SEO isn't just for tech giants and online stores—it's a powerful tool that the best amusement parks in the world use strategically to attract visitors.
We know you're busy running your amusement park and the thought of optimizing your website might feel like another burden.
But here's the deal: you don't need to be an SEO expert or spend a fortune to make it work. Just a few simple steps can significantly improve your online visibility and bring more guests through your gates.
To help you out, we have built a free SEO checklist - also, for a full action plan, please check our pack of marketing tactics and strategies for amusement park owners.
Get the SEO checklist made for amusement park owners
The best amusement parks rank first on Google. Here is a free tool to to get you started.
What is SEO for amusement parks exactly?
Simply put, SEO is all about making your amusement park’s website more attractive to search engines like Google.
When someone searches for "best amusement park in [Your Town]" or "family-friendly attractions," SEO helps your amusement park show up in the results. The goal is to get your website higher up on the search results page so more people can find and visit your park.
Why is SEO Important for Amusement Parks?
SEO is incredibly important for amusement parks, and here’s why:
- Increased Online Visibility:
The higher your website ranks on search engines, the more people will see it. This means more potential visitors discovering your amusement park online, especially when they're looking for fun activities.
- Higher Rankings on Search Engines:
Most people don’t look past the first page of search results. By optimizing your site, you can climb those rankings and beat out the competition. Imagine someone searching for "best roller coasters near me" and finding your park right at the top!
- Attracting More Local Visitors:
SEO isn't just about getting anyone to your site—it's about getting the right people. Local SEO helps ensure that when someone nearby searches for a place to have fun, your amusement park pops up. This means more foot traffic and more guests enjoying your attractions.
Key Components of SEO
Now, let’s break down the main parts of SEO specifically for your amusement park:
On-Page SEO
This involves making sure the content on your website is optimized. It includes things like:
- Keywords:
Using the words and phrases people are searching for in your titles, descriptions, and content. For example, if you have a water park, make sure you use phrases like "best water slides" or "family-friendly water park" on your site.
- Content Quality:
Providing useful, engaging, and fresh content about your amusement park. Share your attractions, special offers, upcoming events, and stories about your park and team.
- Meta Tags:
Using meta titles and descriptions that are relevant and appealing to searchers. For instance, a meta description for your homepage could be "Experience thrilling rides and family fun at [Your Park Name], the top-rated amusement park in [Your Town]."
Off-Page SEO
This focuses on actions taken outside your website to impact your rankings:
- Backlinks:
Getting other reputable websites to link to your site, which signals to search engines that your site is trustworthy and relevant. This could be from travel bloggers, local news sites, or community event pages.
- Social Media:
Being active on social media with your amusement park’s page can drive traffic to your site and improve your online presence. Share your latest attractions, visitor reviews, and special events to engage with your audience.
Technical SEO
This ensures your website meets the technical requirements of search engines:
- Site Speed:
Making sure your website loads quickly. No one likes to wait, especially excited visitors looking for your attractions!
- Mobile-Friendliness:
Ensuring your site looks and works well on mobile devices. Many people search for amusement parks on their phones while on the go.
- Secure Website (HTTPS):
Having a secure website that users (and search engines) can trust. This is especially important if you have an online ticketing or reservation system.
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Which keywords should you target for your amusement park?
Amusement park owners, like you, must target specific keywords in SEO because it helps your website appear in search results when potential visitors look for the type of attractions or experiences you offer. This increases the chances that people will find and visit your amusement park.
For example, if you specialize in thrilling roller coasters, targeting keywords like "best roller coasters" or "amusement park near me" helps attract visitors searching for those terms. This makes it easier for people interested in amusement parks to find your park online.
Here are some keyword ideas for you, if you want a more developed strategy, with actionable steps, go check out our strategy pack for amusement park owners.
Keyword | Competitiveness Level | Tips and Initiatives |
---|---|---|
Best amusement park in [Your City] | High | Optimize your website with high-quality images of attractions, gather visitor reviews, list on local directories, and use local SEO strategies. |
Where to find thrilling rides | Medium | Create blog posts or pages on your website highlighting your best rides, use keywords naturally in content, and engage with local travel bloggers. |
Amusement park with good atmosphere near me | Medium | Use beautiful imagery of your park's ambiance, gather positive visitor reviews, and ensure your Google My Business profile is complete. |
Best place for family fun in [Your City] | Medium | Feature family-friendly attractions prominently on your website, use local SEO tactics, and promote special events on social media. |
[Your Park's Name] in [Your City] | High | Highlight unique aspects of your park, create SEO-friendly content about your attractions, and engage with the local community online. |
Top-rated amusement park near me | High | Encourage satisfied visitors to leave positive reviews, optimize your website for mobile, and ensure accurate information on local listings. |
Affordable amusement park in [Your City] | Low | Highlight affordable ticket options and specials on your website, use keywords related to value, and promote deals on social media. |
Where to find fun rides near me | Medium | Use local SEO strategies, create content around popular rides, and ensure your website is optimized for mobile users searching nearby. |
Popular amusement park in [Your City] | Medium | Use social media to share popular attractions, engage with local influencers, and gather visitor testimonials to build credibility. |
Best amusement park for families in [Your City] | Low | Create family-friendly content, highlight amenities for families on your website, and host family-themed events to generate buzz. |
What really matters when you do SEO for an amusement park
Actually, we think that SEO often follows the 80/20 rule, meaning that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. For amusement park owners, like you, this means it's crucial to focus on the right strategies to maximize impact without feeling overwhelmed.
Action / Initiative | Why It Matters / How It Helps Bring New Visitors |
---|---|
Optimize Google My Business profile | Ensures your amusement park appears in local search results, provides essential information (hours, location, attractions), and collects reviews to build trust. |
Gather and respond to online reviews | Positive reviews build credibility and trust. Responding to reviews shows you value visitor feedback, encouraging more people to visit. |
Create high-quality content with targeted keywords | Helps your website rank higher in search results for relevant queries, attracting visitors looking for specific types of attractions or experiences. |
Optimize for local SEO | Ensures your amusement park shows up in local searches (e.g., "amusement parks near me"), driving foot traffic from nearby potential visitors. |
Ensure website is mobile-friendly | Most users search for amusement parks on their phones. A mobile-friendly site provides a better user experience, leading to higher engagement and ticket sales. |
Use high-quality images of rides and attractions | Attractive photos entice potential visitors, showcasing your rides and atmosphere, which can significantly influence their decision to visit. |
Include an online map with keywords | Allows search engines to index your map, helping you appear in searches for specific attractions, and makes it easy for visitors to navigate your park. |
List your amusement park on local directories | Increases your online presence and backlinks, improving your search engine ranking and making it easier for visitors to find you. |
Engage with local travel bloggers and influencers | Generates buzz and word-of-mouth, reaching a wider audience and attracting visitors who trust these local voices. |
Promote special events and offers | Creates a sense of urgency and excitement, encouraging potential visitors to come to your park for unique experiences. |
Utilize social media to share updates and engage with visitors | Builds a community around your amusement park, keeps visitors informed about new attractions, and drives traffic to your website. |
Ensure accurate and consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across all platforms | Prevents confusion, helps search engines trust your business information, and improves your local SEO ranking. |
Offer online ticket purchasing and reservations | Makes it convenient for visitors to plan their visit, leading to increased ticket sales and smoother entry experiences. |
Create blog posts about your attractions and visitor experiences | Attracts visitors to your site through informative and engaging content, improving SEO and showcasing what makes your amusement park unique. |
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What is always useless when you do SEO for an amusement park
We have studied a lot of amusement parks when we built our strategy pack and we saw a lot of SEO-related initiatives that don't help attract new visitors. We explain here why they might be a waste of time or even counterproductive.
Action / Initiative | Why It Doesn't Matter / How It Doesn't Help Bring New Visitors |
---|---|
Using meta keyword tags | Search engines no longer use meta keyword tags to rank pages, so focusing on them doesn't improve SEO for your amusement park. |
Keyword stuffing in ride descriptions | Overusing keywords in ride descriptions makes them hard to read and can be penalized by search engines, turning away potential visitors. |
Paying for backlinks from unrelated websites | Backlinks from non-entertainment related or low-quality websites don't improve your SEO and can even hurt your ranking if considered spammy by search engines. |
Using exact match domains like bestamusementpark.com | Having an exact match domain has minimal impact on SEO and can appear spammy, especially if it doesn't reflect your brand well. |
Creating multiple pages for the same attractions | Duplicate content confuses search engines and can dilute your SEO efforts. Focus on one high-quality page for each unique attraction or topic. |
Using Flash for ride or ticket booking pages | Flash is outdated, not supported by many devices, and negatively impacts SEO. Modern alternatives like HTML5 should be used instead. |
Focusing only on desktop optimization | Many visitors search for amusement parks on mobile devices. Ignoring mobile optimization leads to poor user experience and lower search rankings. |
Using automated link-building tools | These tools often create low-quality or spammy links that can be penalized by search engines, hurting your amusement park's SEO efforts. |
Ignoring structured data for attractions | Structured data helps search engines understand your attractions better. Ignoring it means missing out on potential SEO benefits like rich snippets. |
Not updating your event calendar regularly | Outdated event information can frustrate visitors and harm your SEO. Regular updates keep content relevant and maintain search rankings. |
Using irrelevant stock photos on your site | Low-quality or irrelevant images can negatively impact user experience and SEO. Use high-quality photos of your actual rides and park. |
Over-optimizing anchor text in links | Using exact match keywords for every link appears unnatural and can be penalized by search engines. Use varied, natural anchor text instead. |
Ignoring page load speed for your website | Slow-loading pages frustrate users and can lead to higher bounce rates, negatively impacting your amusement park's SEO. Ensure your site loads quickly. |
Using too many ads above the fold on your homepage | Too many ads at the top of the page can be off-putting for users and may be penalized by search engines, impacting your SEO negatively. |
Should you pay someone for the SEO of your amusement park?
Well, let's be upfront. Here’s the thing: SEO can get pretty complex, and having some support can really make a difference. Imagine trying to juggle running your amusement park, managing staff, keeping visitors entertained, and then on top of that, diving into the world of search engine optimization. It’s a lot, right?
Having someone handle your SEO means you can focus on what you do best—running your amusement park. SEO experts know the ins and outs of getting your website to rank higher on search engines. They stay updated on the latest trends and algorithms, which means your site will be optimized correctly and consistently. This can lead to more people finding your amusement park online, and ultimately, more visitors walking through your gates.
- But here’s the kicker: there are a lot of low-hanging fruits in SEO that you can tackle on your own, even if you don’t know much about it.
You will find a lot of low-hanging fruits that cost nothing, are quick to implement, and will make your amusement park’s website much more visible in strategy pack for amusement park owners.
Simple actions like optimizing your Google My Business profile, ensuring your website is mobile-friendly, and using relevant keywords can significantly improve your online presence. These tasks don't require deep technical knowledge but can make a big impact.
So, should you increase the marketing budget of your amusement park and pay someone to manage your SEO? If you can do it, it’s a worthwhile investment. But don't underestimate what you can achieve on your own. Start with the basics, see the results, and then decide if you need more specialized help.
Make your amusement park more profitable
We have studied the strategies of the best amusement parks in the world. All their tactics are explained in our pack!
Useful tools amusement park owners can use for their SEO
Here are some essential tools that our team has collected and listed, to help you improve your amusement park's online presence and SEO.
Tool | How It's Useful |
---|---|
Google My Business | Ensures your amusement park appears in local search results and Google Maps, provides essential information (hours, location, attractions), and collects visitor reviews. |
SEMrush | Helps identify the best keywords for your amusement park, analyze competitors, and track your search rankings. Provides insights to improve your content and visibility. |
Yext | Manages your amusement park's listings across multiple directories, ensuring consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information to boost local SEO. |
Google Search Console | Monitors your amusement park website's performance, identifies issues, and provides data on search traffic and keywords to optimize your SEO strategy. |
Yelp | Collects visitor reviews and ratings, which improve your amusement park's online reputation and visibility in local search results. |
BrightLocal | Offers tools for local SEO audits, citation building, and review management, helping your amusement park improve its local search presence. |
Moz | Provides keyword research, link building, and site audit tools to enhance your amusement park's SEO efforts and improve search engine rankings. |
Ahrefs | Analyzes your amusement park's backlink profile, identifies top-performing content, and tracks keyword rankings to boost your SEO strategy. |
Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Crawls your amusement park's website to identify technical SEO issues, such as broken links and duplicate content, helping improve site health and rankings. |
AnswerThePublic | Generates content ideas by showing what people are searching for related to your amusement park, helping you create relevant and engaging blog posts and pages. |
Canva | Helps create visually appealing social media posts and graphics for your website, which can improve user engagement and indirectly boost SEO. |
Hotjar | Provides insights into user behavior on your amusement park's website through heatmaps and session recordings, helping you optimize user experience and reduce bounce rates. |
Copy the SEO tactics of the best amusement park owners
We understand why many amusement park owners might shy away from SEO and marketing.
Managing an amusement park is already a full-time job, and the concept of SEO can seem vague and foreign. The terminology can be confusing, and it often feels like marketing is a luxury only big corporations can afford.
Plus, there's the constant worry about costs and whether any marketing efforts will actually pay off. We get that you prefer to focus on immediate, tangible improvements to your park rather than dive into something that seems complicated and uncertain. No need to deteriorate your amusement park’s budget here.
That's why we've created a "marketing pack" specifically for amusement park owners like you.
Our pack is designed to address all these concerns head-on. It includes easy-to-follow guides that break down SEO and marketing into simple steps, so you don't need to be a tech expert to understand. We offer cost-effective strategies that fit within tight budgets, and our step-by-step plans ensure that you can implement a good marketing strategy for your amusement park without feeling overwhelmed.
Plus, we've included real-life examples and tips that have worked for other small amusement parks, so you can see the tangible benefits before you even start.
Our goal is to make marketing accessible and practical, helping your amusement park thrive without adding extra stress to your already busy life.
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