August 2011 was a big month for the Two Oceans Aquarium’s website. The home page enjoyed a makeover and, in a first for Flow Communications, we implemented a live streaming video feed of the I&J Predator Exhibit, courtesy Vox DataPro, on this page.
The live, streaming video feed of the sharks has proved to be both hypnotising – just watch the swirl during Two Oceans Aquarium feeding time – and good for website traffic. The average time spent on the site since the implementation of the feed has risen from 3:08 to 3:40 minutes.
Says Flow Communications Programming Studio Manager Richard Frank, “For tech-heads wondering about the setup, we used an Axiz M1114 IP camera, which is an awesome piece of technology that can serve HD quality H.264 streams.
“The feed is generously hosted by Vox DataPro and transcoded by Streamby.com, which takes the feed from the Aquarium and serves it to multiple concurrent viewers. In the future we hope to provide an HD quality version of the feed to website visitors.”
The introduction of the live feed was accompanied by a number of changes to the home page. We introduced a banner below the main header image, which is a dynamic promotion space for the aquarium’s various marketing objectives.
The blog feed has also moved into a more prominent position: you’ll now find daily news right below the new promotional strip, on the right.
The revamped home page has a far stronger call to action for the website’s commerce options: A ticket rates table makes it easier to see the cost of tickets, to see the savings that apply when tickets are bought online, and to click through to purchase these.
All in all, it’s a neater space that’s equipped to fulfill the wants of Aquarium visitors and the needs of the client. The website remains entertaining and informative, echoing the vision of the Two Oceans Aquarium.