Promoting Geosites on Web-Pages: An Assessment of the Quality and Quantity of Information in Real Cases

Abstract

Geological information present on web-pages determines the efficacy of the online marketing of geosites. In this paper, a new approach aimed at an easy and quick assessment of geosite-focused web-pages is proposed. It is based on scoring by several criteria reflecting the quality and the quantity of geological information. Attention is paid to the simplicity and correctness of information, mention of technical properties (accessibility, location, and safety), relative and absolute amounts of information, and adaptation to persons with disabilities. Textual and graphical elements are considered differently. The approach is tested in three cases, namely, the Granite Gorge in the Western Caucasus, Pechischi in the Volga Region, and the Red Stones in the Southern Ciscaucasus. These are well-known geosites already used as important (geo)tourist attractions. It is established that the web-pages devoted to them chiefly allow minimally perfect promotion. Some examples of misinterpretations of geological information and errors are specially considered. The approach seems to be promising, and its application allows finding the deficiencies of web-pages, an improvement of which will enhance geosite promotion. Cooperation between representatives of the tourism industry and geological faculty members of local universities or administrations of protected areas is reasonable to create more informative geosite-focused web-pages.