What did EightySix Digital do for Karamu Horse Adventures?

I built a new website with online booking, integrating Rezdy as their booking system, and added SEO so the business could be found for horse trekking and horse riding searches. The aim was a site that takes bookings on its own pages, not just one that describes the experience.

Why does a tourism business need a booking-ready website?

Because the website is where a guest decides to book, and where you keep the booking and the guest relationship. A site that is fast on a phone, answers the obvious questions and makes booking simple gives you an alternative to relying on online travel agencies for every booking.

Did Karamu Horse Adventures use Google Ads?

No. This project was web design and SEO. If you want to see what paid search can do for a tourism business, the Google Ads for tourism operators page explains how it works and what it costs.

Can you do the same for my tour or activity business?

Yes. I work with tours, lodges and adventure operators across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US and Canada. Start with the digital marketing for tourism operators page, or get in touch and tell me about your business.

Karamu Horse Adventures Case Study: Booking-Ready Website and SEO

Karamu Horse Adventures is a family-run horse trekking business in the Karamu hills near Hamilton. They came to EightySix Digital needing a new business website that could do more than describe their rides: one that let guests book online and helped new customers find them in the first place.

This case study covers what the challenge was, what I built, and what has happened since. It is a good example of the approach I describe on the digital marketing for tourism operators page: a fast, booking-ready website, backed by SEO, so more guests find you and book on your own site.

About Karamu Horse Adventures

Karamu Horse Adventures offers horse trekking and horse riding experiences in the Karamu hills near Hamilton, in the Waikato. It is a family business, and the experience is the product.

Like most small tourism businesses, they need guests to be able to find them, trust them and book without friction.

The challenge: a new business, a website that had to work

They were setting up a new business website, and a site like this has to do three jobs:

Look the part. A horse trekking business sells a feeling as much as a ride, so the site had to feel warm and characterful, not like a template.
Take bookings online. Guests should be able to see what is on offer and book without phoning or emailing back and forth.
Get found. A good site that nobody finds takes no bookings, so the site had to be built to rank for the searches people use when they want to go horse riding.

The site they were replacing looked dated, used poor-quality images and gave guests no way to book online. A visitor could see what was on offer, but had to get in touch separately to actually book, which is a lot to ask of someone planning a trip.

What I did: web design and SEO

1. A warm, characterful website with online booking

The result is a warm, characterful website with online booking built in, so a guest can go from looking to booked on the site itself. It is the same approach I take on every web design for tourism operators project: mobile first, fast anywhere, and honest about what guests get.

For bookings, I integrated Rezdy, the booking system Karamu Horse Adventures uses, into the website, so guests can book their ride online instead of phoning or emailing. It replaced a process with no online booking at all.

2. SEO so the right people can find it

A booking-ready site only pays off if people reach it. So SEO was added to help the site get found for the searches that matter to a horse trekking business: the activity plus the place, and the questions a first-time guest asks before they book.

The approach is the same one I use on every tourism site: clear page titles and headings, a page for each experience, fast load times, and the technical basics that let Google read the site properly. The same principles are covered on the SEO for tourism operators page.

How long it took

The site was ready to go live within two weeks of the client brief being confirmed. Karamu Horse Adventures described the timeframe as brilliant in their Google review, and that matters for a seasonal business: the sooner a booking-ready site is live, the sooner it can start earning.

The design and build are rarely what slows a project down. The biggest delays tend to be getting content from the client and getting pages checked and signed off, because it can take a couple of days to hear back about each page. If you’re planning a new website, having your photos, descriptions, prices and policies ready before the build starts is the quickest way to shorten the timeline.

The results

Here is what Google Search Console and Google Analytics show for the new site. The figures are rounded down, and the Search Console period runs from 28 July to 6 October 2026, about ten weeks.

More than 3,000 clicks from Google search, from more than 16,000 impressions.
Over 250 non-brand search terms averaging a top 5 position in Google. Many are low-volume, long-tail searches, but the count shows how broadly the site is being found.
Strong results for the searches that matter. “Horse riding Hamilton” alone brought in over 200 clicks, averaging a position between 2 and 3. Other searches for horse trekking and riding around Hamilton and the Waikato also averaged a top 5 position.
Visitors from more than 25 countries clicked through from Google. Most were in New Zealand, with Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom among the others.
Close to 80% of Google clicks came from phones, which is why a fast, mobile-first booking flow matters.
Over 4,000 active users on the website in the last 90 days, according to Google Analytics.

A fair reading of these numbers: around 60% of the clicks in Google’s query report came from searches that included the business name, which is normal for a young site and isn’t the same as winning new guests. The non-brand searches are the better test of whether the site works for people who didn’t already know about Karamu Horse Adventures, and they’re where the top 5 and “horse riding Hamilton” results come from. This page doesn’t include booking numbers, because those sit in Karamu’s booking system.

What the client said

Awesome experience with setting up a new business website, patient, helpful, great explanations and communication, brilliant timeframe. Highly recommend!

Karamu Horse Adventures, Google review

What this means if you run a tour or activity business

A few lessons from Karamu Horse Adventures that apply to most tourism operators:

Your website is your best booking channel. It is the one place where you keep the booking, the guest relationship and the margin. If it is slow, vague or awkward to book on, guests drift back to the listings.
Be found for the activity and the place. People search for the experience and where it is, so your pages should match, one per experience.
Get the basics right before the clever things. Speed, mobile, clear information and honest photos beat a fancy design that guests cannot use.
Know what OTA commission costs you. If you want to see what shifting even a small share of bookings direct could mean, try the OTA commission calculator.

Thinking about a booking-ready website or SEO for your tourism business?

If you run a tour, lodge or adventure business in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US or Canada and want more guests booking on your own site, I can help. Start with the direct bookings for tourism operators page to see how the pieces fit together, or get in touch and tell me about your business.

You can also see more recent work in the portfolio.