Web Insight on Local vs Location

Google has changed 'local' for travel search.

Campers searching on the internet for places to go are generally intending to travel outside their zip code. They're NOT searching for travel in their own back yard. The whole purpose of vacationing is to get away for a bit.

Campers who use search engines to find campgrounds are really not doing a 'local' search; but all the search engines presume that consumers intend to find businesses close to them. This is based on the assumption that you're looking for the closest convenient local restaurant, brake shop, or pizza joint.

The search engines are now able to identify the approximate geographic placement of your internet service provider, and assume you are in that geographic location. With that location as part of the ‘search algorithm’, combined with the general keyword phrase ‘rv parks’ the search engine returns local results. Camping customers are searching by location, but your nearby neighbors are mostly not your prospective customers. You want to connect to prospects who are searching OUTSIDE of their home area, but searching for accommodations INSIDE your property's location.

Try this exercise on your computer:

1. Open your browser and go to Google or Bing.
2. In the search box type in the key words ‘RV parks’.
3. The displayed results will list RV parks near your home.
4. Now search for 'rv parks in Yosemite'.

To find campgrounds at a specific location you'll need to put "rv park" PLUS a "geographic term"; for example 'rv park' PLUS 'Yosemite' (or any other destination keywords).

If you are advertising on the web, you can improve your ad value scores and avoid wasted click-thrus by changing the geographic settings in your ad campaign settings, and use keyword phrases which serve ads to customers searching for your destination. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, Google, Bing, and Yahoo have wonderful online documentation and tutorials to study. It's a learning curve and will take time, but you can put your ads in front of people who are searching for parks in your area.

If you’d rather ‘outsource’ Google Adwords you might like to know that Strait Answers is Google Certified for Adwords and Search, send me an email: mailto: strait@straitanswers.com