Caravan Park SEO: Filling Pitches Year-Round

Southport and the surrounding Lancashire coast have been caravan country for generations. From static holiday homes overlooking the dunes to touring pitches nestled in the West Lancashire countryside, this area has one of the highest concentrations of holiday parks in the North West.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: most caravan parks in the Southport area are handing a significant chunk of their bookings—and their profit margins—to third-party aggregator websites.

Sites like Pitchup, Haven, and various booking aggregators sit between you and your customer, taking commissions on every booking. The irony? Those sites are ranking for your park's name, your location, and the keywords your customers are actually searching. Time to take that traffic back.

The Seasonal Booking Pattern

Caravan park search traffic follows a predictable pattern, and understanding it is the first step to capturing it.

The most important insight? People book caravan holidays weeks or months in advance. Your SEO work in January directly affects your August occupancy. If you wait until June to start thinking about online visibility, you've missed the boat—or the caravan.

How Aggregators Steal Your Bookings

Let's be blunt about what's happening. When someone searches "caravan parks near Southport," the top results are typically:

• Position 1–3: Paid ads from national booking platforms
• Position 4–6: Aggregator sites (Pitchup, UKCampsite, etc.)
• Position 7+: Maybe your park, if you're lucky

Even worse, some aggregators create pages specifically for your park name. So when a customer who's already heard about you Googles your name, they might click the aggregator listing instead of your own site—and you pay commission on a booking that should have been free.

The Commission Problem

Aggregator commissions typically range from 10% to 20% per booking. On a £500 weekly caravan hire, that's £50 to £100 going to a middleman. Multiply that across your entire season, and you might be losing thousands of pounds that could stay in your pocket.

Direct Booking Website Strategy

The solution isn't to abandon aggregator sites entirely—they do provide reach. The solution is to make your own website the primary booking channel. Here's how:

1. Make Direct Booking Easy and Obvious

Your website needs a prominent booking system that works flawlessly on mobile. Check availability, select dates, pay securely—all without phoning anyone. If your booking process has more friction than an aggregator site, you'll lose. It needs to be just as slick, if not slicker.

2. Offer a Direct Booking Incentive

Give customers a reason to book directly: a 5% discount, a welcome hamper, free WiFi upgrade, or early check-in. Make it clear on your website: "Book direct and save." This is a proven strategy across the hospitality industry.

3. Build Location-Rich Content

Aggregators can't compete with you on local knowledge. Create detailed content about:

• What to do in Southport during your stay (local attractions, beaches, Lord Street)
• Dog-friendly walks near the park
• Family days out from your doorstep
• Seasonal events in the area (Southport Air Show, Flower Show, food festivals)

This content does double duty: it helps your SEO rankings and it helps convince visitors to book by showing them everything they can enjoy nearby.

4. Dominate Your Brand Searches

If aggregators are ranking for your park name, you need to reclaim that space. Ensure your website has your park name in the title tag, meta description, H1, and throughout the content. Run a small Google Ads campaign on your own brand name—it's cheap and prevents aggregators from stealing clicks.

5. Leverage Google Business Profile

Keep your Google Business Profile immaculate: accurate contact details, up-to-date photos, regular posts, and a direct link to your booking page (not an aggregator). Encourage guests to leave reviews on Google specifically.

Year-Round Occupancy: Thinking Beyond Summer

The parks that thrive financially aren't just summer businesses. There's growing demand for:

• Off-season short breaks: Weekend getaways, particularly for couples and dog owners
• Seasonal events: Halloween weekends, bonfire night, Christmas light stays
• Static caravan sales: A year-round revenue stream that deserves its own dedicated website section
• Storage and maintenance: Winter storage for touring caravans is a quietly profitable service

Each of these represents a content opportunity. A page targeting "winter caravan breaks Lancashire" or "static caravans for sale Southport" captures traffic that your summer-only competitors miss entirely.