[Naomifandeep]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Tht side is funny. For most top players their wta win loss r counted but for naomi her itf, qualifying r counted as well lol

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Here are my ideas to re-shape the WTA site:

Instead of some of the fluff that's on there (the match reports aren't that bad, but could use some improvement), let's have more feature pieces: players new to the top 100, Coaches' Corner (if they are willing, of course), one-on-one interviews that are not press conference quotes, history of each tournament, etc. For new tournaments, give us an overview of the city and what they might bring to the tour. This is the type of stuff that will attract the casual fan if they are even just a bit curious (the hardcore fan will be there no matter what).

Obviously, the scores and rankings need to be updated continously. You could tie in a "what's at stake" for finals as far as rankings go. You can update scores every hour (live updates can be a bit too much for the servers and whatnot). The text of the site (on the main part) also needs to be reduced in size and be made to look smoother. The old site was a bit too small, but the new site is way too large.

These are just some ideas that I thought of. I'll probably think of more as time goes on.

 

[MiggtheBino]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

I also want to see:

a) full post-match interviews;
b) greater photo library;
c) revamp of the entire front page UI/UX

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

I also want to see:

a) full post-match interviews;
b) greater photo library;
c) revamp of the entire front page UI/UX

Yeah, more photos would be good. Post-match interviews/transcripts are not really readily available to the general public. There's a website that has them, but that's only available to media people like me. I don't know what UI/UX is.

 

[Luca Van Diesel]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Power Shot any chance u can get me an interview for a position at wta? not as website manager.

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Power Shot any chance u can get me an interview for a position at wta? not as website manager.

What exactly are you looking for?

 

[bruce goose]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Why is anybody still going to that site? They would actually do something is no one was clicking on it. There are lots of other site where you can get the info you are looking for. Just google it.
Stop going to that site. It's a pile of shitttttttt !!!!! I have not gone there since January. And I don't miss it one bit. I deleted any bookmark I had, so that I don't accidentally show up there.

Your response to that mess is understandable and shows common sense. My attitude persists that the WTA brass SHOULD try harder to oversee the website that represents their sports league. I've had a strong hunch for quite some time that the site manager had almost free reign--with little or no oversight--and therefore ran the page as if it were some insignificant personal blog page or something...with minimal fan outreach effort made compared to what we see from other major sports leagues.

THAT's why I finally went over the site manager's head and contacted the WTA's Global Communications director, Amy Binder, by email and direct phone call. She was very courteous in our brief chat and--co-incidence or not--there were some minor improvements to the page almot right after I sent her a link to this thread and asked her to read the posts.

 

[goat]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

I need to a new job... How do I apply?

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

It's a shame that the people running the website aren't as good as the communications team. For my last interview, the following happened:

I had 4 people helping me.

They kept me constantly updated via e-mail.

They took no more than a day to respond, sometimes they got back to me within hours.

They gave me feedback on how I composed the article.

They told me whether the player liked the questions.

When one of them had to travel from one tournament to the next, I got an introductory e-mail explaining who the person taking over was and that they got the information passed along from their colleague.

The one time they were late in responding, I got an apology with the reason for the lateness.

That's efficiency.

 

[John0104]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

I think what is probably going on here is this: the WTA has done "traditional" communications and PR for years. They're good at it. They understand it. They have experienced, talented professionals up and down the management chain in these areas.

But I think they still (amazingly) do not understand the Web - let alone Web 2.0. I don't think they understand how powerful players' Instagram accounts are (for instance), and I don't think they know/realise how to leverage those Instagram accounts into their own offerings. I don't think they truly understand the power and reach of things like Facebook, Facebook Live, YouTube and YouTube Live. Frankly, I don't think they really understand how the vast majority of people under the age of 30 consume media and become open to influence (and how increasing numbers of people over 30 do too).

And, worse than that, they don't even understand the potential power, reach and marketing/communication potential of their own damn website! The site which is the absolute and logical go-to for someone looking to engage with the WTA online. As so many others on this thread have correctly said, the WTA website should be an exciting, teasing, illuminating space that makes people want to dive in. The homepage should be super-slick and feature moving graphics and video (even most lowest-demographic households have powerful computer equipment and fast broadband connectivity these days...). And there should be feature-rich sections on each tournament and each player, with cross-pollination to each player's IG, twitter and FB account. There also absolutely no reason why the top 30 or 50 players shouldn't have extra-rich pages, featuring video montages and personal messages etc. THIS IS MARKETING 2019-STYLE, FOLKS!!

At the very least, the WTA could very productively use around $250,000 of its money to hire a reputable digital marketing consultancy to completely overhaul things - to present proposals on what should be done, how long it should take to do it, who will be required (and at what job descriptions and costs) to a) design and b) maintain the new website, and show some competitor analysis (with feedback) to show what can be done and what can be gained by doing it properly.

I am available for children's parties.

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

I think what is probably going on here is this: the WTA has done "traditional" communications and PR for years. They're good at it. They understand it. They have experienced, talented professionals up and down the management chain in these areas.

But I think they still (amazingly) do not understand the Web - let alone Web 2.0. I don't think they understand how powerful players' Instagram accounts are (for instance), and I don't think they know/realise how to leverage those Instagram accounts into their own offerings. I don't think they truly understand the power and reach of things like Facebook, Facebook Live, YouTube and YouTube Live. Frankly, I don't think they really understand how the vast majority of people under the age of 30 consume media and become open to influence (and how increasing numbers of people over 30 do too).

And, worse than that, they don't even understand the potential power, reach and marketing/communication potential of their own damn website! The site which is the absolute and logical go-to for someone looking to engage with the WTA online. As so many others on this thread have correctly said, the WTA website should be an exciting, teasing, illuminating space that makes people want to dive in. The homepage should be super-slick and feature moving graphics and video (even most lowest-demographic households have powerful computer equipment and fast broadband connectivity these days...). And there should be feature-rich sections on each tournament and each player, with cross-pollination to each player's IG, twitter and FB account. There also absolutely no reason why the top 30 or 50 players shouldn't have extra-rich pages, featuring video montages and personal messages etc. THIS IS MARKETING 2019-STYLE, FOLKS!!

At the very least, the WTA could very productively use around $250,000 of its money to hire a reputable digital marketing consultancy to completely overhaul things - to present proposals on what should be done, how long it should take to do it, who will be required (and at what job descriptions and costs) to a) design and b) maintain the new website, and show some competitor analysis (with feedback) to show what can be done and what can be gained by doing it properly.

I am available for children's parties.

Even though they are public accounts, not every player would want their Instagaram account put on the tour's official website.

 

[John0104]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Even though they are public accounts, not every player would want their Instagaram account put on the tour's official website.

Perhaps, and obviously permission to do so would have to be sought and received - although with the correct approach, the players really shouldn't be averse to anything that might help drive traffic to their public IG pages. After all, the bigger players (and their management and sponsors) run those public accounts very specifically as marketing and promotional devices.

And with some creativity, there could be cross-pollination and cross-marketing. After all, the players owe as much to the WTA Tour as the WTA Tour owes to them. Again, with the right approach to players and their management and the big player sponsors and equipment/clothing manufacturers, I think it would be fairly easy to sell a story along the lines of "everybody wins if we all have a coordinated, single-vision element to our Web 2.0 strategy. At the very least, and assuming the WTA finally gets its online house in order, such a strategy and approach ought to be examined.

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Perhaps, and obviously permission to do so would have to be sought and received - although with the correct approach, the players really shouldn't be averse to anything that might help drive traffic to their public IG pages. After all, the bigger players (and their management and sponsors) run those public accounts very specifically as marketing and promotional devices.

And with some creativity, there could be cross-pollination and cross-marketing. After all, the players owe as much to the WTA Tour as the WTA Tour owes to them. Again, with the right approach to players and their management and the big player sponsors and equipment/clothing manufacturers, I think it would be fairly easy to sell a story along the lines of "everybody wins if we all have a coordinated, single-vision element to our Web 2.0 strategy. At the very least, and assuming the WTA finally gets its online house in order, such a strategy and approach ought to be examined.

Tennis is not a social media driven sport in the sense that people aren't going to the site for that stuff. They want to know about tournaments, matchups, conditions, insights, etc.

The majority of fans have social media and the ones that don't will find the players social media via a search engine if they become a fan of said player. The site has more pressing issues than that, which is why I suggested what I did.

 

[John0104]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Tennis is not a social media driven sport in the sense that people aren't going to the site for that stuff. They want to know about tournaments, matchups, conditions, insights, etc.

The majority of fans have social media and the ones that don't will find the players social media via a search engine if they become a fan of said player. The site has more pressing issues than that, which is why I suggested what I did.

Well I totally agree that its primary objective should be to fix its website. But still, I think there's a lot of work to do on Web 2.0 strategy. One need only look at, for example, what the PGA Tour or the most English Premier League football (soccer) clubs do to see what's possible.

 

[VeeJJ]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

It's a shame that the people running the website aren't as good as the communications team. For my last interview, the following happened:

I had 4 people helping me.

They kept me constantly updated via e-mail.

They took no more than a day to respond, sometimes they got back to me within hours.

They gave me feedback on how I composed the article.

They told me whether the player liked the questions.

When one of them had to travel from one tournament to the next, I got an introductory e-mail explaining who the person taking over was and that they got the information passed along from their colleague.

The one time they were late in responding, I got an apology with the reason for the lateness.

That's efficiency.

This is like the perfect corporate communication scenario :lol:


What a foil to this entire thread lmao

 

[bruce goose]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

It's a shame that the people running the website aren't as good as the communications team. For my last interview, the following happened:

I had 4 people helping me.

They kept me constantly updated via e-mail.

They took no more than a day to respond, sometimes they got back to me within hours.

They gave me feedback on how I composed the article.

They told me whether the player liked the questions.

When one of them had to travel from one tournament to the next, I got an introductory e-mail explaining who the person taking over was and that they got the information passed along from their colleague.

The one time they were late in responding, I got an apology with the reason for the lateness.

That's efficiency.

The situation you describe above is indicative of a well-organized department within the WTA. The way the website is run, you have to wonder if there is an asynchronous branch of the WTA chain of command because there's no way that efficient, practical individuals--like the ones you refer to--would look at the site and be satisfied with how it represents the sport. As odd as it might seem, you can almost envision the WTA site manager operating by himself in his own little realm without any executive oversight...which would be a huge mistake, IMO, based on what we've seen so far in the last couple years.

Your testimony only strengthens my suspicions because, if WTA big shots DID conduct a thorough evaluation of the site and compared it to other sports' webpages, it's inconceivable that they would be pleased with what they saw.

 

[Kurmay3Katti]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

It's not like the highlights in WTA are amazing or anything, but at least they are much longer these days (for example the Shenzhen highlights)

Much better as compared to the horrible highlights we used to get, for example:

:facepalm:
(Contd. in spoiler)

 

But in Zhuhai they went back to terrible highlights for some reason:

I noticed this was the case in Zhuhai last year as well.

Are the highlights team different for different tournaments? Linz open highlights looked like they were filmed with a potato . , though I guess that's more of an issue with the footage than the highlights team

In other words while the highlight quality on average is much better, than a few years ago, there are certain tournaments with awful highlights. What is happening?

 

[John0104]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

I'd suggest that a lack of a clear, tightly-defined web strategy and a similar lack of consistent, rigorous implementation of that strategy.... is what is happening. What you're describing is exactly the sort of thing that happens when loosely-composed teams do things on an ad-hoc basis, without any clear leadership or oversight. Sometimes it's decent; sometimes it's terrible. On average, it's mediocre (and should be unacceptable for a world-stage - and aspiring world-class - organisation such as the WTA....)

 

[Power Shot]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

This is like the perfect corporate communication scenario :lol:


What a foil to this entire thread lmao

Thanks.... I think :lol:.

 

[bruce goose]

Re: Indeed, ANYBODY could be a WTA website manager!!!

Apparently no new ranking this week because of the two YECs

Looks like you were right. Sabalenka has jumped 3 spots in the current TF live rankings though she didn't play at all this week, so those are almost surely the points she earned LAST week in Zhuhai. Naturally, the WTA site gave its fans ZERO advisory about the new points format