Businesses around Pickwick Lake and Savannah, Tennessee, get ready for every season. The website is often the last thing looked at, if it is looked at at all. For a business that lives on visitors, that is the wrong way round: a visitor planning a Pickwick trip from out of state decides where to stay, eat and spend money weeks before arriving, and the website is where that decision gets made.
Make the hours current first
Hours in Hardin County change by season, and out-of-date hours cost real business. Before the season starts, check every place the website shows hours: the header or footer, the contact page, any page that mentions opening times, and the structured data search engines read behind the scenes. They should all agree, and they should all show this season’s hours. If the hours change again in the fall, put the date in the calendar now.
Be findable by somebody who has never been here
A family planning a trip from out of state does not know one Hardin County town from another. They search for Pickwick Lake, Pickwick Dam, the state park, or the kind of place they want: a cabin, a marina, a guide, a restaurant. A business website should name those places in plain words, say where the business is in relation to them, and tell a visitor what they need to know before they book or set off.
Plan for the event weekends
Savannah’s calendar has its own peaks: Salute to the Forties in spring, the Bluegrass Festival in summer, RiverFest in fall and Christmas on Main in December. Visitors coming for those weekends search for what is open and where to eat or stay. A short note on the site for each one, with any change to hours and anything the business is doing for the weekend, catches those searches. Take the note down when the weekend is over, so the site never advertises an event that has passed.
Test the form and the phone link
Visitors who plan ahead often send a question before they book. Before the season, send a test message through your own contact form and make sure it arrives, and tap the phone number on your own site from a phone. A form that quietly stops sending costs most in the busiest weeks. We have seen it happen: The Contact Form That Threw Every Message Away.
Check your listings elsewhere
If the business also has a Google Business Profile or appears in visitor guides, the owner should check the hours and phone number there before the season too, so they match the website.
Get ready for what is coming
Savannah has a 99-acre riverfront marina project, the city’s first hotel and a planned amphitheater in development. When they open, more visitors will be searching for places to eat, shop and spend the day nearby. A business with a current, clear website when that happens is ready for them.
JM Marketing builds, hosts and maintains websites for businesses in Savannah and around Pickwick Lake. See website design in Savannah and Hardin County, or call Jeff McDaniel at 662-422-1809.