If you've never looked at your funeral home website statistics, you're not alone. 

Most funeral directors have no clue what's actually happening when someone visits their website. You know that your website gets visited; but by who? For how long? What are they doing on your website?

Here's what matters: these statistics tell you exactly what families experience when they visit your site. They reveal whether people are finding what they need or leaving frustrated.

You don't need to become a tech expert. You just need to ask four specific questions and understand what the answers mean.

Why Website Statistics Matter for Funeral Homes

When someone searches "cremation services near me" at 2 AM, they're not browsing casually. They need help immediately. Research according to Statista shows that 87% of people use Google to find local businesses, and most won't look past the first few results.

Your website is often the first impression families get of your funeral home. If they can't find contact information quickly, can't easily scan pricing details, or struggle to navigate on their phone, they'll click the back button and call your competitor instead.

The good news? Your website statistics show you exactly where these problems happen—if you know what to look for.

The Key Question That Reveals Everything

Here's the first conversation you need to have with whoever manages your website (or check yourself if you manage it):

The Key Question: "How many people visit our site but never contact us?"

The Answer You'll Probably Get: "About 97 out of every 100."

Your First Reaction: "That's terrible! We're losing almost everyone!" 

The Reality: For funeral and cremation providers, 97% of visitors not contacting you is actually quite normal in this industry. Not great, but average.

But here's the critical question: are those 97 families actually learning about you before they leave? Or are they clicking away in seconds because they can't find what they need?

That's what these four questions reveal.

Question 1: "What's Our Average Time on Site?"

This metric tells you if people are actually reading your content or leaving immediately.

What the Numbers Mean

Under 10 seconds = Red flag

Families land on your site, can't find what they need, and leave immediately. This usually means your homepage is confusing, missing critical information like pricing or contact details, or looks unprofessional on mobile devices.

30-60 seconds = Yellow flag

They're reading some content but something important is missing. Typically it's pricing information, clear contact options, or frequently asked questions. They want to learn more but can't find the next step.

Over 60 seconds = Green flag

They're engaged, reading multiple sections, and seriously considering your services. This is what you want to see.

Why This Matters

According to digital marketing research by Nielsen Norman Group, the average visitor decides whether to stay on a website within 10-20 seconds. For funeral homes, families are often searching during emotional, stressful moments—they don't have patience for sites that make them hunt for information.

If your average time on site is under 30 seconds, families aren't getting the information they need to choose you.

Question 2: "How Many Pages Does the Average Visitor Look At?"

This is called "pages per session" and it shows how engaged families are with your content.

What the Numbers Mean

Just 1 page = Problem

Visitors are bouncing from your homepage without exploring further. This means either your homepage isn't compelling them to learn more, or maybe your navigation is confusing enough that they can't figure out where to go next.

2-3 pages = Good

They're clicking around to learn more. They might visit your cremation services page, check your pricing information, and look at your contact page. This is normal, healthy behavior.

4+ pages = Great

They're highly engaged and gathering detailed information. They're reading staff bios, service descriptions, testimonials, and exploring everything you offer. These visitors are seriously considering calling you.

What This Tells You

If most visitors only see one page, your website isn't guiding them through the information they need. Think about what happens after someone lands on your homepage—is there a clear path to learn about cremation services? Can they easily find pricing? Is your contact information obvious?

Question 3: "What Percentage of Visitors Are on Mobile Phones?"

For most funeral homes, over 70% of website visitors are on mobile devices. 📱

Think about when families search for funeral services: often late at night, from the hospital, or during a crisis moment. They're on their phones, not sitting at a desktop computer.

The Mobile Experience Problem

If your website is hard to navigate on a phone, you're losing the majority of your visitors before they even have a chance to learn about you.

Quick self-test: Pull up your website on your phone right now. Can you easily:

• Find your phone number to call

• See your address and directions

• Read service descriptions without zooming

• Access pricing information

• Fill out a contact form

If you're struggling with any of these on your phone, so are grieving families. And unlike you, they won't struggle for long—they'll just call the next funeral home on their list.

Common Mobile Problems

The most common issues we see on funeral home websites:

• Phone numbers that aren't clickable

• Contact forms that don't work on small screens

• Text that's too small to read

• Buttons too small to tap accurately

• Pages that load slowly on cellular data

• Navigation menus that are confusing on mobile

Each of these problems sends families to your competitors.

Question 4: "What's Our Contact Rate?"

This is the percentage of visitors who actually reach out through your contact form, click your phone number, or take another contact action.

Industry Benchmarks

3-5% is average for funeral homes. Yes, that means 95-97% of visitors don't contact you—and that's OK.

Most families visit multiple funeral home websites during their research. They're comparing options before making a decision. Not every visitor is ready to call immediately.

But here's what many funeral directors don't know: While 3% is the industry average, contact rates over 10% are absolutely possible. Some funeral home websites convert three times better than the average, meaning they get 3x as many inquiries from the same volume of website visitors.

What Makes the Difference

The funeral homes with higher contact rates aren't doing anything complicated. They're consistently doing simple things well:

• Clear contact information on every page

• Transparent pricing information (at minimum, price ranges)

• Service-specific landing pages for cremation, burial, and memorial services

• Mobile-friendly design that works perfectly on phones

• Fast page load times (under 3 seconds)

• Prominent calls-to-action that tell visitors what to do next

• Easy to understand content wrote in plain English

If your contact rate is under 3%, something is preventing families from taking that next step. Usually it's one of the issues above.

What "Good" Actually Looks Like

Here are the benchmarks for a funeral home website that's working well:

✅ 60+ seconds average time on site – Families are reading and learning about your services

✅ 2-3 pages per visit – They're exploring multiple sections of your website

✅ 3-5% contact rate – A healthy percentage of visitors reach out (with 10%+ being excellent)

✅ Mobile experience matches desktop – Your site works just as well on phones as computers

What "Bad" Looks Like

Here are the warning signs that mean families are leaving without considering you:

❌ Under 30 seconds on site – They're leaving almost immediately

❌ Only 1 page per visit – No one is exploring beyond your homepage

❌ Under 3% contact rate – Fewer families than average are reaching out

❌ High mobile traffic but short visit times – Your mobile site is frustrating to use

If you're seeing these numbers, families are visiting your website and immediately leaving. They're not learning about your services, not reading about your staff, not considering you as an option.

Understanding What These Numbers Really Mean

Here's the key insight: 97% of visitors leaving without contacting you is OK—as long as they stayed long enough to actually consider you.⏱️

A family that spends 90 seconds on your site, reads about your cremation services, checks your pricing page, and then leaves might still call you later. They're in the research phase, comparing multiple funeral homes.

A family that lands on your homepage and leaves in 8 seconds never gave you a chance to make an impression. That's the problem you need to fix.

Reading Between the Lines

If your time on site is very short AND your pages per session is low: Families can't find what they need or the layout/content is confusing.

If your mobile traffic is high but engagement is low: Your mobile experience needs significant work. The site might look fine on desktop but be nearly unusable on phones.

If time on site is good but contact rate is low: People are reading your content but something is preventing them from taking the next step. Often it's unclear calls-to-action or poor persuasive copywriting.

How to Have This Conversation This Week

You don't need to fix everything today. You just need to understand where you currently stand.

Step 1: Ask the Questions

Contact whoever manages your website (your web developer, marketing agency, or IT person) and ask these four specific questions:

1. What's our average time on site?

2. How many pages does the average visitor look at?

3. What percentage of visitors are on mobile phones?

4. What's our contact rate? (also known as conversion rate)

Get the actual numbers. Most website analytics platforms (like Google Analytics) track all of this information.

Step 2: Compare to Benchmarks

Write down your numbers and compare them to the benchmarks in this article:

• Are you in the "green flag" range?

• Do you have any "red flags"?

• Where's your biggest gap?

Step 3: Test Your Own Experience

Before you make any changes, experience your website the way families do:

• Visit your site on your phone

• Try to find your phone number quickly

• Look for pricing information

• Navigate to your cremation services page

• Try filling out the contact form

Be honest: was it easy or frustrating? Better yet, get 5-10 people to try it out in front of you.

Step 4: Identify One Priority

Based on what you learned, what's the single most important thing to fix first?

You and your tech guy will need to come up with hypothesises on why a specific statistic is underperforming, change something and then check back later to see if that stat got better or worse.

Why This Conversation Matters

Your website statistics aren't just abstract numbers. They represent real families trying to find help during one of the hardest moments of their lives.

Every person who visits your site for 8 seconds and leaves is a family you could have served. Every confused visitor who can't find your pricing information is someone who chose a competitor instead.

The good news? Once you know what's broken, you can fix it. And unlike paying for advertising or building a new website from scratch, many of these improvements are straightforward once you identify them.

Beyond the Numbers: What Families Actually Need

While statistics tell you what's happening, it's important to remember what families are actually looking for when they visit your website:

Clear pricing information – Even if it's just ranges, families want to know what to expect financially.

Easy ways to contact you – Phone number, contact form, and address should be obvious on every page.

Trust signals – Photos of your facility, staff bios, and testimonials help families feel confident.

Straightforward content – Use plain English, no technical jargon when describing how you can support them at this delicate time.

If your website provides all of this information clearly and it's easy to find on mobile devices, your statistics will naturally improve.

Take Action This Week

Don't let another week pass without understanding what families experience on your website.

Have this conversation. Ask these four questions. Get the numbers. Compare them to the benchmarks.

Then you'll know exactly what's working and what needs attention.

Because when families need you most, they should be able to find the information they need to choose you with confidence.