Building backlinks in the off-season

October rolls around and most outfitters close the laptop along with the season. Meanwhile, the people who run tourism board websites, edit local newspapers, and manage outdoor publication calendars are still at their desks. They’re planning next year’s content right now. And they’re a lot easier to reach when they’re not buried in summer inquiries.

Backlink building for outdoor recreation businesses works best in the off-season. Not because some SEO trick makes links count more in winter, but because the people you need to build relationships with actually have time to respond. So do you.

Why links still matter this much

Google uses backlinks as one of its strongest ranking signals. A link from your state tourism board’s website or a feature in an outdoor magazine tells Google that your site is credible and relevant. Pages with more high-quality backlinks consistently outrank pages without them, sometimes by a wide margin.

For outdoor businesses, this is especially important because you’re competing for seasonal keywords with a limited window to rank. A page about “guided fly fishing trips in Montana” that has links from the Montana Office of Tourism and a Trout Unlimited chapter page will outrank an identical page with no external links. Domain authority compounds over time, and every quality link you earn in October is working for you when search volume spikes in April.

You don’t need hundreds of links. A handful of relevant, authoritative ones from sources in your industry and region will move the needle more than a thousand directory spam links ever could.

Tourism boards and CVBs are the low-hanging fruit

Your state tourism office and local convention and visitors bureau almost certainly maintain websites that list outdoor recreation providers. Many of them actively want to feature local businesses. It’s literally their job to promote the region.

Start with your state’s official tourism site. Colorado.com, VisitNC.com, TravelOregon.com. These are high-authority domains that Google trusts. Most have a “things to do” or “outdoor recreation” section where outfitters can get listed. Some require an application. Some just need an email.

Then check your county or regional CVB. The Fayette County CVB in West Virginia, for example, maintains a comprehensive list of rafting outfitters on their site. If you operate on the New River or Gauley, that’s a .gov-adjacent link pointing at your domain.

The off-season is when these organizations update their directories and plan their spring marketing pushes. An email in November asking “How do I get our kayak operation listed on your site?” will get a response. That same email in June might sit for weeks.

Also check Recreation.gov if you operate on federal lands. If your outfitter holds a permit for trips on a national forest river or in a national park, Recreation.gov may already link to permitted operators, or they may have a process for getting listed.

Local press wants stories, not pitches

Your local newspaper and regional magazines need content year-round, but their outdoor coverage slows down in winter right when they’re hungry for feature ideas. That’s your opening.

The angle isn’t “please write about our business.” It’s offering a story. A few that work well for outdoor recreation businesses:

A season recap with data. “Rafting trips on the Nantahala were up 15% this year, and here’s what we think is driving it.” Local reporters love anything with specific numbers about the local economy.

An upcoming change or expansion. New trip offerings, a new put-in location, a partnership with a local brewery for après-paddle events. Anything actually new is potentially newsworthy.

Expert commentary. When a reporter writes about summer tourism forecasts or water conditions, they need a local source to quote. Introduce yourself in the off-season so you’re the person they call. Being quoted in a story usually comes with a link to your site.

Don’t send a press release template. Write a short, specific email to the outdoor reporter or features editor. Reference something they recently wrote so they know you actually read the publication. Keep it under 150 words.

Outdoor publications and blogs have editorial calendars

Magazines like Outside, Canoe & Kayak, GearJunkie, and Blue Ridge Outdoors plan their editorial calendars months ahead. Their spring and summer issues, the ones featuring “best trips” lists and destination guides, are being planned right now in the fall and winter.

Getting into a “10 best rafting trips in the Southeast” roundup in Outside Online is worth dozens of lesser links. And these publications are often looking for operators who can provide good photography, accurate trip details, and maybe a hosted press trip.

Smaller niche publications matter too. Paddling Magazine, American Whitewater, regional fly fishing blogs. These have engaged audiences and solid domain authority. A guest post or expert quote in Paddling Magazine reaches exactly the people who book guided trips.

Pitch in November for spring publication. Offer something useful: high-resolution river photos, a unique trip story, expert perspective on water conditions or conservation efforts. Editors remember the outfitters who make their jobs easier.

Create something worth linking to

Outreach works better when you have pages that other sites actually want to reference. During the off-season, build one or two pieces of content specifically designed to earn links.

A comprehensive river guide works well. “The complete guide to paddling the Buffalo National River” with put-in points, difficulty ratings, shuttle logistics, and seasonal water level info is the kind of resource that tourism boards, paddling forums, and travel bloggers link to naturally.

An original data piece can work too. If you’ve run trips for ten years, you have data nobody else has. Average water temperatures by month, busiest weekends, most popular trip lengths. Package that into a well-designed page and it becomes a reference that journalists and bloggers cite.

Interactive or visual content earns links at a higher rate than plain text. A river difficulty comparison chart, a seasonal paddling calendar for your region, or a photo essay of a multi-day trip gives other sites a reason to link that a generic “about us” page never will.

This is a core part of the off-season playbook: build the assets that work for you year-round.

Partnerships and sponsorships generate real links

You already know other businesses in your area: the brewery, the campground, the gear shop, the vacation rental company. In-season, everyone’s too busy to coordinate. Off-season, you can actually build partnerships that benefit both sides.

Offer to write a guest section for a partner’s website. “Our friends at [Your Outfitter] recommend these three paddle trips for first-timers” on a local campground’s blog is a natural, relevant link.

Sponsor a local event, trail cleanup, or conservation project. River cleanups with your local American Whitewater chapter, a community paddle event, or a fundraiser for a watershed conservation group all generate event pages and press coverage that link back to sponsors.

Join your local chamber of commerce if you haven’t already. It’s a paid membership, but the .org link from your chamber’s member directory is a quality local signal that Google values.

Set a realistic off-season link goal

You’re not going to earn fifty backlinks by March. You don’t need to. For most outdoor recreation businesses, five to ten quality links earned between October and March will meaningfully improve your domain authority heading into peak season.

A realistic off-season target: get listed on your state tourism site and local CVB (two links). Pitch one story to local press (one or two links). Reach out to one outdoor publication (one link). Create one linkable resource page (earns links over time). Set up one local partnership or sponsorship (one link).

That’s six to eight links from relevant, authoritative sources. Combined with the content work and technical fixes you’re doing in the same window, you’re heading into spring with a stronger site than you had last year.

The off-season is when everyone else goes quiet. For backlink building, that’s exactly what makes it work.