Oh I firmly believe there are even more problems than that with the website as a whole. The cute alert bothers me the most. But they do a terrible job attracting visitors.
First off is the pics. Get some good ones. Crummy photos can lead people to believe the zoo is crummy itself if they cant even get a good photographer.
Next in the visitor info section offer more information and photos.
Then theres the animal fact pages. The photos again are terrible but also why not include info on the animals the zoo has. I wouldnt worry about the amphibians and fish, smaller reptiles and birds or tiny short lived mammals. But the big reptiles, larger birds and other mammals why not offer info on them. For example in the giraffe section have a photo of Twiga, mention her height and weight, birthday, parents, birth place, a fun fact on her and that shes Mstari's mom. Fast and easy. Then do Ginetta and Mstari. What better way to get people to identify with the animals then for them to know each one by name? Do I feel more connected to a generic giraffe in the exhibit or do i feel more connected to Twiga an animal I know about? Obviously the latter.
Then I would be like most other zoos and offer some webcams. Pick 4 or so species and put a webcam in the exhibit. Personally I would put one on the polar bears (active year round), the pandas (who doesnt love them), the gorillas (always interesting) and probably a rotating cam that will feature a special baby (right now probably Mstari but if our new polar bear was with Aurora in the den then him). People from around the world could watch them and build a personal bond with the animals. Maybe give them a comment section where they can communicate with other cam fans. Are people more likely to visit the zoo if they are really invested in several of the species they watch every day on webcam? Yep. And the zoo could easily harness its volunteers to run the cams and get some company to donate the cams in exchange for sponsorship credit on the cams page. Just added cams for next to free.
Another feature I would add without a doubt is blogs for the keepers. I would perfer them to write them on their own but not everyone is talented that way so if keepers dont want to I would get a volunteer with talent or use someone in the PR department to write up what the keepers wish to express. Blogs from all over the zoo can be offered when theres something to share and as we find out which blogs are being the most followed and commented on we increase their frequency while letting the others slip a little more. It would be a great way to shine light on the zoos conservation projects, the zoos animals and personalities, the successes of the zoos, the joys of births, the sorrows of deaths, the bitter sweet partings of transfers, and praise keepers. It would all really help convince people not only to visit the zoo but support it more. It could help restore the zoos image in the eyes of Torontonians who have been misled by the whole elephant mess. As well as help to convince international visitors that they should spend a day at our zoo.
Those are some of the major changes I would make to the website to attract more visitors and I think it would yield a lot of love and support for the zoo.
I can imagine how great the zoo's website would be if TZFan designed it with all of those great ideas, and cypher's photos were used. That would easily be one of the best zoo websites ever.
