As we all know, 2009 has turned out to be a very difficult year for many camps.  Some programs are definitely performing better than others and much of that has to do with pursuing every angle possible to get in front of prospective parents.

Making it more difficult are the numbers of camp directories springing up to vie for your business.  Newsletters are emailed, promotions are given, discounts made…but what are you really getting for those $$$?

At Summer Camps Massachusetts, our directory is geared towards one purpose; driving campers to camps.  In speaking with a number of programs in the Bay State, it was apparent that they were not very interested in staff databases, promotional products, facility rentals, etc. and that the bottom line was bringing new campers to their programs.

Traffic: What it means / What it doesn’t mean

Many directories like to tout their traffic numbers, however you need to understand how the data is collected and interpreted to make an educated decision about which directories to use.  First of all, what traffic are they sending you?  Is it parent traffic?  Staff traffic?  Someone searching for pictures?  “Spiders” or “Bots” that troll the web??  The only way for you to know what is really working for you is by conversions.  This is most important word in sales.  Basically it means would you rather have a website that sends you 100 visitors and only one of them uses your service or would you prefer to be sent 40 visitors and 10 of them register for your program?  In the former example, there is a 1% conversion rate while in the other there is a 25% conversion rate.  Unfortunately the only true way to find out is to ask your registrants where they are coming from.

National Directories vs. Local

Without question, a national summer camp directory will have more overall visitors, but what does someone looking for a camp in Texas have to do with your program in Massachusetts?  On one hand, it gives the directory national exposure, however that national directory will have to play second fiddle to a local directory that is targeted for that particular state.  When key words specific to a particular state are typed into search engines, national directories seldom come up in the first position.

The SCM website was designed in an optimal fashion so as to register higher for particular search terms and over multiple platforms (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.).

Optimized for Parents

If you view the SCM website, it only takes a parent one click to get to the page that lists their town.  They do not need to fill out a form or scan the page for more than a few seconds to figure out where to go.  Secondly, they are not sent to an internal website.  If they click onto a link, they are sent directly to your website.  Unless you believe that the directory can sell your program better than you can, then this is the most effective method to use.

The Best Part is FREE!

Most directories offer some sort of free listing, however this usually means you are sent to an abyss that is between 2-30 clicks deep where you can never be found.  Even with some of the premium listings, they are set up so that you may likewise be at the bottom of a page or even lower. With SCM, EVERYBODY has some degree of relevant exposure.  Yes, if you would like to be front and center when parents first visit, then we have that option.  If you do not have the financial resources, then we offer the next best thing.

Your listing in our directory can be turned into an active link for only $99, $50 if you have a premium package OR you can have it for FREE by simply adding a small link at the bottom of your website that leads to us.  Why is that?  This is not a link that we expect anyone to click onto.  Instead it is a link we want Google to find.  One of the tools that Google uses to measure the relevance of a website is by the number and weight of incoming links.  The more we have and the better they are, then the higher we register.  The higher we register, the better you do!

In the past we insisted that the link reside on your homepage.  We still insist on this, however if your program is part of an academic institution, school or municipal website, then we will allow the link to be placed at the bottom of the program page instead. The actual image looks like this   or this .

This offer is a true “no-brainer.” It costs you nothing and it will likely mean you will have a number of people visiting your program’s website.

Remember also that if you choose a premium package, ALL of the website's traffic flows through you first before going anywhere else on the site. You are not buried in a list that is too expanse for parents to care about. We have a finite number of spaces and the type of traffic is far more specific than any other directory that services the Massachusetts area.