From Zero to 8,000+ Monthly Organic Sessions 📊
In 2021, the opportunity emerged to work on the build and launch of a new UK campsite directory. An online advertising platform dedicated to small, exclusive and independent campsites across the UK.
New regional and destination landing pages were strategically created to attract both search traffic and campsite submissions, resulting in hundreds of organic signups. What started as a brand-new site with no traffic or visibility is now a thriving platform generating thousands of bookings, all driven by a focused travel SEO strategy.
Travel SEO Strategy & Approach 🏕️
This was an SEO-led strategy from day one:
- I sourced an expired domain, smallcampsites.co.uk, which was previously an abandoned campsite directory. It had been deindexed and lost all rankings, but had a backlink profile and domain authority worth salvaging.
- Using a domain-crawling tool, I identified and redirected old backlinks to retain link equity and authority.
- I conducted in-depth keyword research to uncover long-tail travel queries
- Dedicated landing pages were created for UK regions and sub-regions, each targeting high-intent travel SEO keywords like "campsites near buttermere" and "campsites near doncaster",
- Dedicated landing pages were created for attractions targeting high-volume destination keywords such as "campsites near pubs" and "campsites near beach"
- The homepage was initially optimised for niche keywords "small campsites" and "private campsites", but now ranks for high-volume terms like "UK campsites" and "campsites near me", both generating over 10,000 impressions per month
- A Submit Your Campsite form was added to attract free listings and grow content at scale.
- As campsites began signing up, new rich listing pages were created featuring photos, amenities, pitch types, booking forms, and local attractions.
Growth was driven by a solid SEO foundation, including technical SEO improvements (page speed, mobile UX, and combined schema types for campground schema and reservation schema).
SEO Results 📈
The results speak for themselves:
- From 0 to 8,000 organic sessions/month in just under 3 years. All without paid ads
- 267% YoY growth over the same 3-month period in 2024 vs 2025 (Clicks: 4.9k → 18.2k | Impressions: 249k → 836k)
- 2% conversion rate on booking enquiries, resulting in 1,400+ organic bookings generated in 2025
- 3% conversion rate on new campsite submissions with hundreds of listings acquired through organic search (free and premium)
- My keyword and content strategy delivered 62 keywords in the top 3 and 203 in the top 10, driving sustained visibility across travel SEO terms
The project is now a proven example of what SEO for travel websites can achieve when content, structure, and strategy are aligned from day one.
Camping & Travel SEO: Top Keyword Rankings
Indexed Keyword Growth
The steady growth in indexed keywords reflects a long-term SEO strategy focused on regional targeting, content depth, and consistent on-page optimisation, turning a zero-visibility domain into a high-performing travel platform.
Need SEO for Your Travel Website?
If you're looking for a travel SEO consultant, travel SEO expert, or SEO support for your travel site, get in touch.
