17.7%
New York Times Digital	3.7%
WebMD Health	3.4%
Everyday Health	3.4%
Yahoo! Sites	3.2%
FluFacts.com	2.9%
Glam Media	2.4%
Google Sites	2.2%
Wikimedia Foundation Sites	2.0%
Flu.gov	1.9%

*Includes broad matches on the search term "flu"

"With health topics ranging from disease prevention to health care availability continuing to be priority issues for Americans, we are seeing government health agencies invest more in their digital media strategies to make information and resources more easily accessible," added Mangano. "Public health marketers and strategists need to understand their online audiences' characteristics as well as their behaviours in order to ensure the further success of digital campaigns, while also building on the commercial Health sector's best practices."