Golfers Increasingly Choose a Course by What They Can Find Out about It Online
Long before golfers play their first round of golf at a new golf course, they’ve probably checked it out on the Internet. Golfers tend to be well-educated and financially secure—precisely the group that most readily embraces the Internet before making their buying decisions.
The number of people who routinely search for online information is growing rapidly. About 60 percent of search-engine users go online to check out their choices before they make a purchase—even when they intend to spend their money in their hometown. Internet use by consumers continues to climb rapidly, at the same time that the Yellow Pages and newspapers are losing ground—and readership.
Google alone reports nearly 100,000 searches a day for golf courses and golf information (3 million a year). Relying on search engines makes it much easier for golfers to find nearby golf courses and compare them to others in the area.
But search engines can only provide results based on what their search spiders are able to gather from existing websites and add to their search databases. The more online information that exists about a golf course, the more likely it is to be reflected in search results.
To increase your facility’s traffic from search engines, you need to provide the useful information that golfers are looking for, along with the kind of information that the spiders want to collect. Both groups are looking for different things. To get high search-engine rankings and attract more golfers, consider the spiders as well as the people.
Raise Your Facility’s Rank in Search Engines
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Location and Convenience Matter—So Make It Obvious
Be clear about which part of town the course is located in. Provide maps and driving directions to help people find the facility from any direction. People care about how far they must drive to reach a business. Half of all Yellow Pages users look first at location before considering other factors. They eliminate from consideration those that aren’t close enough. The same is true for Internet users.
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Inform Existing Customers about the Website
Post signs near the check-in area and pro shop to tell golfers about the course website and what it has to offer. Provide a handout for the website URL and what customers can find there. Encourage staff to mention the website as well.
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Search Engines Are Looking for Data—Just Like Searchers Make it unique. Make it complete. Make it timely. Make it interesting. Keep it updated. Anticipate questions and make sure the answers are there. Add a new page of information (and maybe pictures) for each service you provide and each benefit that sets your facility apart. Entice website visitors to delve deeper into the inside web pages.
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Keep the Website Updated with Information Members Care About
Provide an interactive element such as a blog that gives the site a personal face. Give people reasons to visit the site to find community information, how-to tips, photographs of special events or celebrations, member profiles—you name it! Recognize that search engines love such information and rate the sites higher because of their unique and timely content.
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Eliminate “Category” Thinking
In the Yellow Pages directory, a business must pay for each different category it appears in. On the web, however, there’s no reason a facility can’t appear in many different search results—not just under “golf course.” And there are no charges involved beyond more pages on the website. How about golf lessons, golf carts, tennis, swim club, and any other service that applies?
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Include the Website Address on all Handouts and Advertisements
Display the domain address in letterheads, business cards, Yellow Pages, and local magazines. Getting people to the website provides an opportunity to show what your facility has to offer. Many people prefer to do business with an enterprise if it has a website—even if they don’t intend to visit. It builds credibility.
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Provide Incentives to Visit the Website
Give discounts, coupons, special invitations, surveys or contests, or whatever would give people reasons to return to the website often. Also, make it interesting so that they want to stick around long enough to visit various pages. That’s called making a site “sticky.” Integrate the site with other services, and it can add another profit center or make it easier (more efficient) on the staff.
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Utilize Local Search on your Website
Realize that many people don’t know where you are within a larger community. For example, the Phoenix area encompasses Mesa, Sun City, Scottsdale, Glendale, Surprise, Carefree, etc. If a person puts “golf course” into Google, it returns 46,600,000 results. Putting in “golf course” + Phoenix still brings up 1,930,000 results. It’s hard to stand out in such a crowd. But there are many towns around that city where the numbers are considerably lower. By listing all the nearby communities, you multiply the chances of appearing in search-engine results for any of them. Even better, devote a page to each area (see #9).
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Consider Vacationers and Others Who Are Not Local
Provide additional website pages with information about the entire community as a destination. Give links to other enterprises or organizations that serve tourists (and get some links back as well). Include information such as festivals and community events, which both adds to your depth of Local Search information and makes the site stickier.
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Provide Links from Other Websites of Interest to Golfers and the Locals
Get incoming links from those in your network. Every business does some degree of networking in its day-to-day activities. It’s another form of referral. Such links from related businesses are favored by search engines, thereby increasing Local Search results. But they also bring their website visitors directly to yours.
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Whether or not there is an existing course website (about a third of all U.S. golf courses don’t have one), a helpful mention about it on PublicCourses.com’s reputable and extensive site can bring a facility to the attention of golfers all over the country. It is designed to be golfer-friendly with services such as reserving tee times, checking course weather reports, and providing in-depth facility information and maps. It is search-engine friendly and provides a live link to the website of membership courses.
Any of these methods can bring a steady stream of golfers to a course. Doing all of them isn’t very difficult or time-consuming, and it gives the best shot at showing up wherever golfers are looking for golf course information. Your facility will appear in multiple ways online. The improved traffic will be par for the course!
– John Wallace
For more information on how you can showcase your golf course and attact more golfers, click here. PublicCourses.com - The best website for finding any U.S. golf course and reserving tee times online.
