There are so many tools available from Google that it is almost difficult to keep track of them all, with new tools being introduced on a regular basis. In general, these tools enhance the Web experience and make it easier than ever for people to find information online, including information that relates to your business. In many instances, these tools provide opportunities for your business to save money, replacing existing paid services with free alternatives.

Google Maps Street View

Are you familiar with the Street View component of Google Maps? This is the feature where you can zoom into a map beyond what is otherwise the most detailed level, and then drag the “pegman” icon onto a mapped roadway to view panoramic photos of a neighborhood. Introduced in 2007, Google Street View started as a complex process involving vehicles with 9 directional cameras, GPS units, and laser scanners that captured a 360° view of stitched panoramic images. By June of 2012, Street View had covered over 5,000,000 miles of roads in 39 countries.

Less accessible areas (initially places like national parks and ski resorts) are mapped using Google Trikes and snowmobiles. Now Street View Treks has introduced portable mapping where the equipment is worn like a backpack, producing everything from treks into the Grand Canyon to climbs up the Eiffel Tower to descents to the Great Barrier Reef. The current generation of cameras uses 11 lenses and is producing high-definition images and 3-D renderings.

Get Your Campground Mapped

Did you know that you can ask Google to create a street view of the roadways on your property? For a campground, this means that you can ask Google to create what is essentially a free virtual tour site map that will tightly integrate with the other features of Google Maps.

Many campgrounds have included site maps on their websites that allow visitors to view specific sites by hovering over or clicking links on the map. An expensive and time-consuming process to create, especially if a campground has a large number of sites, it is a far cry from panoramic 360° views. Like so many paid services that have been rendered obsolete by new free services from Google, if you are willing to wait your turn, it may no longer be necessary to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars into a 360° virtual tour of your campground’s road network. Google will now do the work for free. Several added bonuses include integration with Google Maps, the ability to embed the content into your website, and no hosting or recurring fees. Weather is taken into consideration, and your mapping will not be done on a rainy day.

According to my conversations with Google associates, there is no guarantee when – or, in fact, even if – Google will get around to mapping your campground; however, it is unlikely to happen unless you get the ball rolling from your end. Currently, most college and university campuses are waiting to be mapped, and I would expect that those would be considered a higher priority than the typical campground. (For example, in the entire state of Pennsylvania, I am told that only Penn State’s main campus has been mapped so far.) That said, there is nothing to lose. Google is quietly expanding this program, and I highly recommend that campground owners sign up using the following link:
https://services.google.com/fb/forms/streetviewinterestedpartner/

More Extensive Virtual Tours

Do you want to include virtual tours of your cabins, store, or rec hall?  Entirely separate from its Street View mapping project, Google now maintains an extensive network of Trusted Photographers who you may hire to produce virtual tours of facilities within your park, at competitive rates. There are over 100 Trusted Photographers based in California alone. They are all professionals with the equipment that is necessary to photograph tight spaces under difficult lighting situations. They are using conventional digital SLR cameras, shooting stitched panoramas of high-definition images that you own and that may be used on your website, brochures, or any other purposes.

Google retains usage rights to the images taken by people in its Trusted Photographers network, meaning that your photos will appear online in searches, generally a positive feature, since many people perform searches based upon images. One limitation is that Google will not deal with releases and will not allow these photographers to include people in their photos, somewhat counterproductive from a marketing perspective. If you can deal with that restriction, I would suggest that you search for photographers in your area, visit their websites to view their portfolios, then contact them to discuss (and negotiate) rates. Start at the following URL:
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/businessphotos/get-started.html

The bottom line today is to get on board with Google before you decide to commit hundreds or thousands of dollars on a virtual tour of your campground. Weigh your options. One step at a time, Google is changing the way that we view the world, the way that the world views your business, and the way we run our businesses. Take advantage of these tools in order to maximize your competitive edge!

You may have noticed that the search results on Google have continued to evolve over time. While many people labor endlessly over their position in organic search results, they miss other opportunities to maximize their overall exposure. One of the most important tools, often overlooked, is Google Places for Business.

When you perform a Google Search, results appear in a variety of manners. As an example, I just performed a search for “campgrounds near Gatlinburg, TN”. The organic search results (which are localized for my search location and which may appear differently in your search) start with the campground page at the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau website, followed by the Great Smoky Mountain Jellystone Camp-Resort, Smoky Bear Campground, Good Sam Club listings for the area, and the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg KOA. Above these organic search results (which are SEO-based) appear three Sponsored Search results (paid search engine placement) for the Adventure Bound property in Gatlinburg, Riveredge RV Park, and Bear Cove RV Village.

To the right of the organic and sponsored search results is a small Google Map, with markers showing all of the campgrounds that match the search terms that I have entered. Above all of this, there is a black strip that contains 20 search results listings that include a thumbnail photo, review ranking, page title, and street address. These listings correspond to the markers on the small Google Map. If you zoom into the map, showing a more localized area, the number of thumbnails will adjust to match the markers that remain in view.

By default, the thumbnails start with Twin Creek RV Resort, Elkmont Campground, Camping In the Smokies, Greenbrier Island Campground, Camp LeConte Luxury Outdoor Resort, and Riveredge RV Park – from left to right. Users can also filter the search results by user rating, limiting the results to parks with 2-star, 3-star, or 4-star and higher user ratings. You may be wondering where these listings originate. If you click on a listing, the bottom of the detailed listing will ask, “Are you the business owner?” If you click on that link, it will take you to the Google Places portal, where you may then “claim” your business where these listing reside.

Get Listed

If you cannot locate your business in that type of search for campgrounds in your local area, you can also get started by going to the Google Places entry page: http://www.google.com/local/add/. If you do not have a Google Account, you will be prompted to create one (a quick and easy, free process). Google gathers data about businesses from a variety of sources, but the most accurate source will be the information that you – as the business owner – will provide. Check the accuracy of your address, phone number, website URL, and the location of your marker on Google Maps. By default, your listing may include photos that your guests may have taken or that reviewers may have submitted. (If there are no photos available, Google will substitute a view of your marker on Google Maps, and that doesn’t do you much good.) The photos that appear will not always be the most flattering or best quality, but you will be able to upload up to 10 photos and 5 videos to enhance your listing. Choose those wisely, ensuring that they enhance rather than detract from the quality of your listing. You may also include payment types, showing which credit cards or other forms of payment are accepted by your business.

Having an incomplete listing will not impact whether or not your business appears in the local search results; however, a more complete listing will make it more likely that a viewer will click through to learn more. When everything has been updated to your satisfaction, click the submit link, choose to validate your listing by phone, enter the PIN number that will immediately arrive by phone, then click “finish”. The changes may take up to a week to take effect. If major changes are requested, your updates will be pending editorial review, a process that may take up to 4 weeks.

Once your listing information has been updated, you can then check your listing, as it appears on both Google Search and Google Maps. You might search for your business name, or you might perform a more generic search, such as my “campgrounds near Gatlinburg, TN”. In the latter instance, you may wonder about your ranking position in the search results. According to Google, rankings are based upon three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence. For that reason, your business will not necessarily appear first in the list. The important thing is that your business appears in the list.

There are a number of ways that people may search for – and find – your business online. This article covers only one of the ways to help your business to stand out on Google. Take advantage of every tool available in order to maximize your competitive edge!

Years ago, as a business owner you were pretty much in control of how people perceived your business. You advertised to influence opinions, you went out of your way to please your customers, and you provided a quality product or service. Everybody was happy. In the rare instances where a customer was displeased, he told his friends and never returned. Things could have been worse.

Today, things are worse. Conventional advertising has lost much of its credibility and clout, and most people turn to their network of friends (including virtual friends online) for trusted opinions and recommendations. That dissatisfied customer from years past now has the means to amplify his displeasure before an audience of thousands. On the other hand, the same tools are available for your happiest of customers to share their experience and influence equally vast numbers of potential guests.

Most campground owners seem to fear review sites more than an attack of locusts. Those fears are unfounded. P.T. Barnum is often credited with coining the statement, “There is no such thing as bad publicity,” and that concept is truer today, in the age of the Internet, than ever before in history.

First of all, a successful campground will be operated in a customer-friendly manner, and reviews of that campground are likely to be overwhelmingly positive. My advice is to proactively promote those reviews and the sites that contain the reviews, rather than simply reacting in a state of panic when a negative review appears, typically written by someone with an axe to grind.

Rather than hiding from reviews, I encourage campground owners to provide links to the major review sites – and to individual reviews – on their own websites and within the social media. Quote great reviews on your Facebook page and in Tweets, and encourage your guests to post their own reviews, particularly if a review site has a less than stellar recent review of your park. Some review sites allow you to respond to reviews, while others do not. Either way, the most recent reviews and the most intelligently written reviews (and responses) carry the greatest credibility. Older reviews or those written by somebody who is obviously on a rant are generally dismissed by readers.

If you are going to encourage your happy campers to submit reviews, you need to know the review sites that count. You also need to know whenever a review of your park appears online. Use Google Alerts to stay on top of what is being posted about your business online. When guests are checking out, commenting how much they enjoyed their stays, ask them if they would like to submit a review that puts that satisfaction into words. If they agree, send them a follow-up e-mail with a direct link to the review page for your park on the review site of your choice. (Don’t ask them to submit a review on more than one site, since that would be a bit of an imposition.) The following is a list of some of the review sites that need to be on your radar.

RV Park Reviews – This site has been online since 2000 and includes nearly 200,000 reviews of every campground in North America, including yours. If you are not aware of this site and have not read its reviews of your park, you have only yourself to blame. Use this site to your advantage. If you have the highest rated park in your city or town (based upon the average of your 10 most recent reviews, rated on a 1-10 scale), promote that fact by providing a link to the reviews for your park and its competitors. Use transparency to your advantage!

Yelp – This site was started in 2004, gets over 100 million unique visitors per month, and hosts over 39 million reviews. Originally designed to rate local business service providers (like mechanics, electricians, and plumbers), it now includes reviews to lodging services, including campgrounds. As a business, you can setup a free business account that allows you to post photos and additional information that will enhance your listing on the site, as well as generating free widgets that you can use to promote your Yelp reviews on your website. Follow this link to get started: https://biz.yelp.com

TripAdvisor – This is the world’s largest travel-related website. It gets more than 200 million unique visitors per month and contains over 100 million trusted reviews covering more than 2.5 million businesses around the world. Although the site originally concentrated on hotels and similar lodging, it now includes campgrounds under the Specialty Lodging category. If your campground is not yet listed on TripAdvisor, you can submit a listing by following this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/GetListedNew

Because of the volume of traffic, reviews on TripAdvisor carry plenty of clout. As a business owner, you can (and should!) create a free business account, allowing you to update your business details, add photos, receive e-mail notifications of new reviews, and – most importantly – respond to reviews. You can also generate free widgets that can link your website to your reviews. Follow this link to get started: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners

GuestRated – Campground owners are probably also familiar with the GuestRated program that was founded by industry consultant Bob MacKinnon in 2008 as the first ongoing guest satisfaction rating program relating to the private campground industry in the United States. Run in conjunction with National ARVC, this online survey program provides very useful consumer information and statistical analytics to campground owners, as well as providing an opportunity to respond to guest reviews. There are also widgets that allow campgrounds to feature reviews and ratings on their websites and that encourage visitors to initiate their own review process. Learn more about the program at: http://www.guestreviews.com

This is far from a conclusive list of review sites. There are many other campground review sites that generate less traffic and less impact upon public opinion. I would recommend not fretting over any of the more obscure review sites, particularly if any investment of your time would come at the expense of the attention that you should be devoting to these review sites that count.

If you have been paying attention long enough, over the years you will have heard all kinds of Web design concepts touted as the newest answer to vanilla ice cream. One by one, they have either fallen by the wayside or are ready to follow the lemmings into that ditch. Progressive JPEG images, animated GIF images, and frames were early concepts that failed to stand the test of time. More recently, Flash animation was once considered the rage; however, as soon as support was dropped by Apple’s iOS (running iPhones and iPads), Flash became about as popular as a case of head lice.

Understandably, many people have grown a bit suspicious when they hear about anything that is marketed as the latest and greatest, so what is the story with responsive Web design? The best way to start answering that question is an explanation of what it is and how it works. Let me begin by saying that, in general, change is a good thing. As the Internet evolves, improvements tend to enhance and improve the user experience.

You may have seen the responsive Web design concept promoted by your local TV stations and similar businesses, usually along the lines of “One Address for Every Device”. Unlike a separate mobile website, responsive technology allows a single website to respond to each user device and display the site in the most appropriate form. Responsive sites are flexible and able to adjust, rearrange, and optimize content on a wide range of displays and input devices. The concept can be summarized in the word fluidity. Responsive sites are based upon the use of a fluid grid, fluid graphics and photos, fluid text, and a fluid background. The grid features a series of stops or fluid breakpoints, where the content switches from one representation to the next.

Unlike a mobile app, which needs to be downloaded and installed (and then may be rarely used), a responsive site is not limited to any one platform, avoiding duplication of expense for Android and Apple devices (with Blackberry, Windows Phone, Firefox OS, Kindle, Nook, and other upcoming mobile devices out of luck). Unlike a separate mobile-friendly website, which incurs a separate set of costs and often trims down the range of content that is presented to the users of mobile devices, a responsive website presents a consistent range of content that is optimized for every user’s device. This is a new way of building websites, and it is being quickly embraced both by top developers and savvy clients as a more future-proof, economical and elegant approach to delivering content across the expanding ocean of Web capable devices.

When visiting a responsive website using a desktop computer or laptop, you are presented with one version of the site. Using a tablet or smartphone, you are presented with alternate versions that are automatically optimized for the display size and touch-based input. When viewing a responsive website on a conventional desktop or laptop computer, you can actually resize your browsing window to see the content transform in real time as you reach the grid stops or breakpoints. Cool? Yes!

My own company’s first venture into responsive website design was the new website built for the Vermont Campground Association, the first responsive campground association website in the United States. The accompanying graphic shows the content as displayed on a variety of common devices.

Other than keeping up with technology and presenting your business in a savvy technological light, what are the other advantages of turning to responsive design for your next website? First of all, as I have already alluded, the total cost will probably be less than the cost of developing separate conventional and mobile sites. It is also no longer necessary to register a separate “mobile” domain name or even create a separate subdomain for your mobile content. In all likelihood, this will reduce your recurring hosting costs.

One big advantage presented by responsive technology is the consistency of branding that it allows. No longer do you have to wonder whether somebody is viewing your “full” website on a desktop computer or the abbreviated content on a mobile device. You also can eliminate those “Click here to view our mobile site” or “Click here to download our mobile app” links. A responsive site sends those links to the buggy whip museum!

Check the Google Analytics on your website. (If your website is not running Google Analytics, stop what you are doing, and get it installed!) I just checked the Google Analytics for one well-known campground website that we maintain, and the statistics are compelling. The site generates enough traffic for these statistics to be both meaningful and valid. Over the last 12 months, 28.1% of the visitors to their website were using a mobile device. Within the last month, that percentage shot up to 39.9%, and within the last week is up to 41.7%. Within the last 24 hours? It’s up to 42.3%. Do you see a trend?

Just as important, without either a responsive or a mobile website, visitors to this campground’s website who are using mobile devices are spending roughly two-thirds of the time that is spent by visitors using conventional computers, and the bounce rate is an astounding 85% higher. (The bounce rate represents visitors who reach a website and leave quickly.) Yes, people using mobile devices are prone to make quicker decisions, but these numbers simply represent lost traffic … and lost traffic means lost business.

Perhaps most importantly, responsive technology is good for your website’s SEO (search engine optimization). In fact, both Google and Bing have endorsed responsive Web design. Only one address needs to be indexed, and only one address needs to be checked when viewing your analytic reports. No longer will multiple versions of content be diluting the search engine ranking of your pages. Whatever form it takes, search engines have always hated (and penalized) duplicate content. It’s as simple as that!

Now that I have explained what it is, how it works, and its many advantages, are you ready to decide? Will your next website be built using yesterday’s technology or for tomorrow’s users?

Content for this article was also contributed by Joshua Pelland and Charles Davis, Pelland Advertising staff members.

Everybody is familiar with QR codes, those two-dimensional barcodes that bear a resemblance to square Rorschach tests but provide informational links to the user of any Smartphone with a QR code reader app installed. QR stands for “Quick Response”. Originally invented by Toyota back in 1994 as a means of inventory control during automobile manufacturing, QR codes have been widely adapted to a variety of advertising uses in recent years, generally linking to a website or a page on a website that provides either more information or a call to action.

There are several newer technologies that now compete with the open-source QR code concept, and even the QR code itself has been adapted to offer more colorful, brand-recognition alternatives; however, the bottom line is whether or not any of these marketing tools have been broadly adapted by consumers. There are certainly applications that make sense. A poster on the streets of New York City might advertise a first-run feature film or off-Broadway theatre production and include a QR code that takes users directly to online ticket sales. A transit ad in an airport shuttle might allow users to check the status of arriving and departing flights. I have even seen QR codes on potted plants in garden centers, where a scan will display information such as growing conditions and guidelines. All of these are brilliant applications, but they still do not overcome the fact that QR code adoption and usage rates have been consistently low.

QR codes can be displayed almost anywhere – direct mail, packaging, magazine and newspaper ads, websites, posters, e-mail, and TV commercials. Although there are studies that present encouraging statistics about young adult usage, the studies generally only ask respondents if they have scanned a QR code within the past 12 months; there is little or no data to support consistent repeat usage. According to a study conducted by Pitney Bowes and released in January 2013, the highest usage rates are for QR codes that appear in magazine ads and, to a lesser degree, other printed materials. QR codes on websites, embedded into e-mail messages and on TV commercials get very low rates of response. (Think about it: Is somebody already on a website going to click on a QR code to … go to a website?)

Use the following QR code to download the complete Pitney Bowes report:

There are many reasons that QR codes have not been more broadly adopted, either in the United States or internationally. One reason is that neither Android nor iOS (Apple) phones come with a QR code reader app pre-installed. Other reasons include QR codes being displayed in places with poor quality or nonexistent wi-fi signals (like subway stations and many campgrounds) and the disappointing initial experiences of users who have been brought to Web content that was not optimized for mobile devices.

Most campgrounds have limited advertising budgets and need to spend their dollars wisely. Few campgrounds advertise in magazines, although most advertise in printed directories that bear some similarity to magazines. With regard to printed materials, QR codes certainly do no harm (other than their lack of visual appeal) when added to things like directory ads, rack cards, postcards, and business cards – allowing users to scan through to further information. None of this makes sense, however, unless it is supported by actual scans by end users who embrace your subsequent call to action and are converted into buyers.

How Do You Measure Effectiveness?

All online traffic needs to be measured. Thanks to Google Analytics (which should be running on your website!) we can easily measure the amount of traffic to any particular page of your website from any search engine or referring site. What about traffic from your QR codes? Without taking a few added steps, that traffic is nearly impossible to measure. One solution is to have the QR code link to a specific page that is uniquely linked to the code. That works fine, but it requires your webmaster to create a separate landing page for each code that you generate (so that you can measure the traffic from each specific code application, not simply overall traffic from any and all QR codes that you may be displaying).

A better approach is to have the QR code go to a specific URL that you can create for free using the Google Analytics URL Builder, a very useful tool that is not widely known. (The URL Builder is primarily intended for tracking traffic from a Google AdWords campaign, but it will also work perfectly for this purpose.) First of all, determine the page that you want people to reach through your QR code. Keep in mind that this should probably be both a “call to action” page and a page that is at least mobile-friendly. It might be an existing page on your website or a new page that you will want to create.

Go the Google Analytics URL Builder – http://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867 – and follow the instructions. Enter the URL of your landing page in the box that says “Website URL”. For “Campaign Source” and “Campaign Name”, you might enter something like “2013 Rack Card” or anything else that identifies where the QR code will appear. For “Campaign Medium”, enter “QR Code”. Click “Submit” to generate your tracking URL.

The next step is to copy and paste that tracking URL into a QR code generator. I particularly like QuikQR – http://quikqr.com/ – an easy-to-use, free QR code generator, where you simply paste your URL and generate your QR code in one quick step. An optional step would be to paste your tracking URL into Google URL Shortener – http://goo.gl/ – to generate a shortened version of the tracking URL. After generating the shortened URL, click on the “details” link under the new URL, and you will be shown a QR code for your shortened link. Click on the QR code, then right-click on the image on the next page to save the file to your computer to be used in your offline advertising campaign.

Follow the same process to generate QR codes for any other advertising campaigns that you would like to measure. Now any traffic from that QR code will be tracked in Google Analytics, under Traffic > Sources > Campaigns. A few weeks, months, or a year down the road, you will be able to know – with certainty – whether your QR codes are being used and whether or not the traffic is converting into sales!

One caveat: As with any of your advertising, do not presume that the traffic that is generated directly from a QR code is the sole measure of an advertising campaign’s effectiveness. This exercise will only measure whether or not QR codes are generating business in your advertising, as well as whether their adoption over time is trending upward or dying a slow death.

Some of us are old enough to remember the days when the biggest map publishers were the oil companies, from Esso to Chevron to Atlantic to Shell. Times have changed. Gasoline now contains ethanol instead of lead, and those maps are only found in the “Collectibles” category on eBay. Some of the biggest map publishers are now MapQuest, Yahoo, and Google. Until very recently, when you needed a map to appear on your website, the challenges could be significant. Maps were time-consuming and costly to produce, and static maps had to be accompanied by a laundry list of travel directions from various points of origin.

The biggest problem with the first generation of online mapping (most notably MapQuest) was that the locations were often incorrect, particularly if your business was in a remote location or did not have a precise street address. It is no surprise that many websites still warn visitors not to use online mapping services for travel directions. With the advent of both nationwide 911 standards and GPS coordinates, many of those early issues have either been addressed or are easy to correct. In some instances, online mapping software might still be inappropriate for your particular business. For example, if you run a campground and the service insists upon sending travelers over routes that include covered bridges or steep grades that are either impossible to cross or dangerous to navigate with a large RV, online mapping may not be right for you. In fact, the same problems might occur when drivers use their vehicles’ GPS navigation systems. These are exceptions that will probably still mandate the use of carefully written travel directions and custom-built static maps.

For the rest of us, Google has provided a solution in the form of Google Maps. Google Maps are fully customizable to fit any page layout, and users can pan, zoom in or out, and generate travel directions directly from any point of origin to your door. Better yet, Google will allow you to make changes to your Google Maps listing, including the addition of your Web address, keywords, a 200 word description … even up to 10 photos from your website. Best of all, they make the process simple. Here are step-by-step instructions:

First, go to the Google Maps website: http://maps.google.com/. (You can also simply go to Google, do a search, then choose the “Maps” option at the top of the page.) Either way, enter the name of your business in the search box. Hopefully, it will appear as the sole entry in the search results. In rare instances, Google Maps may not be aware of your business, in which case you might try entering your exact street address. (If more than one listing appears for your business, you can request removal of any duplicates.) Click on the resulting link to go to your map, then click on the “edit” and “claim your business” links in the information balloon which overlays your map. Choose the “edit my business information” option, then click “continue”. (Alternately, you can click on the “more info” link next to your business in the Search Results frame on the left, then choose the “Add or edit your business” link.) On this next page, you can correct your marker location or any of your listing information. You will be able to add your Web address, e-mail address, alternate phone numbers, and more … including a 200 character description of your business. On subsequent pages, you can add your business hours, types of payment that you accept, up to 10 photos, even a link to a YouTube video or an online coupon … all for free! (Later, you can also ask satisfied customers to go to this page, click on the “write a review” link, and write favorable reviews that will help to persuade new customers to come your way.) Once you are done making your additions and corrections, ask for a telephone validation, choose the “call me now” option, and the process will be complete as soon as you type the assigned 4-digit PIN number into your telephone keypad when the automated phone call arrives seconds later. Most changes will appear within only minutes or hours, although significant corrections to the location of your business (the marker on the map) will be confirmed by a human editor and take longer to implement.

Now that you have enhanced your listing (and made any necessary corrections), you are ready to add this map functionality to your website. This process is slightly more complex. If you are uncomfortable with HTML or do not directly maintain your website yourself, replacing the existing map on your website with this code should be easy enough for your webmaster to implement in less than ten minutes. Go back to your Google Maps listing, then choose the “Link to this page” option in the upper right of the page, then choose the “Customize and preview embedded map” option. Choose the “Custom Map Size” option, and enter the width and height (in pixels) that will best fit your page layout. (If this seems too complex to you, you can always choose one of the “Small”, “Medium”, or “Large” preset options.) Copy and paste the resulting HTML into the location on your website’s travel directions page where you would like the map to appear. (If you would like to make the map look a bit cleaner on your page, I would suggest deleting the HTML after the </iframe> closing tag.) That’s all there is to it!

Compare this professional, highly interactive map that now appears on your website with the hand-drawn, confusing map that you might have been using before (and that your competitors may still be using on their websites). Now go back to your Google Maps listing, click on the “more info” link, and see the enhancements that you’ve made, fully aware the similar enhancements probably do not appear alongside of your competitors’ listings because they will not have taken the time to follow these simple steps. The entire process will take very little time, probably less than 20 minutes. As a bonus, keep in mind that your Google Maps results page will also represent one more inbound link to your website, enhancing your site’s search engine ranking!

This article was originally written in August 2008 for Northeast In-Sites, the newsletter of the Northeast Campground Association. It was later reprinted in Woodall’s Campground Management.