Campground operators often invest considerable time and effort into developing attractive websites for their parks because they know that websites can be powerful marketing tools.
Unfortunately, many websites go unnoticed by consumers because they don’t show up in the first couple of pages of a Google search, according to an announcement from Texas Advertising’s TXAD Internet Services.
“This happens when a website isn’t optimized to match the search criteria Google is looking for,” said Braden Walker, senior web developer for TXAD Internet Services, which will be offering free website diagnostic services Wednesday to Friday of this week during the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC) Outdoor Hospitality Conference an Expo at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
“We will run search-engine optimization (SEO) reports for anyone that wants one,” Walker said. “These reports will provide park operators with information on what’s working on their website, what needs to be fixed, and where they rank on particular keyword searches.”
TXAD Internet Services will also provide information on its new SEO services, which can enable park operators to not only update their websites, but to develop content strategies that can help them achieve higher rankings on Google searches.
Walker said Google’s search engine not only looks for certain keywords in certain places of a website, but it examines the depth of information provided on a website and how frequently the website is updated with blog postings or other fresh content.
“Google doesn’t want stagnant websites,” Walker said. “They want to showcase websites that are constantly putting new information out there for their customers.”
Google is doing this, Walker said, because they have realized that many companies have tried to “game the system” simply by loading their websites with certain keywords.
So Google has raised the bar and developed sophisticated search tools that enable them to sort the stagnant websites from websites that are constantly being loaded with fresh content.
