Getting your zoo or aquarium website ready for Easter

As we approach peak season for zoos, aquariums, and wildlife attractions, the Easter holidays serve as a critical period for you to capitalise on the surge in visitors. Exceeding budgets during this time sets you up for success for the year, as you can get ahead of budgets, while a challenging trading period can provide opportunities to learn and improve ahead of May half term and the summer months.

Read on for some ideas to check in each area of your attraction web/ordering process, and don’t miss our top 5 takeaways at the end of the article.

We work with zoos and wildlife attractions to maximise their chances of success, so here are some key areas to focus on which may help on your website too:

Provide Fast Access to Pre-Visit Information

• Ensure essential information such as opening times, parking, travel directions, and pricing information is up-to-date and easily accessible.

• Check your trigger emails and confirmation emails to make sure arrival instructions are clear and easy to follow/

• Create a "Discounts, Offers, and Voucher Codes" page to improve organic SEO and offer customers exclusive deals.
   

Simplify the Ticket Purchase Process

• Optimise the ticket purchase process for mobile devices and support mobile payments.

• Offer bundled packages, upgrades, and VIP products to entice customers to spend more money.

• Consider offering tiered membership options to drive membership revenue and encourage upselling.
   

Streamline On-The-Day Guest Information

• Provide real-time updates and personalised content.

• Offer the latest travel information, clear on-site maps, and pre-visit trigger email communications.

• Consider adding QR codes or short links to enhance signage 

• Ensure you’re capturing guest data when they sign up to your Wi-Fi.

Create Clear and Engaging Communications

• Ensure each ad audience has a dedicated landing page with relevant messaging, imagery, and products.

• Target email campaigns to specific landing pages on the website.

• Use short URLs and QR codes to funnel offline adverts to key website pages.

• Consider creating a community of brand advocates to test new creatives or ideas.

Continuously Learn and Improve

• Capture feedback, set up an FAQ-based help center, and engage your team to keep this up-to-date each day/week

• Use feedback forms, FAQs, and online surveys to address guest concerns and improve the website and guest experience.

• Consider full user testing or accessibility testing to ensure your website is easy to use for everyone

Top 5 takeaways to do today: 

1. Check you have a discounts, offers and voucher codes landing page in place, to own these terms in the organic SEO search results

2. Check your site and entire booking/payment process on a phone and make sure the process is slick, clear, and doesn’t have any blockers

3. Engage with your customer services team to ensure there’s a process to capture, share and update your website based on their feedback

4. Check your paid media ads, and make sure they go through to relevant target landing pages for each audience 

5. Check your analytics data and ensure the reporting is accurate (and that you’re setup with GA4 ready for the July transition deadline) 

By optimising these key areas of their website, zoos, aquariums, and wildlife attractions can drive growth across the season and improve the guest experience. 

We wish you all the best for Easter, and if you need more information on LOOP or Semantic then just get in touch with us.  By investing in your website, organisations can set themselves up for a successful Easter holiday and beyond, and unlock key insights along the way.