# Case Study Wildpark-MV.de: How to Design Zoo and Wildlife Park Websites in 2026 > URL: https://4eck-media.de/en/blog/case-study-wildpark-mv-de-how-to-design-zoo-and-wildlife-park-websites-in-2026/ > Language: en > Description: The best website for a zoo or wildlife park is today’s digital gateway to the day out. It builds anticipation, answers visitors’ most important questions in seconds, and leads str… --- The **best website for a zoo or wildlife park** is today’s digital gateway to the day out. It builds anticipation, answers visitors’ most important questions in seconds, and leads straight to the ticket, the hike, or the celebration. At the same time, it must convince technically: fast on smartphones, accessible for all visitor groups, clean for search engines, and understandable for AI systems. A modern wildlife park website fulfills five key tasks today: - It gives visitors clear entry points: tickets, opening hours, directions, and events. - It makes the experience visible and builds anticipation for animals, hikes, and overnight stays. - It brings together dates such as feedings and events in one well-maintained place. - It ensures regional visibility on Google and in AI answers about the destination. - It meets the legal requirements for accessibility and loads very quickly on mobile too. At a destination, the first digital impression decides whether interest turns into a visit. Anyone who loads slowly, blocks visitors with pop-ups, or hides information loses reach and admissions. ![Waschbär präsentiert die responsive Startseite des Wildpark-MV auf Tablet und Smartphone](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/tierpark-startseite-tablet-smartphone.avif "Startseite des Wildpark-MV im responsiven Design") Our project for [Wildpark-MV.de](https://www.wildpark-mv.de/), the experience and wildlife park of the Güstrow Nature and Environmental Park, shows how a modern relaunch achieves this goal. We moved the website from an outdated Typo3 system to WordPress, migrated the content, and redesigned and modernized the entire structure. ## Starting point: a strong experience, an outdated platform Wildpark-MV in Güstrow is an established destination in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, between the Baltic Sea and the Mecklenburg Lake District, right on the A19. Wolves, bears, lynxes, and owls, plus climbing trails, an aqua tunnel, and overnight stays in the Wolf Hut: the on-site experience is strong. The old website did not do this experience justice. Technically, the site ran on an outdated Typo3 setup with weak metrics. Mobile loading speed stood at 49 out of 100 points in PageSpeed Insights. OnPage quality, meaning structural and content page hygiene, stood at around 52 percent, largely due to many irrelevant or technically unfavorable pages. Several problems emerged in terms of content and design: - The navigation was unclearly structured and did not follow visitors’ actual questions. - Pop-up overlays and an embedded translation widget disrupted the first impression. - Important entry points such as tickets, events, and directions were not prominently featured. - Content was scattered and sometimes duplicated, which weakened findability. - The site was not implemented according to the current requirements of the German Accessibility Strengthening Act. The central task was: how do you translate a rich wildlife park experience into a website that engages visitors within seconds, is cleanly migrated, and works to a current technical standard? Shown here is a before-and-after view. Before, there was only a static image in the header; now a welcoming video loop awaits the digital visitor: ![Vorher-Nachher-Vergleich der alten und neuen Wildpark-MV Webseite auf zwei Tablets](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/redesign-wildpark-mv-tierpark-webseite.avif "Wildpark-MV Webseite im Vorher-Nachher-Vergleich des Relaunchs") ## Before and after at a glance | Area | Before (Typo3) | After (WordPress) | | --- | --- | --- | | CMS | outdated Typo3 system | WordPress with Advanced Custom Fields | | Navigation | six unclear menu items | task-oriented structure with mega menus | | Homepage entry point | static image, disruptive pop-ups | clear primary buttons for tickets, hikes, celebrations, and opening status | | PageSpeed mobile | 49 out of 100 | 96 out of 100 | | Page hygiene (OnPage) | 52 percent (Seobility) | 88 percent (Seobility) | | Accessibility | not compliant with the Accessibility Strengthening Act | implemented according to WCAG 2.1, reviewed for Accessibility Strengthening Act compliance | | Structured data | barely present | Zoo, TouristAttraction, Events, Offers, and Non-Profit Organization | | Dates and news | hard to find | central calendar and event system including feedings | | Maintenance | time-consuming and inflexible | modular ACF blocks, self-manageable | Smartphone view with before-and-after comparison: ![Vorher-Nachher-Vergleich der alten und neuen Wildpark-MV Webseite auf zwei Smartphones](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/webseite-vorher-nachher-relaunch.avif "Wildpark-MV Webseite im Vorher-Nachher-Vergleich des Relaunchs") ## Clear structure: from animal collection to visitor guidance Instead of carrying the content over one-to-one, we reorganized it along visitors’ actual questions. A technology-driven menu structure became a task-oriented architecture. The main navigation now leads to tickets and vouchers, to the animals, to environmental education, to the Wildpark venue for celebrations and conferences, and to the About Us and Nature and Environmental Park section. Each menu item opens a clear mega menu with matching subtopics and visual recommendations. On the homepage, the four most important actions are available immediately: buy tickets online, book hikes, plan your own celebration, and check the current opening status with today’s hours. An interactive map invites visitors to discover the experience worlds, from the water worlds with aqua tunnel to the predator enclosure to the ground-level nature trail. Feedings and events appear updated daily, and booking the Wolf Hut is connected directly via a form. ![AQUA-Tunnel-Seite des Wildpark-MV auf Tablet und Smartphone vor Karpfen im Aquarium](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/aqua-tunnel-webentwicklung-wildpark.avif "Webentwicklung der AQUA-Tunnel-Seite für den Wildpark-MV") ## Migration without ranking loss: visibility doubled instantly A **CMS switch from Typo3 to WordPress** is the moment when visibility is gained or lost. We reviewed, assessed, and structurally carried over the existing content. Relevant pages were merged, thin and outdated content was removed, and all texts were editorially reworked for readability and user guidance. Images were newly brought into the system in modern formats and with clean alt texts. Alongside this, an OnPage SEO sprint ran with the goal of building a clean page and URL structure in the new WordPress system and raising page hygiene from around 52 percent to 88 percent. Necessary redirects were prepared and implemented so that the relaunch would be a genuine fresh start both structurally and in search-engine terms, carrying over no legacy issues. Despite the system switch from Typo3 to WordPress and a changing URL structure, the **relaunch went live on May 28**, and we were able to **double visibility immediately**. ![Sichtbarkeitsentwicklung vor dem Relaunch und danach](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sichtbarkeitsentwicklung-relaunch-typo3-auf-wordpress.avif "Sichtbarkeitsentwicklung vor dem Relaunch und danach") ## Performance, accessibility, and security Speed is a direct conversion factor for a destination, since most visitors arrive via smartphone. We built the website on a lean stack with caching, lazy loading, and optimized images and assets. Images are delivered in the modern AVIF format, and the initial score of 49 points in mobile PageSpeed was specifically raised to a level above 90. Accessibility was implemented according to WCAG 2.1 and reviewed against the requirements of the Accessibility Strengthening Act. Contrast, keyboard operability, semantic structure, screen reader compatibility, and accessible forms are now standard on the new site. This gives all visitor groups equal access, and puts the operator on legally sound footing. ![PageSpeed-Insights-Bericht mit 96 Punkten Leistung für die mobile Wildpark-MV Webseite](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/pagespeed-insights-ladezeit-optimierung.avif "Google PageSpeed Insights Ergebnis nach der Performance-Optimierung") The key results at a glance: - Mobile PageSpeed: from 49 to 96 percent - OnPage page hygiene: from around 52 percent to 88 percent - Accessibility: implemented according to WCAG 2.1 and reviewed for Accessibility Strengthening Act compliance - modern image formats, caching, and lazy loading for fast mobile load times - structured data for search engines and AI systems ## SEO and GEO: visibility for the day out So that the wildlife park appears correctly in search results and AI answers, we marked up the content to be machine-readable. Structured data describes the wildlife park as a Zoo and TouristAttraction, along with opening hours, events, admission offers, and its status as a non-profit organization. This makes opening hours, dates, and prices directly usable and turns the site into a reliable source for queries such as destination in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern or wildlife park near Güstrow. The GEO and SEO setup at a glance: - clear page structure aligned with visitor needs - SEO-friendly detail pages for events and feedings - structured data for zoo, events, opening hours, and offers - clean internal linking and tidy URLs - citable, precise content for AI systems - FAQ section with questions and answers - agent-ready plugin (developed by 4eck Media) for llms.txt and Markdown negotiation ## Best practices for zoo and wildlife park websites What other destinations can take away from this project: - The homepage belongs to visitors’ questions, not self-promotion. Tickets, opening hours, and directions come first. - A task-oriented navigation beats a structure that only reflects the organization’s own setup. - Alongside photos and videos, illustrations also support experience and navigation (see the following image) - A system switch needs an OnPage sprint and clean redirects, otherwise it costs rankings. - Dates such as feedings and events belong in a well-maintained system, not on loose pages. - Accessibility is mandatory for publicly run institutions and also improves findability. - Structured data determines whether opening hours and prices appear correctly in AI answers. The project shows how a destination can convince digitally in 2026: clear in structure, fast in technology, accessible for everyone, and clean for search engines and AI. ![Interaktive Parkkarte und Anfahrtskarte des Wildpark-MV bei Güstrow auf zwei Tablets](https://4eck-media.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/interaktive-parkkarte-anfahrt-wildpark.avif "Interaktive Park- und Anfahrtskarte des Wildpark-MV") ## What’s next for Wildpark-MV? Our work is not yet finished. Soon, an AI chatbot we developed (internal name “Wolfi”) will go live, connected to Claude as the AI via an MCP server. For this, the entire website is being tracked as training material so that “Wolfi” can give the right answers directly. It is also recorded whenever the chatbot does not have a suitable answer, so that this can then be manually prepared as training material for the next similar request. And going forward, the booking options currently connected via an external ticketing system will be made available as an in-house website solution, where overnight stays, animal feedings, and more can be booked directly alongside tickets. ## FAQ: Websites for zoos, wildlife parks, local SEO, and GEO What does a modern zoo or wildlife park website need to deliver today? It must engage visitors within seconds and guide them to the most important destinations: tickets, opening hours, directions, and events. This includes fast mobile load times, a low-barrier implementation, a clear structure for search engines, and well-maintained dates. For a destination, the combination of anticipation, clarity, and performance decides the visit. Why is switching from Typo3 to WordPress worthwhile? WordPress with Advanced Custom Fields offers flexible, modular maintenance that a team can handle themselves without technical knowledge. An outdated Typo3 setup, on the other hand, often causes high maintenance costs and slows down further development. It’s important to plan the switch carefully with migration, OnPage cleanup, and redirects. A concrete [relaunch checklist](https://www.tutkit.com/de/blog/203-relaunch-checkliste-fuer-online-shops-buchungs-und-corporate-websites) helps make the CMS switch a success. How does a relaunch succeed without losing rankings? The key lies in a structured migration. Content is assessed, merged, and rebuilt within a clean URL structure. Necessary redirects secure existing rankings, and an OnPage sprint raises page hygiene to a high level. This way, the relaunch becomes a structural fresh start too. How does GEO differ from classic SEO? SEO optimizes content for classic search engines like Google. GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, ensures that content is also correctly understood and cited by AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews. This is achieved through clearly structured content, precise answers, clean subheadings, citable statements, and technical cleanliness. Which structured data makes sense for a wildlife park? Useful markup includes Zoo and TouristAttraction, opening hours, events, admission offers, and the operating organization. This data helps Google and AI systems correctly display opening hours, dates, and prices, and reliably identify the destination. Why is accessibility especially important for destinations? Many wildlife parks are publicly run and are obligated under the Accessibility Strengthening Act to implement low-barrier access. An implementation according to WCAG improves readability, contrast, and navigation, meets legal requirements, and at the same time makes content easier for search engines and AI bots to capture. How important is mobile performance? Very important, since most visitors research on the go via smartphone. Slow load times directly cost admissions. Caching, modern image formats, and lazy loading noticeably raise the scores and also improve the rating by search engines. How long does such a relaunch take and what does it cost? Depending on scope, implementation time is usually between two and four months. What matters is clear conception, timely input, fast feedback loops, and defined decision paths. For Wildpark-MV, we carried out the relaunch on a focused timeline in time for the season. In terms of cost, similar websites must be calculated at a mid five-figure amount, due to the diversity of content, structures, and functions, as well as the need to optimize all visual content once again as a rule. Making a project like this succeed simply requires an enormous amount of time on the agency side, even with the involvement of AI-assisted processes. ## Planning a relaunch for your zoo, wildlife park, or destination? We develop websites that: - engage visitors within seconds and lead them to the ticket - present a rich experience clearly and invitingly - deliver measurable technical excellence - become visible in search engines and AI answers Now [get in touch without obligation](https://4eck-media.de/en/contact/).