How to rank for "best [activity] in [location]" before the season starts

Somebody is going to rank first for “best rafting in Colorado” this summer. Somebody is going to own “best fly fishing in Montana.” And whoever it is probably published their page months ago.

“Best [activity] in [location]” searches are some of the highest-intent keywords in outdoor recreation. The person typing that query isn’t browsing. They’re picking a trip. If your business shows up on that page, you’re in the running. If it doesn’t, you’re invisible to the exact customer you want most.

The good news: these pages aren’t that hard to build. The catch is you need to rank before search volume spikes, not after.

Find the right keyword before you write a word

There’s a big difference between “best kayaking in the US” and “best kayaking near Asheville NC.” The first one is dominated by big publishers. The second? An outfitter can actually win that.

Start with what you offer and where you offer it. Then get specific:

• “Best whitewater rafting in West Virginia”
• “Best guided fly fishing near Yellowstone”
• “Best family rafting trips in Utah”

Use Google’s autocomplete to see what people actually type. Put “best” plus your activity plus your state or region into the search bar, and look at what Google suggests. Those suggestions come straight from real search behavior.

Check the results that come up. If page one is all TripAdvisor, AllTrails, and big media sites, go more specific. Add a modifier like “family,” “beginner,” “guided,” or “half day.” The narrower the query, the better your odds.

Google Keyword Planner or a tool like Ubersuggest will show you monthly search volume. You’re looking for keywords with enough volume to matter (50+ searches per month) but not so much competition that you’re fighting national brands.

Build a page that actually deserves to rank

Google ranks pages that answer the searcher’s question better than the alternatives. For a “best of” page, that means actually being useful. Not just listing your own trips and calling it a day.

Your page should cover the top options in your area, including ones that aren’t your business. That might feel wrong. It’s not. Google wants comprehensive results, and searchers can smell a page that only exists to promote one company. Include other operators, public access points, or well-known stretches of river alongside your offerings.

For each option, include what a trip planner actually needs: difficulty level, best time of year, typical duration, what makes it worth doing. Write a real paragraph per option, not a sentence. Specifics win. “An unforgettable experience” tells nobody anything.

Put your target keyword in the H1, the first paragraph, and one or two subheadings. Work in related phrases naturally, things like “top rafting spots,” “where to fish near,” “guided trips in.” Write for the person planning a trip, not for Google’s crawler.

Add a map if you can. Link to your booking pages where it makes sense. And use original photos from the locations you’re describing. Stock photos tell Google and your readers that you’ve never actually been there.

Publish early enough to actually rank

Most operators get this wrong. SEO has a lag. A new page doesn’t show up on page one overnight. For moderately competitive keywords, you’re looking at two to four months between publishing and seeing real rankings. Sometimes longer.

Count backward from when your customers start searching. If your peak season runs June through August, search volume starts building in February and March. That means your “best of” page needs to go live no later than December. November is better.

Submit the URL through Google Search Console as soon as it’s published. That speeds up initial crawling, though it doesn’t guarantee fast ranking. Internal links from your other pages help Google find and understand the new content faster.

If you already published a “best of” page last year, don’t create a new one. Update the existing URL. Add new information, refresh the copy, update any seasonal details. Google gives freshness signals to updated content, and you keep whatever authority that URL has already built.

Make it a local SEO asset, not just a blog post

A “best of” page pulls double duty when you connect it to your local SEO. Link to it from your Google Business Profile posts. Mention the locations in your GBP description. If you serve multiple areas, create separate “best of” pages for each one.

Links from local sources matter here. Your county tourism board, the local chamber of commerce, a regional travel blog. One link from your state’s tourism website does more for local ranking than a dozen random directory listings.

FAQ schema markup is worth adding too. Questions like “What is the best time for rafting in Colorado?” or “Where is the best fly fishing near Yellowstone?” can land you in featured snippets, the answer boxes that show up above normal search results.

Keep it updated or lose it

You can’t publish this page and walk away. Google recrawls and compares against competitors. If yours still references last year’s season dates or a stretch of river that’s closed, it drops.

Set a calendar reminder to update it twice a year: once before the season and once after. Add new access points, new guided options, updated conditions. Each update tells Google the page is still alive and gives you a reason to re-share it on social or in your GBP posts.

The operators who rank for “best rafting in Colorado” year after year aren’t doing anything fancy. They wrote the best page on the topic, they got it up early, and they keep it fresh.

Your season starts on Google long before it starts on the water.