BACKGROUND-AIM:
The Tobacco Control Unit (UCT) of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) is a leading international centre for tobacco control research, prevention and policy and a WHO Collaborating Centre. The UCT studies the determinants of tobacco use and implements strategies to prevent and reduce smoking, exposure to second-hand smoke, and use of electronic cigarettes in the population. Its mission encompasses research and projects aimed at reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, as well as initiatives such as the Catalan Network of Smoke-Free Hospitals, and a specialised smoking cessation clinic. Since 2016, the UCT has maintained a trilingual website (Catalan, Spanish and English) to disseminate scientific evidence, professional resources and public information. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the website’s performance, identify its most impactful content and analyse key usage metrics.

METHODS:
A descriptive cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data collected between May and November 2025 from Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Key variables included impressions (the number of times a webpage is displayed in search engine results), clicks, click-through rate (CTR) (how effective a piece of content is at motivating users to take action), average search position (the ranking of a webpage in search results), the most visited pages, the geographic distribution of visits and search queries. Usage patterns and content contributions were characterised, and CTR and visibility metrics were compared with benchmarks for similar public health websites.

RESULTS:
The website received 1610 clicks and 82900 impressions (May-Nov 2025), achieving an average click-through rate (CTR) of 1.9% and an average search position of 14.5. The most popular pages were the homepage, information about the benefits of quitting smoking, and the leadership team profiles. Visits originated mainly from Spain, followed by Colombia, Mexico, Chile and the US. High-impact search queries focused on tobacco consumption calculators and metrics (13575 impressions), UCT faculty profiles (3794), events and campaigns (3421), institutional content (3179) and quitting benefits (2913). Other notable queries were tobacco and nicotine products (2821), cessation help (2481), and UCT projects (2088). The top search terms were “pack year calculator”, “global network for tobacco-free healthcare services”, “cigarette dependence calculator”, “smoking cessation”, “benefits of quitting” and “tobacco at ICO”.

CONCLUSIONS:
The UCT website shows strong and growing visibility, comparable to that of other public health sites. However, its CTR of 1.9% is slightly below the 2.5–3% benchmark often reported for institutional health websites, indicating room for improvement. Improving search engine optimization (SEO) and applying user-centred design principles could help to establish the website as a global resource for knowledge transfer and tobacco control.