The RV park website checklist.
Print this and check your site against it. Most park sites are missing a third of it, and the missing third is usually the part a guest was looking for.
THE SHORT ANSWER
A park website needs a homepage that says what and where in the first line, a page per kind of guest, a sites page with lengths and hookups in text, rates or a rate range, a map, the rules that change a decision, the season and hours, photos of the actual park, a book button on every page, a phone number that works on a tap, and the technical basics: a title with the park and town, matching name and address everywhere, fast on a phone, and FAQ markup. Check yours against the list below.
The homepage
- The park name and the town in the page title, the main heading, and the first sentence.
- The one thing guests come for, stated: the entrance five minutes away, the river, the hot springs, the interstate exit.
- The kinds of sites in one line: pull-through, back-in, 30 and 50 amp, cabins, tents, monthly.
- The season, with dates, and the office hours.
- A book button and the phone number visible without scrolling on a phone.
- Three to five real photos of the park, not stock.
- Links to the page for each kind of guest.
A page for each kind of guest
Whichever apply to your park. Each one says in plain words what that guest gets and ends at a book button.
- Big rigs. Longest pull-through length, amperage, turning room, whether the road in is paved.
- Families. Playground, pool, what is walkable, quiet hours.
- Monthly and seasonal. Monthly rate or range, what is included, utilities, mail, laundry, pets, the application process.
- Cabins or glamping. Sleeping arrangements, linens, kitchen, bathroom, what to bring.
- Groups and rallies. How many sites together, a pavilion, how to book a block.
- Winter, if you are open. Which sites, water, what is plowed.
The sites page
- Every site type with length, width if it matters, hookups by amperage, pull-through or back-in, and what surface.
- Rates, or a rate range by season. Parks that hide rates get calls from people who cannot afford them and lose the ones who can.
- The park map, as an image on the page and as a download.
- Which sites are which on the map.
- A book button.
The facts guests decide on
In text, on the page, not in a PDF or an image. Assistants and search engines read text; so do guests on a phone.
- Pets: allowed, where, breed or size limits, the dog area.
- WiFi: whether it exists, whether it is good enough to work on.
- Showers, laundry, dump station, propane, ice, a store.
- Check-in and check-out times, quiet hours, generator rules, fire rules.
- Cancellation and deposit policy in one paragraph.
- The road in: paved or gravel, any tight turns, low clearances, the last fuel.
- Distances: to the entrance, the lake, the town, the grocery store, the hospital.
Photos
- The actual park, in the current season, taken in good light.
- An aerial or wide shot that shows the layout.
- A site with a rig in it, so the scale is obvious.
- The bathhouse, inside. Guests decide on this one.
- The office, the pool, the playground, the view, the road in.
- Nothing from a stock library. Guests can tell, and it reads as a park with something to hide.
The technical basics
- A page title on every page with the page's subject, the park, and the town.
- Name, address, and phone identical on the site, the Google Business Profile, and every directory.
- Fast on a phone with a weak signal. Test it at the far end of your own park.
- Works on a phone, with the phone number tappable and the book button reachable with a thumb.
- A question-and-answer block on the main pages with FAQ markup, so search engines and AI assistants can read it.
- A sitemap submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Your own domain. Not a platform subdomain.
- Analytics installed, so someone can see whether any of this works.
The things to leave off
- A page for every nearby town with the same text. Google marks it down.
- Rates only in a PDF, or only "call for rates."
- A welcome paragraph about your family's dream that pushes the facts below the fold.
- Auto-playing music or video.
- A booking widget that opens a new window with no way back.
- Anything that was true in 2019 and is not now.
If your site is missing more than a few of these, this is what we build, and the checklist is what we build from.
Questions that come with this one.
What pages does an RV park website need?
A homepage that says what and where, a page for each kind of guest you want, a sites and rates page with the map, and a page with the facts guests decide on: pets, WiFi, hookups, rules, the road in, distances. Every page ends at a book button and the phone number.
Should I put my rates on my RV park website?
Yes, or at least a range by season. Parks that hide rates get calls from people who cannot afford them and lose the ones who can. Rates in text, not in a PDF.
Do I need a park map on my website?
Yes. Guests use it to pick a site and to find it on arrival, and it shows the layout better than any paragraph. Put it on the sites page as an image with a download link.
How many photos should a campground website have?
Enough to show the park honestly: an aerial or wide shot, a site with a rig in it, the bathhouse inside, the office, the amenities, and the view. Fifteen to thirty real photos is typical. None from a stock library.
Want us to run the checklist on your site?
Send the address. We will tell you what is missing, in plain words, no charge for the look.