The outdoor recreation business starter kit: marketing edition

You just got your permits, your insurance, and your gear. Maybe you’ve already run a few trips. Now you’re staring at the marketing side of things and it feels like a different kind of wilderness entirely.

This is a new outdoor business marketing guide stripped down to what actually matters. Not a 47-point checklist. Not a marketing plan template. The steps that move the needle, in the order you should do them. Most of this costs nothing. All of it is work you can do yourself.

Step one: claim your Google Business Profile

This is the single most effective marketing action a new outdoor business can take, and it’s free. Your Google Business Profile controls what shows up when someone searches your business name, and it determines whether you appear in “near me” searches and Google Maps results.

Go to business.google.com and either claim your existing listing or create one. Fill out every field. Business name, address, phone number, website, hours of operation, a description of what you do. Add your service area if you’re a guide service that operates in multiple locations.

Upload real photos: your boats, your gear, your launch point, your team. Ten to fifteen photos minimum. Google listings with photos get far more clicks than those without.

Pick the right category. “Rafting” or “Fishing Guide Service” or “Kayak Rental Service,” whatever matches your primary activity. You can add secondary categories too.

This one step puts you on the map. Literally. If you do nothing else on this list for a month, get your GBP set up and optimized first.

Step two: build a website that can book trips

You need a real website. Not a Facebook page pretending to be one. Not a free Wix site you’ll outgrow in three months. A site that loads fast, looks good on a phone, and has a clear path from “I’m interested” to “I just booked.”

For most new outdoor businesses, a simple site with five core pages is enough to start:

• A homepage that says what you do, where you do it, and why someone should pick you
• A page for each trip or activity you offer, with details, photos, pricing, and a booking button
• An about page that introduces your team and your story
• A blog (even if it’s empty for now — you’ll fill it in step five)
• A contact page with your phone number, email, and location

The website’s job is to convert visitors into bookings. Everything else is secondary. If someone lands on your site and can’t figure out how to book a trip within ten seconds, the design isn’t working.

Connect a booking system. FareHarbor, Peek, Rezdy, Checkfront: several platforms are built specifically for tour operators. Pick one and integrate it so visitors can book directly on your site without calling or emailing.

Step three: set up Google Search Console and Analytics

Before you start creating content, install the tools that let you measure whether it’s working.

Google Search Console shows you which searches bring people to your site, which pages are indexed, and whether Google is having any problems crawling your content. It’s free and takes about ten minutes to set up.

Google Analytics tells you how many people visit your site, where they come from, and what they do when they get there. Also free. Install the tracking code on every page.

You won’t need to check these daily. But when you start publishing blog content in step five, these tools show you what’s gaining traction and what isn’t. Without them, you’re guessing.

Step four: start collecting reviews

Reviews are currency for outdoor businesses. They influence Google rankings and booking decisions, and you start from zero.

After every trip, ask your guests to leave a Google review. A simple follow-up email or text that says “We’d love to hear how your trip went” with a direct link to your Google review page works. No hard sell needed.

Make it easy. The link should go straight to the review form, not to your general GBP listing where they have to find the review button. Google provides a short link for this. Search “Google review link generator” and set yours up.

Aim for your first ten reviews as quickly as possible. A GBP listing with ten or more recent reviews looks fundamentally different to both Google and potential customers than one with zero. It signals that you’re active, real, and worth considering.

Don’t offer incentives for reviews (that violates Google’s policies). But do ask consistently. Most happy customers are willing. They just need the nudge.

Step five: publish your first five blog posts

You have a website and a Google listing. Now give Google a reason to send you traffic beyond branded searches.

Your first five blog posts should cover the topics your customers are already searching for. Not industry news, not company updates, not “Welcome to our new blog.” Content that answers the real questions people ask before booking.

Here’s a starting lineup that works for almost any outdoor business:

Write a “what to expect” post for your most popular trip or activity. Someone Googling “what to expect on a half-day rafting trip” is close to booking. Give them the details that help them commit.

Write a “what to bring” or “what to wear” post for that same activity. These are high-intent searches from people who’ve already decided to do the activity and are getting ready.

Write a “best time to visit” post for your location and activity. This captures seasonal planners months before they book.

Write a local area guide — what else to do near you, where to eat, where to stay. This ranks for high-volume local searches and positions you as the area authority.

Write one FAQ post answering the single most common question your customers ask before booking.

That’s five posts. Each one targets a different keyword and serves someone at a different stage of the planning process. For more ideas on what outdoor businesses should actually blog about, we’ve got a deeper guide.

Step six: set up one social media account

One. Not four.

Pick Instagram if your trips are visually compelling and your audience skews younger. Pick Facebook if your customers are families or the 40-plus crowd. Post real trip photos two to three times a week. Share your blog posts when you publish them. Respond to comments and DMs.

Social media supports everything else on this list. It drives traffic to your website, builds brand recognition, and gives potential customers a feel for your operation before they visit your site. But it’s a supporting channel, not the foundation. The website and GBP are the foundation.

You don’t need to do everything at once

If this list still feels like a lot, here’s the reality check: steps one through three can be done in a single weekend. Step four is an ongoing habit, not a project. Step five takes a few weeks of focused writing. Step six is ten minutes a day.

Within 30 days, you can have a Google listing with photos, a website that takes bookings, analytics tracking your visitors, a review collection process running, and the first pieces of content that’ll start ranking in a few months.

That’s not a marketing department. It’s a marketing foundation. For a new outdoor business, it’s everything you need to start showing up where your customers are looking.