The Friends will mark the fourth anniversary of the launch of our current website, www.fortyork.ca, in May 2016. This initiative coincided with an exciting time at the Fort York National Historic Site when construction of the Visitor Centre and numerous events such as the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the Battle of York, Pan and Parapan Am Games programming, the Magna Carta exhibit, and concerts and festivals all made the fort a destination of note within a relatively short period of time. This increased activity was reflected in a marked building of traffic to our website.
First and foremost, the goal of The Friends’ website has been to encourage attendance at the fort and to advocate in its best interests. To this end the website contains a brief history of Fort York, a listing of the latest news and upcoming events, visitor attractions and educational programming information, historical articles, the Fife & Drum newsletter archive, and an extensive chronological gallery of historical and current images. In short, the website strives to be both informative and engaging.
In support of exhibits, events, and programming the website has promoted more than 175 events and published 40 news items in the last four years. The most popular menu category has been ‘Plan Your Visit’ with over 190,000 hits. ‘A Brief History of Fort York’ was the highest website menu item with over 45,000 hits, while the Field Trip Festival garnered the most event hits at 8500. During this period we have had a total of more than 235,000 visitors to the website. These numbers suggest that it is achieving its goal of encouraging and facilitating visitation and confirms that there is significant interest in Fort York.
The second purpose of www.fortyork.ca is to serve our organization. Here a visitor or member can learn about The Friends, our vision and mandate. Online it is easy to become a member, renew a membership, or make a charitable donation. http://www.fortyork.ca/join-us/become-a-friend-of-fort-york.html
A retrospective would not be complete without looking forward. It is recognized that the website must continue to evolve by staying current with technology and visitors’ viewing trends. This may require a transition to a mobile-friendly responsive design, but rest assured that any change will be built upon the solid foundation that currently exists.
Visit www.fortyork.ca today to find out why it is the top ranked Google search destination in every Fort York-related search.
Original printed pages
