Many museums are not short of interest. They lose it along the way.
When a museum talks about growth, the conversation often turns to more campaigns, more partnerships and more visibility.
That makes sense. But there is another part of the equation that is often overlooked:
How many potential visitors do you lose after they have actually found you?
For many museums, the invisible revenue loss does not happen in the exhibition. It happens before the visit. In the short stretch between:
- a Google search
- a click through to the website
- a quick look at opening hours and prices
- an attempt to buy a ticket
- and the decision either to complete the purchase or to give up
It is rarely one big problem that brings everything down. It is many small frictions that together make the visitor think: "We'll find something else."
That matters, because this kind of loss is expensive. Not only in lost ticket revenue, but also in lost shop sales, café revenue, memberships and repeat visits.
If you already have traffic, coverage or a strong position in Google, the fastest route to a better business can therefore be to make the digital customer journey simpler.
At museum-guide.com we work with digital visitor experiences for museums, and the same pattern keeps appearing: museums underestimate how much value sits in removing small barriers before the visit.
The digital customer journey starts long before the visitor reaches the entrance
A museum visit does not start when the visitor scans a ticket.
It typically starts on a phone.
Perhaps a tourist searches for "museum Copenhagen". Perhaps a family is looking for something to do at the weekend. Perhaps a teacher is considering a visit and needs to understand price, practical information and relevance quickly.
In those first minutes the visitor is judging very concrete things:
- Is the museum relevant to me?
- Is it open today?
- Is it worth the effort?
- Do I quickly understand what I get?
- Can I plan the visit easily?
- Is it easy to buy a ticket?
If the answer is not clear, many people move on. Not necessarily because your museum is uninteresting, but because another museum or attraction feels easier to act on.
That is also why the digital experience is not only a marketing question. It is closely tied to operations and revenue.
The typical walkthrough: where visitors drop off
Let us make it concrete.
An ordinary customer journey for a museum often looks like this:
- The visitor sees the museum in Google, Maps, social media or through coverage
- The visitor clicks through to the website
- The visitor looks for prices, opening hours, the address or the current exhibition
- The visitor clicks towards buying a ticket
- The visitor has to understand ticket types, timing and the flow
- The visitor completes the purchase or leaves
All six steps look small. But each step is a place where something can be lost.
If, for example, you have strong visibility in Google but a weak website, you lose value there.
If the website is fine but ticketing is cumbersome, you lose value there.
If the ticket flow works but the practical information is unclear, you still lose visitors before purchase.
That is why it is useful to think in terms of a walkthrough, not only a campaign.
The 5 places where museums typically lose visitors
1. The Google profile does not promise a clear next step
For many visitors, Google Business Profile or Google Maps is the real homepage.
If opening hours are wrong, if the photos are old, if reviews go unanswered, or if it is unclear what makes the museum interesting right now, the first impression is weaker than it should be.
It sounds banal, but this is where many decisions are made.
A museum can have an excellent website and still lose visitors if the first encounter in Google feels dated, unclear or impractical.
2. The homepage or landing page does not answer practical questions quickly enough
Many museum websites are built around the institution, not around the visitor's decision.
That means the visitor meets:
- long introductions
- many menu items
- unclear priorities
- information written for someone who already knows the museum
What the visitor is often looking for is much more down to earth:
- What kind of place is this?
- What does it cost?
- When are you open?
- How long does a visit take?
- Is it relevant for children, tourists or first-time visitors?
- How do I buy a ticket?
If those answers are not visible, unnecessary friction appears.
This also connects to plain language. If you want to make the website easier to act on, the article Plain language is the fastest accessibility win for museums is relevant. The same move that makes the text easier to understand often also makes it easier to convert on.
3. The mobile experience is good enough for desktop, but not good enough for real life
Most museum visits are not planned at a large screen with plenty of time and a coffee to hand.
They are planned:
- on the way through the city
- from a hotel lobby
- on the train
- between two other activities
- by a parent with one hand free
If a website is slow, if buttons are small, if the text is dense, or if the ticket type is hard to choose on a phone, more people drop off.
That is especially important for international visitors, who often make the decision here and now. In that context, the mobile experience is closely tied to linguistic accessibility. That is also part of the point in Guide: Make your museum accessible to international tourists.
4. The ticket flow asks for more energy than the visitor wants to spend
Some of the largest losses sit here.
A typical problem is that the museum site works as inspiration, but the ticketing system feels like an entirely different product. The design changes. The structure changes. The visitor is met with many choices, unclear ticket types or technical steps that do not feel necessary.
Examples of friction:
- a requirement to choose precise time slots with no explanation
- too many ticket types with no help choosing
- forced account creation
- unclear discounts
- extra steps before payment
- no clear confirmation of what you are about to buy
Every extra question increases the risk of drop-off.
That is especially true if the visit was really an impulsive choice.
5. The digital experience does not create enough reassurance
People do not buy tickets on facts alone. They also buy on trust.
The visitor needs to feel quickly:
- that the museum is professional
- that the experience is relevant
- that the visit will be easy to complete
- that practical questions have been thought through
Here, photos, reviews, clear information and a calm flow play a large role.
If the website feels outdated or unclear, that can feed straight into the willingness to buy, even when the museum itself is strong.
How large is the problem, really?
Many museums do not know.
And that is precisely the problem.
They can often see overall traffic and overall ticket sales, but not where in the customer journey visitors drop off.
Then the conclusion easily becomes: "We need more visitors."
But the right conclusion may just as well be: "We need to lose fewer of the people who already show interest."
Imagine a museum with 10,000 monthly visitors to the website in high season.
If just a slightly larger share go from an information page to ticket purchase, and a slightly larger share complete the purchase, it can have a noticeable effect on revenue without a higher advertising budget.
It is not always the most exciting work. But it is often some of the most profitable.
How to find the largest leaks in your processes
You do not need to start with a large analytics project. Start with an honest service check.
1. Go through your museum as a first-time visitor
Try the following on a phone:
- Search for the museum in Google
- Click through to the website
- Find the price, opening hours and address
- Find a current exhibition
- Buy a ticket, or get as far as you can in the flow
Notice where you hesitate.
Not as professionals, but as visitors.
If something needs explaining in a meeting, it is usually already too complex.
2. Check whether the most important pages actually lead people on
Many museum websites have high-traffic pages that do not drive a clear next action.
That can be:
- the homepage
- visit information
- a special exhibition page
- opening hours
- practical information
The question is simple:
Is it clear what the visitor should do from here?
If the answer is no, money is probably leaking out between the need for information and the action.
3. Look at the questions your staff hear again and again
Front-of-house staff, the ticket desk and the phone can be a goldmine of insight.
If visitors often ask about:
- parking
- access
- how long the visit takes
- whether children can come
- whether you need to book in advance
- which language the experience is available in
then it is a sign that the website is not clarifying enough.
If it is relevant for you to strengthen the multilingual part of the experience after purchase, you can also point readers on to the guide to the most important languages for museums in Copenhagen and our guide to QR codes in museums.
4. Compare marketing with actual behaviour
If a campaign creates traffic but not sales, the campaign is not necessarily the problem.
It may be the landing page.
It may be the message.
It may be that the visitor lands somewhere where the way forward is not clear.
Museums often get more value from improving the next step than from buying yet another click.
The improvements that often have the most effect first
There is no single recipe that fits every museum. But some improvements keep coming up.
Make price, opening hours and the path to tickets visible immediately
This is not secondary information.
It is decision information.
If the visitor has to hunt for those three things, you lose momentum.
Give each important page one clear primary action
Not five.
One.
For example:
- Buy tickets
- Plan your visit
- See current exhibitions
- Listen to a demo
When everything is equally important, nothing is important.
Write more concretely and less institutionally
Many museums write well, but not always in a way that is easy to act on.
There is a difference between being well phrased and being easy to act on.
A good website is allowed to be academically strong. But it also has to help the visitor onwards without unnecessary interpretive work.
Reduce choices in the ticket flow
If you have many ticket types, help the visitor understand the difference.
Use short explanations. Group the choices. Remove steps that are not necessary.
The same principle applies after the ticket purchase, incidentally. If the on-site digital experience is simple, mobile-friendly and free of unnecessary downloads, more people also settle well into the visit itself. That is a central point in our guide to choosing an audio guide solution and the article on the European Accessibility Act for museums.
Think in connections, not in isolated systems
The visitor does not distinguish between:
- Google profile
- website
- ticketing system
- confirmation email
- QR flow
- audio guide
For the visitor it is one experience.
If each step feels like a new system, it creates uncertainty. If it feels joined up, it creates reassurance.
Why this is a business topic and not just a web topic
It is easy to park this kind of work as something marketing or the web team can look at later.
But in practice it is about the business.
Because when a visitor drops off before buying a ticket, the museum potentially loses:
- admission revenue
- café and shop sales
- upselling to special exhibitions
- sign-ups for events
- data and insight into visitor behaviour
- the chance of a return visit or membership
That is why a better digital customer journey is not just "a nicer website". It is a more effective path from interest to income.
What museums can do this month
If you want to work with this in a practical way, start small and concrete:
- Complete the whole customer journey on mobile from Google to ticket purchase
- Note every place where someone on the team hesitates or becomes unsure
- Make price, opening hours and the path to tickets clearer on the most important pages
- Cut down on copy and choices in the critical flows
- Collect the questions front-of-house staff hear most often and answer them clearly online
- Measure whether more people reach ticket purchase after the changes
It does not necessarily require a redesign. Often it just requires sharper priorities.
The short conclusion
Many museums chase more traffic before they have got full value out of the traffic they already have.
That is understandable. New visibility feels like growth.
But in many cases the fastest gain sits somewhere else:
In making it easier for interested visitors to understand the museum, feel reassured and complete the visit.
When that works better, the rest of your marketing becomes more valuable too.
If you want to see how we work to make museum experiences simpler, more mobile-friendly and easier to act on, you can find out more at museum-guide.com.
See also:
- Guide: Make your museum accessible to international tourists
- Plain language is the fastest accessibility win for museums
- Museum audio guide: A complete guide to choosing a solution [2026]
- QR codes for museums: A complete guide to modern museum interpretation [2026]
- European Accessibility Act for museums: What does it mean for websites, booking and audio guides in 2026?
About the author:
Thøger Elung-Jensen is co-founder of Audioguiden and works to help museums use AI to take their interpretation to more people.