[Campground] Nested Case Study: Eastern Slope Campground

Introduction

Simply by nesting its internal departments on Google, Eastern Slope Campground added +223 driving directions in the first full month, and saw an increase of +708 over the first three months. By giving each department its own optimized profile, the campground expanded visibility for high-intent searches — without reducing engagement on the main listing.

Client Background

Eastern Slope Campground is a full-service campground located in Conway, New Hampshire, offering a general store, hiking trails, playgrounds, RV park, and more. With multiple departments competing for attention online, the campground wanted a solution that ensured each department was easily discoverable in niche searches (e.g., “hiking trails near me” and “RV park”), while maintaining strong performance on the main profile.

Objectives

• Increase high-intent search visibility for each department.
  
  
• Drive more in-store visits, as indicated by driving direction requests.
  
  
• Maintain engagement and traffic on the main campground profile.
  
  
• Provide measurable, repeatable results for future campaigns.
  
  

Timeline

Baseline

Prior to implementing nested departments, the campground’s driving directions came solely from the main listing. At that time, only the camp area had an active listing. Since this industry is highly seasonal, the baseline period will be the same time period of the previous year. 

Driving Directions Metrics (Camp Area Department Only):

• Monthly Average: 89 driving directions

• Total Requests: 268 (from January 1 to March 31)

The Experiment

1. Nested Departments Setup – Separate Google Business Profiles were created for the fishing pond, general store, hiking area, playground, RV park, and swimming pool, and we connected them under the main Eastern Slope Campground listing.
   
   
2. Profile Optimization – Each department was created with optimized categories, business description, attributes/services, and more.
   
   
3. Content Updates – New photos and posts were added for each department to improve engagement and freshness.
   
   
4. Review Engagement – Responses to customer reviews enhanced trust signals and local search relevance.
   
   

The full setup was completed in just one week, making implementation fast and efficient.

Methodology

To measure the impact, we compared pre- and post-nesting metrics using:

• Driving direction requests as the primary KPI, indicating the most important metric, customers’ intent to visit.
  
  
• Foot Traffic Report data to visualize trends and total engagement.
  
  
• Department-level breakdowns ensured no interference to the main profile’s traffic.

Results

In the first full month after implementing nested departments, driving directions increased significantly: building on the 97 directions from the existing sales profile (which is 79% higher than the previous year), we observed:

 fishing pond, general store, hiking area, playground, RV park, and swimming pool 

• Fishing Pond: +20 driving directions
  
  
• General Store: +54 driving directions
  
  
• Hiking Area: +26 driving directions
  
  
• Playground: +48 driving directions
  
  
• RV Park: +70 driving directions
  
  
  
  
• Overall: +218 driving directions across all newly created and nested departments
  
  • That is a 255% increase in the first full month.

First Three Months of Driving Directions After Nested Listings Implementation: 

• Expanded Driving Directions: Eastern Slope Campground saw an additional +708 driving directions between 1/1/26 and 3/31/26 from their new listings alone.
  
  
• Average Foot Traffic Increase: +196% across all locations

Each department captured additional searches, demonstrating that nested listings can expand visibility and engagement without affecting the main campground profile.

Key Takeaways

• Nested departments significantly improve visibility for department-specific searches.
  
  
• Driving directions serve as a strong signal for potential in-store visits.
  
  
• Setup is fast, simple, and repeatable across multiple locations and industries.
  
  
• Main profile traffic remains intact while each department captures incremental reach.
  
  
• This enhanced performance will be retained, month after month.

Next Steps

• Want your locations nested? Our team can implement this across multiple industries.
  
  
  

Over the past decade, dbaPlatform has supported more than 200,000 locations worldwide. Recently, we’ve observed a potential disconnect between Google’s product and policy teams regarding what is permitted when it comes to nested departments. As a result, there is always a risk of suspended profiles and re-verifications, both with and without nested listings, as we’ve seen play out recently in the automotive industry.