Just when most of us thought that search couldn’t get better than Google, Microsoft has introduced its own new search engine, calling Bing. Didn’t Microsoft already have Live Search? Well, yes, but we all know that it never gained any traction in the market that was dominated by Google and Yahoo!. Type in http://www.live.com, and the URL redirects to http://www.bing.com. No surprise there. Is this actually Microsoft’s response to Google’s development of the Chrome browser. Two of the biggest forces in the industry fighting fire with fire? Maybe.

For you, the bottom line is to be certain that your website is indexed on Bing. It’s simple enough. Go to http://www.bing.com, and enter the name of your business into the search box. Hopefully, your site is already indexed and will come up at the top of the list. If not, submitting your site is as easy as entering a captcha and your URL at:
http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx.

Remember, every link to your site counts, particularly one from a site that, in theory at least, could become the next big search engine. On the other hand, it has been pointed out that Bing is also an acronym for “But It’s Not Google”.

One of the most effective ways to improve your website’s organic search engine position is to increase the quantity and quality of both inbound and outbound links to established, highly rated sites. As an added benefit, any inbound links are going to directly increase the amount of traffic from the referring sites which provide the links. Too many people obsess over the concept of “reciprocal links”, and this is unfortunate. Whether or not another site provides a reciprocal link is not nearly as important as the links themselves, even if they are one-way links. Let us take a separate look at inbound and outbound links.

Outbound links from your site to another site should provide your visitors with sources of additional information that relates to your business or your site’s content. Let’s say that you own a business that sells small kitchen appliances, it would be a good idea to provide links to the manufacturers that you represent, independent product reviews, and general consumer information on the various appliances. By doing so, you are enhancing the usefulness of your site to its visitors (and lessening the likelihood that they might choose to turn elsewhere … perhaps a competitor … for that same information). Simply by association with these sites, your site’s own search engine ranking will improve.

There are a few guidelines when setting up outbound links:
1) Setup the links to open in new tabs or browser windows so that your visitors do not lose track of their point of origin.
2) When choosing outbound links, try to find sites that are, in themselves, highly search rated. A good reference is a site’s “PageRank”, as indicated by the Google Toolbar that you should have installed on your browser. (It’s free!) Try to choose businesses that have a PageRank that is as high or higher than your own.
3) Links that are anchored to text (such as my Google Toolbar link, above) are more valuable than links that are anchored to graphics. If possible, use the two in conjunction.
4) Links that relate to the content that appears on the linking page is more valuable than more general links.
5) Do not include more than a maximum of 50 outbound links on a page.

Inbound links from other sites to yours are even more important. Most of the same guidelines still apply. Every link counts when determining your search engine ranking, as long as it appears on a recognized page of a highly rated site. What you don’t want (but probably cannot prevent) are incoming links from so-called “link farms” which are trying to build their own search engine ranking by capitalizing upon their outbound links to your sites and hundreds of others, typically with totally unrelated content. Obtaining inbound links from the same websites to which you are supplying outbound links should be one of your top priorities, particularly if their websites are more highly rated than your own. The appliance manufacturers, for example, may have links to “where to buy our products”. Try to insure that your business is not only listed but that there is a link to your website. Inbound links from any directories that relate to your business should be your next priority. Don’t forget to include blogs, and even appropriate MySpace and Facebook pages. Whatever effort you put into link creation today will pay dividends tomorrow. In difficult economic times, I can’t think of a better way of helping to insure your continuing success.

Particularly if you have a business in the northern tier of states, you know that there is a sizable Canadian market to be tapped, filled with consumers eager to spend their “loonies” in the “lower 48”. There is no better way to reach this market than to be listed in one of their major directories. Many people are not aware that the Yahoo! Canada Directory includes listings of U.S. businesses, if you drill down into the proper categories. For example, let’s say you own a seafood restaurant at the Jersey Shore. You would start with Recreation > Travel > By Region > U.S. States > New Jersey > Counties & Regions > Jersey Shore > Restaurants > Seafood. If yours is not one of the three seafood restaurants which are currently listed, click on the Suggest a Site link in the upper right of the page, then choose the Standard (free) Consideration, and follow the instructions. Keep in mind that you MUST reach the most appropriate page where your site should be listed before beginning the submission process.

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.

Most website owners these days are obsessed, for good reason with Google and Yahoo!, the two behemoths of Internet search. Those of us who remember the early days of the World Wide Web, back in the last century, know that before there was search there were directories. When Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web evolved into Yahoo!, it was a directory, not a search engine, and getting your site listed in the directory was neither particularly easy nor inexpensive. In response to this “Yahoo! Challenge”, the Open Directory Project evolved out of Netscape and the Mozilla Project, hence the dmoz.org address (which evolved from the directory.mozilla.org address). The Open Directory, as always, remains to be maintained by a community of volunteer editors, and you cannot pay to be listed, although a shortage of volunteers (compounded by a degree of infighting and power struggles within the editorial ranks) can often lead to lengthy waits before a submission is approved and added to the directory.

Although it is true that Internet users today turn to search (usually on Google) to find what they want online, rarely opting to wade through the hierarchical structure of a directory to find Web content, the Open Directory Project remains as important as ever. Here’s why:

• Inclusion of a website in the Open Directory has a positive impact upon a site’s Google PageRank.
• The Open Directory Project licenses its content distribution through hundreds of small search engines.
• The Open Directory Project data is included in the directory services of many of the major search engines, including Google and AOL Search. That’s right: Your search on Google will often reference site listings from the Open Directory.

Now you know why your site needs to be listed.

The submission process is simple. First, check to see if your site is already listed. Go to www.dmoz.org and enter your business name into the search box at the head of the page. A business can only be listed in one category. If you are listed, fine (unless you strongly believe that your listing should be moved to another category). If you are not listed, you can drill down through the hierarchy of categories to find the right place to list your site. If you would like to simplify this task, enter your type of business or the name of a similar business (perhaps one of your competitors) into the search box to see what listing categories might appear. Click on one of those categories to confirm that it represents the most appropriate place for your site to be listed. From that page, click on the “suggest URL” link to go to the site submission page for that category.

Enter the following information on the submission page:

• Your site URL. (Check the Regular option.)
• Your site Title (taken from the Title tag of your site’s Home page).
• A description of your site in 25-30 words. Try to write this as objectively as possible. The more that you embellish, the more likely it is that your description will be edited.
• Your e-mail address.
• Enter the captcha script at the bottom of the page, and hit Submit! You are on your way.