Stillwith vs the funeral home website

Most funeral homes now offer a free memorial page as part of the service. It is a generous, included feature, and for many families it is enough. This page is the honest answer to the question every family asks at the kitchen table: should we just use the funeral home's page, or do we need a separate one?

What the funeral home page does well

• It is included. No extra step, no extra spend.
• The obituary is already there. Funeral homes typically publish it on their site as standard practice.
• Service details, directions, livestream link, and a guest book are usually built in.
• Local search may surface it. People searching the deceased by name often find the funeral home page first.

What the funeral home page does not do

• Write the eulogy for you. The funeral home is in the logistics business, not the writing business.
• Persist indefinitely. Most funeral home memorial pages live on the platform that the funeral home pays for, often something like Tribute Archive, FrontRunner, or BatesvilleNet. When the funeral home changes platforms, consolidates, or simply ages out, those pages can vanish or be archived behind paywalls. Many families discover this five or ten years later when they go looking.
• Belong to the family. The page is the funeral home's property, on the funeral home's domain, with the funeral home's logo in the corner. If the family ever falls out with the home, or wants to switch providers, the page does not move.
• Match the family's design taste. Most funeral home templates are generic and reuse the same layout for every deceased person on the site.
• Make adding tributes easy from a phone. Many funeral home guest books are clunky on mobile.

Side by side

The honest framing

The funeral home page serves the funeral home: it earns local SEO, it is a marketing surface for their next family, and it gives them a place to upload service photos for their portfolio. That is not bad. It is just true.

The Stillwith memorial page serves your family: it is your domain, your design, your eulogy, your obituary, your photos, your tributes. When the funeral home rebrands or switches platforms, your page does not blink. When the grandchildren Google grandma in 2046, your page is what they find.

When the funeral home page is enough

For some families, especially when the deceased had a small local circle and the family is not active online, the funeral home page covers everything they need: obituary, service details, guest book. There is no need to spend more.

When Stillwith is the better call

For families with relatives in multiple states or countries, for families who want a place to drop new photos and stories on the anniversary of the death (see anniversary of a death), and for families who want the memorial to outlive the funeral home's hosting contract, the separate, family-owned memorial page is worth the $29. For the funeral itself, see our funeral planning checklist. For livestream coordination, see funeral livestream tips.

When you are ready, Stillwith helps you draft yours.