Search Console: the page-two rankings that are one fix from page one.
Google gives every site owner a free report of the searches it appeared for and where it ranked. Most parks have never opened it.
IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Google Search Console is a free tool that shows, for your site, every search it appeared in, the position, the impressions, and the clicks. The monthly routine: open Performance, filter to the last three months, and sort queries by impressions. Queries with many impressions and a position between eight and twenty are showing on page two, one improvement from page one. For each, find the page, tighten its title and heading to the query, add the missing facts, and link to it from related pages. Then watch it move. This replaces guessing with evidence and it is what the ongoing work should be built on.
What the report shows
- Queries. The actual searches, with impressions, clicks, average position, and click rate.
- Pages. Which page appeared for which searches.
- Coverage. Pages Google could not index, and why: noindex, 404, duplicates.
- Links. Which sites link to yours and which of your pages get internal links.
- Core Web Vitals and mobile usability. Speed and phone problems Google measured.
What the monthly look finds
A real-shaped example from a park's Performance report, filtered to positions 8 to 20 over 90 days:
| Query | Impressions | Position | The fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| buena vista rv park cabins | 410 | 12 | Cabins page title never said the town. Added it. |
| pull through rv sites arkansas river | 260 | 9 | Sites page said "drive-through." Changed to pull-through, added lengths. |
| rv park near mount princeton hot springs | 190 | 14 | No page mentioned the hot springs in a heading. Added to the area page. |
| monthly rv sites buena vista | 150 | 17 | Monthly page said "extended stay." Retitled. |
Four fixes, an afternoon, and each query was on page one the next month. The report named them; nobody had to guess.
The monthly routine
- Performance, last 90 days, sort queries by impressions.
- Filter position greater than 7 and less than 21. These are the page-two queries.
- For each of the top few: which page shows? Does its title say the query? Does the page answer it fully? Is it linked from related pages?
- Fix the title, add the facts, add a FAQ question, add the links.
- Separately: queries with high impressions and low click rate on page one. Those need a better title and description.
- Check Coverage for new errors and Links for new referrers.
- Note what you changed and check the same queries next month.
What it finds on a park site
The park sits at position twelve for "[town] RV park cabins" and the cabins page never says the town. Position nine for "pull through sites [area]" and the sites page says "drive-through." Position fourteen for "RV park near [attraction]" and no page mentions the attraction in a heading. Each is an hour of work, and each has been sitting there for a year.
What it looks like when it is missing
Nobody has logged in. The site was added to Search Console at launch by the designer, verified to the designer's account, and the park cannot see it. Decisions about the website are made from feelings about what guests want, while Google's report of what guests actually searched sits unread.
What it costs a park
The near misses, every month. And the direction: without the report, ongoing SEO is guesswork, and guesswork spends the budget on pages nobody searches for.
How to check your own
- Go to search.google.com/search-console and see whether your site is there and whether you have access.
- If not, add it and verify. Then submit your sitemap.
- Open Performance and sort by impressions. Read the top twenty queries. That is what your site is for, according to Google.
What we do about it
Every site we build is added to Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools under the park's own account, with us as a user, and the sitemap submitted. The monthly report in the Listings + Reviews and Marketing bands is built from it: what you showed for, what moved, what we fixed, and what is next. The page-two pass is the first thing on the list each month. It feeds the refresh pass directly.
Questions about this.
What is Google Search Console?
A free Google tool that shows which searches your site appeared for, at what position, with how many clicks, plus indexing problems, links, and speed measurements.
How do I find easy SEO wins for my park?
In Search Console, sort queries by impressions and look at the ones ranking between positions eight and twenty. Those pages are close; tighten their titles, add the missing facts, and link to them.
How often should I check Search Console?
Monthly. Look at the page-two queries, the high-impression low-click queries, coverage errors, and new links, and act on the top few.
Who should own the Search Console account?
The park, with the web company added as a user. If it was set up under a designer's account, request access or add the site again under your own.
Want this done for your park?
This is the ongoing work in the Marketing band. Tell us about your park and we will say what we would build first. SEO for parks starts at $250 a month.
Part of the RV park SEO guide, section: What grows a park site. Previous: Content refreshes: fix the pages you have before writing more.