Is Your Website Ready for Gauley Season? A 10-Point Checklist
#gauley_season#checklist#tourismSix weekends. That’s Gauley season — the fall dam releases that bring paddlers from all over the world to Summersville and Fayetteville, filling every cabin, campsite, and restaurant table in the region. Most of those visitors plan their trip on a phone, weeks ahead, starting with a Google search.
Here’s the checklist we’d run on any Gorge-area business’s website before Labor Day.
The ten points
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Your fall hours are on the site and on Google. If you extend hours for release weekends, say so in both places — a visitor who finds conflicting hours books somewhere else.
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Your site loads in under three seconds on a phone. Test it on PageSpeed Insights. Visitors on campground Wi-Fi and one bar of service won’t wait.
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Prices are current. A 2024 price list creates awkward conversations and one-star reviews. If prices vary, at least say “from $X.”
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There’s a clear “book now” or “call us” button visible without scrolling. On mobile, that phone number should be tap-to-call (
tel:link). Make the next step obvious. -
The words “Gauley season” actually appear on your site. You can’t rank for a phrase you never use. A short page or post — “Gauley Season at [Your Business]” — with dates, what to expect, and how to book covers it.
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Release dates are mentioned (and correct). Summersville Dam release schedules are published by the Army Corps. Referencing them makes your page genuinely useful — and useful pages rank.
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Photos are from the last year or two. Fall photos especially: the Gorge in October sells itself.
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Your Google Business Profile is claimed and current. It’s where most “near me” traffic actually lands. (Our 30-minute setup guide.)
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Someone is answering the inbox. Contact forms that route to an unwatched email are silent business killers. Test yours — send a message, see how long the reply takes.
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Nothing is broken. Click every menu link on your phone. Dead links and half-loaded pages tell visitors your business runs the same way.
The honest math
A cabin operator with 20% more direction-requests during six Gauley weekends isn’t a rounding error — it’s the season’s margin. Most of this checklist costs nothing but an afternoon. The rest is what we do all day.
Short on time before the releases start? Get in touch — a pre-season website tune-up is a small, fixed-price project.