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Campgrounds and marinas face a unique local SEO challenge: your customers are often searching from hundreds of miles away, weeks before they arrive. This guide covers the specific tactics that help outdoor hospitality businesses rank on Google Maps and convert travelers into reservations.
Most local businesses are optimizing for nearby customers. Campgrounds and marinas are optimizing for customers who haven't arrived yet — travelers searching from home, planning trips weeks or months out.
That fundamentally changes the local SEO strategy. You're not trying to capture an "I need this right now" search. You're winning the research-and-planning phase before customers decide where to go.
Here's how to dominate local search for outdoor hospitality businesses in 2026.
How travelers find campgrounds and marinas:
Notice that many searches include amenity qualifiers — hookups, pet-friendly, waterfront, WiFi. This is different from most service searches.
📊 Flento Data: Campground GBP profiles that list 10+ amenities in their attributes receive 43% more direction requests than comparable profiles with fewer than 5 attributes listed.
Primary categories:
Campgrounds:
Campground (primary)Marinas:
Marina (primary)Attributes — this is where campgrounds and marinas win or lose the search:
Campground attributes:
Marina attributes:
The more specific your attribute list, the more targeted searches you appear for. A camper searching specifically for "campground with full hookups and pet-friendly near [lake]" will find you — if you've marked those attributes.
Campgrounds and marinas are among the most seasonally variable businesses in local search. Your strategy should match the seasons.
Pre-season (spring — 8–12 weeks before peak): This is your highest-priority posting period. Travelers are planning summer trips right now. GBP posts announcing your opening date, this year's rates, new amenities, and reservation availability drive pre-season bookings.
Post example: "We're opening for the season on May 15! New this year: expanded full-hookup section with 30 new pull-through sites. Summer weekends are already booking — reserve yours now."
Peak season: Post weekly during peak season — availability updates, activities, local events, weather-appropriate content. Active posting signals to Google that you're currently operating.
Post-season (fall): Final weekend promotions, winter storage availability (for marinas), and early 2027 reservation opening announcements.
Off-season: Maintain basic activity. Even monthly posts prevent your profile from going stale. Share off-season photos (fall foliage, winter scenery) — these drive planning by travelers thinking about next year.
Travelers planning a trip read reviews extremely carefully. They're making a financial commitment (travel costs, reservation deposits) based on what they read before arriving.
What travelers look for in campground/marina reviews:
When to ask: Check-out is the prime moment. For multi-night stays, the guest is leaving satisfied (presumably), and the review window is still open. "We hope you had a wonderful stay — if you have a moment, a Google review would mean a lot and helps other travelers find us."
For marinas with transient slip customers (boaters passing through): ask when they're fueling up or checking out at the ship's store.
SMS review requests: Send an automated review request 2–4 hours after departure time. Include the campsite/slip number if your system tracks it: "Hi [Name], hope you had a great stay in [site/slip #]! We'd love your feedback on Google: [link]"
For campgrounds and marinas, photos are your single most important conversion tool.
Photo priorities:
Update photos seasonally. Summer photos in February and winter photos in July tell customers "this listing hasn't been updated" and reduce trust.
Campgrounds and marinas have a different geo-grid challenge: you need to rank for travelers searching from nearby (within driving distance on a trip), not just from within your immediate area.
Run a 13×13 grid with 2-mile spacing to capture your full regional visibility. Track:
Also track destination-city searches: if your campground is 15 miles from a popular city, track "campground near [that city]" — travelers searching that phrase are a primary audience.
Flento's Local Keyword Rank Tracker runs these across multiple keywords simultaneously.
How do campgrounds compete with state parks and national parks for search visibility? State and national parks have high domain authority but often lack the optimization detail of private campgrounds. Private campgrounds that fully optimize their GBP — detailed amenities, consistent reviews, regular posts — often rank ahead of government-managed parks for specific amenity-based searches.
Should marinas have separate GBP listings for different services (fuel, repairs, storage)? No — keep one primary GBP per location and list all services within it. Multiple listings for the same location can create duplicate issues and split your review equity.
Do campground reservation platform listings (Hipcamp, Campspot, ReserveAmerica) affect Google ranking? These directory listings contribute to citation signals if they list your NAP consistently. They don't replace GBP — optimize your GBP independently of any booking platform presence.
Campground and marina customers are spending significant time and money on the trips they plan. Your Google Maps presence is often the deciding factor between them choosing you or a competitor — before they've ever visited your property.