Outland Expeditions –
How Pre-Season SEO Carried a Seasonal Business to 135% More Clicks Before Peak Season
Client Overview
Outland Expeditions is a whitewater rafting company in Tennessee, operating in a hyper-competitive stretch of river with 20+ nearby operators. Their peak season runs from May through September, with June and July as the highest-traffic months. Outside of that window, interest in rafting drops sharply — especially from October through early March.
The Challenge
Outland Expeditions partnered with us during their off-season in Janurary 2024, when demand was at its lowest. That timing gave us space to lay technical foundations, build authority, and prepare for the upcoming surge in rafting searches.
The growth came quickly — due to both seasonal momentum and our SEO efforts. However, as the 2024 peak season came to a close, the client began to wonder: “Do we need SEO during the off months?” They considered pausing and picking it back up during peak season — but by then, they would’ve already missed the window when most customers begin planning.
Problem: Seasonal demand made it hard to justify SEO spend during off months.
Goal: Build visibility early to capture planners before competitors.
The Finch Fix: Strategic SEO That Builds Momentum
We applied our full-stack SEO framework — The Finch Fix — across content, technical infrastructure, and authority-building efforts:
- Topical Mapping & Internal Linking
Reinforced their most valuable keywords through strategic linking and supporting content clusters. - Early-Intent Content Creation
We published seasonal and location-driven articles in the off-season to target planners ahead of the May–September rush. - Off-Page SEO
Built trust with quality backlinks, local citations, and relevant press mentions. - Technical Enhancements
Cleaned up crawl errors, improved speed, added schema, and tightened page structures. - Local Profile Monitoring
Actively monitored competitor GBP listings for keyword stuffing, while keeping Outland’s profiles optimized and current.
Even with minimal web development changes, these layered efforts gave Outland a major edge — before anyone hit the water.
The Outcome — Visibility Ahead of the Season
Pre-Season Surge (Jan–Apr 2025)
By March 2025, Outland’s organic visibility had already exceeded their peak season performance from June–July 2024. This came before the rafting season officially began.
Q1 Year-over-Year Gains
Dec 2023–Apr 2025 line graph showing clicks + impressions
We also compared Q1 results year-over-year. Even during the off-season, Outland tripled their visibility.
- Title Tags & Meta Descriptions: We optimized every page to improve search visibility for both branded and non-branded keywords.
- Alt Text on Images: No image was left without descriptive alt text, maximizing every possible SEO opportunity.
- Fixing Broken Links & Tightening Site Structure: We cleaned up any broken links and organized the site’s header structure to make it intuitive for both users and search engines.
- Keyword Research & Gap Analysis: By digging deep into keyword research, we found gaps in their content and filled them with valuable, optimized material.
- Semantic SEO: Instead of just ranking for keywords, we focused on the intent behind the search queries. We tailored content to answer the real questions their target market was asking, which boosted rankings across both short- and long-tail keywords.
Why It Matters for Seasonal Businesses
Whitewater rafting searches in Tennessee rise steeply in May and fall by late September. Businesses that show up early — before this curve — are the ones that win attention and bookings first.
With our help, Outland gained visibility before that seasonal demand kicked in. This showed up not just in clicks, but in local discovery as well.
Google Business Profile Interactions
This shows search visibility was driving discovery even when bookings were quiet.
Real-World Impact
Outland entered the 2025 season not just visible — but leading. Thanks to consistent SEO during the off-season, they reached potential rafters before competitors ramped up.
They didn’t just show up when customers started searching — they were already there.
This approach helped them:
Capture high-intent traffic early
Grow business profile engagement during off months
Remain competitive in a market with 20+ similar operators
While others were scrambling to get seen, Outland was already ranking, appearing, and converting — owning the season before it began.