How Cody & Powell businesses can get found by Yellowstone visitors.

Cody sits about 50 miles from Yellowstone’s East Entrance, and every summer a lot of the people walking through town are planning their next stop on a phone. Here’s how a Cody or Powell business can be the one they find — before the trip and on the road.

1. Show up on Google Maps

A traveler in a car doesn’t browse websites. They search “coffee near me” or “Cody restaurants” and pick from the map. That map listing is your Google Business Profile, and it’s free. Set the right category, add real photos, and keep your hours accurate — including holiday and seasonal hours. If you close for the season, say so on the profile. Here’s how to set it up.

2. Answer trip-planning questions before they’re asked

Many visitors plan weeks ahead, from home. Make it easy to find, on your own site:

• what you offer and what it costs;
• your hours and the dates your season starts and ends;
• how far you are from the park, and where to park — especially for RVs and trailers;
• whether you take reservations, and how;
• anything visitors always ask you: pets, Wi-Fi, group sizes, what to bring.

People from out of state don’t know the area, so say it plainly. As Scott Hansen of Lava Guides put it in his review, the project needed to be “easy for visitors to understand, especially for people coming from out of state.”

3. Make it work on a weak signal

Cell signal can be patchy on the roads in and out of the park. A site that loads a huge video or full-size photos may never finish loading on one bar. Keep pages light, and put the essentials at the top: your phone number (tap to call), your address (tap for directions) and your hours. The free website check shows how fast your homepage responds and whether your phone number is tappable.

4. Make booking and contact easy

If visitors can book, reserve or request something online, they’ll often do it the same day. If they have to call during business hours from a different time zone, many won’t. Even a simple request form — answered quickly — beats a phone number alone.

5. Ask for reviews before they leave town

Travelers lean heavily on reviews to choose between places they’ve never heard of. Ask happy customers before they head out — a sign at the counter or a quick text with your Google review link works. Reply to every review; future visitors read the replies too.

6. Use the off-season

• Keep the site live and show when you reopen and when bookings start.
• Update your hours on your website and your Google profile.
• Fix and improve your site in winter, so it’s ready before the spring rush — not halfway through it.

7. Be listed where visitors look

Beyond Google, make sure you’re in the local listings visitors use, like your chamber of commerce and the county’s visitor guides, with the same name, phone number and website everywhere.