Stay in front of the people who were THIS CLOSE to booking with one simple fishing charter Google Ads strategy.
Let’s talk numbers for a minute—because sometimes it helps to know that you’re not alone. Most travel and tour businesses only convert about 0.3% of their site visitors into bookings. Even if you’re doing better than that, you’re probably still closing less than 5% of first-time visitors, which puts you in a pretty common spot. And if your guide trips are a high-ticket, high-consideration experience, you’ve probably got a lot of people checking things out before booking—not buying on a whim.
Here’s the kicker: only about 2.4% of first-time visitors convert, while those same visitors who come back are way more likely to book. Remarketing isn’t just a follow-up; it’s a 2nd, 3rd, 4th+ chance at casting at your recent website visitors that dramatically increases your chances—retargeted users are 43% more likely to convert and are 3 times more likely to click on an ad than cold traffic.
So what’s all that mean for your fishing charter, guide service, or lodge? As long as we’re seeing your website visitors spending a solid minute or more looking at your website, we know the quality is there. People are interested, they’ve spent their time looking at your trips – but they usually bounce because they’re not ready yet—checking dates, comparing guides, maybe talking to the wife or their fishing buddy or checking the weather. That’s where remarketing comes in: you don’t let that interest just walk away… Especially if you’re running Google Ads campaigns and are paying to drive people to your website. This is your opportunity to stay in front of your recent website visitors and educate them on why you’re the go-to in your area.
That’s what makes Google Display Remarketing so damn valuable for outfitters—it’s the difference between a cold lead that never returns and a warm lead you reel back in. Here’s why remarketing campaigns are always a piece of our fishing charter Google Ads strategy.
How Does Google Ads Remarketing Work?
Remarketing is basically your chance to follow someone around the internet after they’ve already visited your site. We’ve all been victims of this… Orvis and Cabelas are great examples. If you go shop around on either website, you’ll notice those same products you looked at following you around the web – or at least seeing logos and branded images from the brands. You can do the same thing for your fishing business.
They came to your page once, so you know they’re interested. With Google Display remarketing through Google Ads, we can make sure they keep seeing your business name/logo, your best fish photos, and a seasonally relevant ad encouraging them to come back and take another look.
We set this up right out of the gate when we start running Google Ads for fishing charters, guides, or lodges. Google Analytics and Google Ads work together to track your site visitors, and then we create what’s called a remarketing audience — basically a list of people we can advertise to.
You can actually keep someone on that list for up to 540 days which is wild. We don’t have to bombard them with ads the entire time, but the sweet spot for most fisheries is more like 30–60 days — long enough to stay on their radar during the planning process, short enough not to become the creepy guy who lingers too long in the fly shop but never buys anything.
Why This Matters For Fishing Websites: Low Conversion Rates!
Here’s the thing — if someone lands on your website, chances are they’re already interested in what you offer. They’re not just wandering around the internet looking for random fishing guides — they searched for something you do, in the place you do it, and they clicked. But as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, most websites convert only a small percentage of visitors on the first visit. Even the best businesses I work with convert less than 5% of their website traffic. (Check out this blog post about how to improve the effectiveness of fishing charter websites).
The majority of people won’t pick up the phone, fill out your contact form, or book online right away. They’re still in research mode — maybe checking dates, talking to friends, or price-shopping. That’s why it’s so important to stay top-of-mind after someone’s shown interest in your trips, especially if you just paid to get them there through Google Ads or another paid channel. You’ve already spent money to get them to your site — remarketing makes sure that investment doesn’t slip away.
A Perfect Example: Weather.com
One of my favorite examples is weather.com.
Let’s say someone’s on your site, checking out your trips… but they don’t book yet. Next, they hop over to weather.com to check the forecast for your area. BAM — there’s your ad on the side of the page. Your logo, your best image of a happy client holding a big fish, and a call to action like, “Book Ahead for Spring Dates!”. That’s remarketing in action. And because the ad is seasonal, it feels timely — not spammy.
If you open up that link for weather.com right now, you’ll see multiple Google Ads placements showing you image and video based ads for businesses you’ve either engaged with recently, or Google thinks you might be interested in.
Why This Works (and Why Most of Your Competition Isn’t Doing It)
A lot of outfitters will run Google Search ads — and that’s fine. But very few go the extra mile and set up proper remarketing. That’s your advantage.
Remember, these folks already know who you are. They’ve been to your website. They’re warm leads. Showing them a few more ads over the next month or two might be all it takes to get them back and on your calendar.
This is especially important for high competition fisheries where you know potential clients are checking out multiple fishing sites before deciding who to reach out to. If someone looks at a few websites (including yours) and then leaves before reaching out, you want to be the guide service that people continue seeing. It can help even the small fish in the area stand out as the premier outfitter in the area.
Low-Budget, High-Impact
The best part? You don’t need a big Google Ads budget here. Most fishing websites don’t get enough traffic to justify spending $20/day on remarketing. I usually set these campaigns at $1–$5/day. That’s it.
For just a buck or two a day, your ad could be showing up next to the forecast, on a fishing forum, or even on a news site your potential client visits every morning. It’s like having a billboard that only shows up for people who have already walked into your “shop”.
Bottom Line
If you’re not running Google Display remarketing ads, you’re letting hot leads go cold. This isn’t about chasing people down — it’s about staying in sight so that when they’re ready to book, you’re the one they call. For me this is a no-brainer piece of the puzzle – it’s a digital safety net under your website that helps support everything you’re doing to push people to your site (organic Google traffic, social media, emails, business cards, etc.).
And the truth is, most of the guides you’re competing against aren’t doing this. So you can quietly run these low-budget campaigns, keep your face in front of the right people, and fill your trips without breaking the bank.
If you’re still here – you’re obviously a great candidate for running a campaign like this. Our team runs Google Ads campaigns exclusively for fishing charters, guides, and lodges. Reach out anytime and we’ll help get this set up for you, too.
Tight lines,
Dan at The Click Hatch
