The number of links from established websites (including search engines and directories) helps to determine the search ranking of your own site. An extremely small investment of time on your part can immeasurably enhance your site’s search engine position. You’re no doubt familiar with Woodalls and Trailer Life, but there is a growing number of smaller, independent campground directories. In total, these sites can send you plenty of traffic, along with improving your own site’s link relevancy! Most of these sites offer free links and quick submission forms. Directories that only offer paid listing options or do not include online submission forms may not be included in this alphabetized list. Simply take a few minutes to click through the links. Remember to search for your site at each search engine or directory before submitting your site. If your site is already listed, do not resubmit your listing.

All Campgrounds
http://www.allcampgrounds.com/
http://www.allcampgrounds.com/state.html
(Choose your state to add URL)

America On Wheels
http://www.americaonwheels.com/
This is one of my newest finds. An excellent directory, with hard-hitting reviews.

CampUSA
http://www.campusa.com/
http://www.campusa.com/cu_submitcamp1.html

Camping-USA
http://www.camping-usa.com/

Campgrounds By City
http://www.campgrounds-by-city.com/
http://www.campgrounds-by-city.com/add_a_campground.php

CampRate.com
http://camprate.com/
Your campground is probably already listed, but follow the links to confirm your listing,
submit a listing (if necessary), and to check for consumer reviews.

eCampsite.com
http://www.ecampsite.com/
http://www.ecampsite.com/register/campground.php

Leisure and Sport Review
http://www.lasr.net/
http://www.lasr.net/addAttraction.php?Request=RV Parks
Another new find, with a nice, clean look.

Recreation USA
http://www.recreationusa.com/
http://www.recreationusa.com/rusaquote.html

Recreational Vehicle and Campground Directory
http://rv-directory.com/
http://rv-directory.com/cgi-bin/pseek/addurl.cgi?cid=77

Re-QUEST.net
http://www.re-quest.net/
http://www.re-quest.net/add-url.htm

Road Camping
http://www.roadcamping.com/
http://www.roadcamping.com/rv/add_my_campground.html

Roaming Times
http://www.roamingtimes.com/
http://www.roamingtimes.com/controlpanel/index.htm
(Follow the simple procedure to see if you are listed. If not, follow the links to submit the form.)

RV-Clubs.us
http://www.rv-clubs.us/
http://www.rv-clubs.us/rvcampgroundlisting.php

RV-Coach Online
http://www.rv-coach.com/
http://www.rv-coach.com/company_register.html

RV Family Fun
http://www.rvfamilyfun.com/
If your park is not listed, click on the “Add Campground” link in the upper right.

RV Mechanic
http://www.rvmechanic.com/
http://www.rvmechanic.com/current_category.2104/links_list.html
(Choose your state to add URL)

rvNetLinx
http://www.rvnetlinx.com/
http://www.rvnetlinx.com/wpsubmitsite.php

RV Park Hunter
http://www.rvparkhunter.com
If your park is not listed, send an e-mail to:
submit@rvparkhunter.com

RV Resources
http://www.rvresources.com/
http://www.rvresources.com/addsitenew.php

RV Toads Campground & RV Park Directory
http://www.rvtoads.com/rvparks/
http://www.rvtoads.com/rvparks/addproperty.php

RV-Travel.info
http://www.rv-travel.info/
http://www.rv-travel.info/addyourpark2.htm

RVZone
http://www.rvzone.com/
http://www.rvzone.com/SuggestASite.cfm

The Outback Guide
http://www.modernoutback.com/
http://www.modernoutback.com/addlisting.html

Travel & Tourism Guides by WorldWeb.com
http://services.worldweb.com/
http://services.worldweb.com/tourism-edit.html?mode=pickcategory

Travelhops
(Based in New Zealand, an international directory of travel resources.)
http://www.travelhops.com/
http://www.travelhops.com/submit3.asp

TravelLibrary
(Another international directory of travel resources.)
http://www.travel-library.com/
There are separate listing categories for “Campgrounds” and “RV Parks”
This first link is for the Campground submission form:
http://www.travel-library.com/formaccomodation/35.html
This second link is for the RV Park submission form:
http://www.travel-library.com/formaccomodation/38.html

USAtourism.ca
(A Canadian directory of US vacation travel destinations)
http://www.usatourism.ca/
(Click your state on map to add URL.)

WorldWeb Lodging & Accommodations Listings
http://www.usa.worldweb.com/
http://www.usa.worldweb.com/WheretoStay/index.html
(Select your state and follow the links to see if you are listed or to add your site or correct your listing.)

Two Bonuses: “Pet Friendly” Directories & Wi-Fi Hotspot Directories

Every campground has some sort of pet policy. If you consider your campground to be “pet friendly” by one definition or another, you should do your best to let people know.

DogFriendly.com
http://www.dogfriendly.com/
http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/general/forms/rvform.shtml
(Free listing. Paid advertising options.)

PetsWelcome.com
http://www.petswelcome.com/
http://www.petswelcome.com/milkbone/pawframestore.html
(Free one-month trial listing. Fee if you choose to continue beyond the trial.)

A recent survey showed that wi-fi access is a more important factor than the presence of a swimming pool when choosing a campground. Prospective campers, particularly those who find you online, will go out of their way to stay at a campground with wi-fi Internet access (particularly if it is free). If your campground offers wi-fi, go to the following site and be sure that you’re listed.

Wi-Fi Free Spot
http://www.wififreespot.com
http://www.wififreespot.com/form/form.html
(Free listings of campgrounds offering free wi-fi.)

Particularly in challenging economic times, it is important to not simply sit back and wait for business to find you. Take a proactive role to insure that your campground continues to thrive in both good times and bad.

Author’s Note: The Wikia Search project ended on March 31, 2009, due to a lack of funding. Click here for more information.

I first became aware of the Wikia Search project when I read a couple of articles in a January 2008 issue of eWeek Magazine. An alpha version of Wikia Search was launched in early January by the same folks who brought us Wikipedia. The idea was to provide a socially driven, open-source alternative to Google, Yahoo, and the other major search engines. (Sounds a bit like the inspiration for the Open Directory Project, doesn’t it?) With Wikia Search, users filter sites and rank search results, influencing subsequent searches.

Wikia Search uses the Grub web crawler, acquired from the old LookSmart search engine last year, in order to build content. Individuals can donate unused bandwidth on their computers to help Grub to search for new content, in a similar fashion to the better known SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Project.

The project started modestly, by search standards, indexing between 50 million and 100 million pages. The hope is that users will then rank the relevance of the search results and feed data back into the search process. Needless to say, this is not the way that conventional search engines have worked. Even the Open Directory Project, with its thousands of editors, was not directly open to user input in this manner. According to eWeek, other search startups are attempting to develop similar concepts, including Eurekster, Mahalo and Lijit, but none of these starts out with the social computing experience or resources of Wikia. This type of search could be the wave of the future.

Six months later, where is Wikia Search today? Good question. If you type www.wikiasearch.com into your browser, you will not find the site. (What kind of logic does that demonstrate?) Already re-launched on June 3, 2008, it is said that the project is now in its “second alpha” release. In other words, it is not yet in even the beta stage of development. All criticisms aside, Wikia Search holds tremendous potential, and there is no reason not to embrace the engine early on.

Go to Wikia Search, enter the name of your business into the search box, then wait for the results. If your business does not appear, click on the “add suggestions” link at the top of the search results or enter your URL into the “Add to this result” text entry box to the right. If your business already appears, but appears on down the list of results, you can influence the sequence of the search results by passing your cursor over your listing and adding a rating to the options that will appear. Of course, you can also be socially responsible and add relevant content that has nothing to do with your business or personal interests.

As I write this, there have been 740,925 contributions to the search results on Wikia Search. If you go to the menu and choose Recent Changes > Live Changes, you will actually see the changes that you have entered, along with your IP address or (if you have signed up), your user ID.

If you go to the Wikia Search community pages, you can read more about the project and its admirable organizational principles: Transparency, Community, Privacy, and Quality.