Does my RV park need a website if I'm on Campspot?
Campspot, Newbook, RMS, and the rest handle reservations well. What they do not do is make your park findable as a business in its own right.
SHORT ANSWER
Yes, and the reason is money rather than pride. A platform listing takes bookings but it lives on the platform's domain, looks like every other listing, and usually carries a commission on each reservation. Guests who search your park by name land on a page the platform controls, and AI assistants read that page as a directory entry rather than a business. Your own site lets you rank for your own name, answer the questions the listing template has no field for, and take direct bookings without giving up a cut. Keep the platform for the booking engine; the site is what sends people to it.
What the platform does well
Real-time availability, payment processing, deposits, cancellations, and the reservation grid your office actually runs on. None of that is worth rebuilding, and we never suggest leaving it. The booking button on every site we build points at whatever platform the park already uses.
What it cannot do
- Rank for your park's name. The platform ranks for its own brand first.
- Tell your story. The template has fields; it does not have your voice or your history.
- Show a real site map. Most platforms give a generic grid, not your numbered diagram with the creek and the dog run.
- Answer the odd questions. Rig length on the tight turn, whether the road in is paved, what to do on a rainy day nearby.
- Get you into AI answers. Assistants treat platform pages as directory listings and rarely name a park from one with specifics.
The commission math
A park doing 2,000 reservations a year at an average of $180 per stay books $360,000. At a 3 percent platform commission, that is $10,800 a year. Shifting even 15 percent of those bookings to direct through your own site saves roughly $1,620 a year, which covers the website band with room to spare. The site does not have to replace the platform to pay for itself; it just has to catch the guests who were going to search your name anyway.
What to do about it
Build a site on your own domain, point the booking button at the platform, and make sure your Google Business Profile links to your site rather than the platform listing. That one change alone shifts a meaningful share of name searches to a page you control. The full comparison is here.
Related questions.
Will a website hurt my Campspot listing?
No. They serve different jobs and the listing keeps working exactly as it does now.
Can my website connect to Campspot?
Yes. The booking button hands off to your Campspot page, so guests book the same way and your office workflow does not change.
Do I still pay commission if someone books through my website?
If the button goes to the platform, yes. Some parks add a direct-booking path for repeat guests to avoid it; that is a decision to make with your platform's terms in hand.
Is a Campspot page enough for Google?
No. It ranks for the platform, not for you, and it gives search engines and AI assistants very little about your park specifically.
Want this handled for your park?
We build and run websites for RV parks and campgrounds, and nothing else. Websites from $85 a month, SEO from $250.
More on do i even need one: Do I need a website if my park is always full? · Is a Facebook page enough for my campground? · Should a small RV park have its own website? · all questions