In September 2020, the Visit South Bend Mishawaka (VSBM) team kicked off a website redesign project with the goal of updating visitsouthbend.com to be both visually compelling and more useful to visitors, with a rich collection of engaging pages. It was a worthy quest, and virtually everyone at the DMO played a role in bringing the new website to fruition. The new website launched in August 2021 with a completely new aesthetic within the existing brand. It grabs the visitor’s attention with a large and stunning hero image overlaid with our trademark tagline: “Mondays Can Wait.” Built within the hero image area is a small example of how the website combines form and function. A booking widget with current hotel rates sits right below the tagline, inviting users to consider and book dates for their trip. Since launching the website, key engagement metrics have improved, proving the site is more user-friendly and engaging, and that it achieves its goal of having visitors stay in the destination longer than in past visits. From launch until April 30, 2022, the average time on site was up 22.2% year over year. Similarly, the bounce rate was down 29.7%. Year to date (ending May 23, 2022), visitsouthbend.com has seen a 33% drop in its bounce rate year over year. The average session duration is up 36.7%. In 2021, visitsouthbend.com reached over 1 million page views for the first time in its history. This achievement marks a 28% increase over 2020 and a 24% increase over 2019.
