Google Ads can fill open weeks for a lodge faster than anything else. It can also burn a few thousand dollars a month with nothing to show for it. The difference almost never comes down to the ads themselves. It comes down to what you target, where you send people, and whether you can tell what’s working.
This is how I’d set it up for a fishing or hunting lodge.
Fix the landing page before you spend a dollar
I’ll start here because it’s the most common mistake. Lodges send paid clicks to the homepage, which was built to say a little about everything. Someone who searched “bonefish lodge Bahamas all inclusive” lands on a page about the founder’s story and a gallery. They leave.
Every ad group should land on a page that matches the search: the bonefish page, the package page, the seasons page. That page needs rates (or a starting rate), what’s included, real photos, and a clear way to check dates. If your site doesn’t have those pages, build them first. I cover what they should include in lodge website design.
Target searches from people who are planning
Not all searches are equal. You want the ones that signal someone is choosing a trip:
- Destination plus species: “tarpon fishing Puerto Rico lodge,” “Belize permit fishing lodge”
- Trip type: “all inclusive fly fishing lodge,” “guided duck hunting lodge”
- Season and planning: “best time to fish for bonefish in the Bahamas”
- Your own name: cheap, and protects you from competitors bidding on it
Avoid broad, curious searches like “fly fishing” or “hunting trips.” They’re expensive and mostly bring in people who aren’t buying anything. Add negative keywords early and review the search terms report every week for the first couple of months: “jobs,” “free,” “DIY,” “license,” “gear,” and anything about places you don’t operate.
Write ads that qualify, not just attract
The goal isn’t the most clicks. It’s clicks from people who can actually book. Put the useful facts in the ad:
- The species and destination
- What’s included (“all inclusive,” “guided,” “transfers included”)
- A starting price, if you’re comfortable with it
- Season or availability (“Spring 2027 dates open”)
A starting price in the ad will lower your click volume. Good. The clicks you lose were people who would have left the moment they saw your rates, and you would have paid for each one.
Set a budget that can actually learn
Small budgets spread across a dozen campaigns never get enough data to tell you anything. Start focused: one or two campaigns around your core species or packages, enough daily budget to get meaningful traffic, and expand from what works.
Run ads harder in the months people plan, not just the months you have open dates. For many destination lodges, guests book months ahead, so the time to advertise next spring is this fall and winter.
Track inquiries, not clicks
If you can’t see which ads produce inquiries, you’re guessing. At minimum:
- Track form submissions and calls as conversions in Google Ads and GA4.
- Pass the source (campaign, keyword) into your CRM with each inquiry, so you can see which ones turn into deposits.
- Judge campaigns by cost per inquiry and, eventually, cost per booking. Not by impressions or click-through rate.
The sites I build send ad click IDs and UTM data straight into the CRM with every lead, so this is visible from day one.
Remarketing for the people who almost booked
Most lodge visitors leave without inquiring, because they’re still deciding. Remarketing (showing ads to people who visited your site) is a cheap way to stay in front of them while they compare options. Show them the things that close the deal: a guest video, open dates, what’s included. Keep the frequency reasonable. Nobody wants to be followed around the internet.
Common mistakes that burn money
- Sending ads to the homepage
- Bidding on broad terms with no negative keywords
- Letting Google auto-apply recommendations without reviewing them
- No conversion tracking, or tracking page views as “conversions”
- Slow replies to the inquiries the ads produce. If a paid lead waits three days for a reply, you paid for a lead you gave away.
Ads and SEO work together
Ads fill this season. SEO builds next season. The pages you create for good ad landing pages are the same pages that rank in search over time, so the work compounds. More on that in SEO for fishing lodges.
If you’re running ads now and can’t tell whether they’re working, that’s usually the first thing to fix. Send me your site and I’ll take a look.
