How Visit Baton Rouge Paired Fresh Web Design With a Smarter Content Strategy for a Refreshed Digital Identity
Discover how Visit Baton Rouge partnered with Tempest to launch a new destination website that brings the city's personality to life through thoughtful design, compelling storytelling, and an integrated Growth Marketing strategy spanning SEO/GEO, content optimization, and paid media.
13.3M
Google Search Impressions
40K
Partner Referrals
180K
Organic Sessions
With Cajun and Creole flavors on the menu, the roar of Tiger Stadium on game day, and the Mississippi River winding past centuries of history, Baton Rouge has no shortage of stories to tell. Working closely with the Visit Baton Rouge team, Tempest brought those stories to life through a new website that truly captures the city's character and makes it easier for visitors to explore everything Louisiana's capital has to offer. But the work didn't stop at launch. With a collaborative approach to content, SEO/GEO, and paid media, Tempest's Growth Marketing team continues to build on that foundation, helping more travelers discover what makes Baton Rouge worth exploring.
A New Digital Experience for Baton Rouge
Launched on April 30, 2026, the redesigned Visit Baton Rouge website brings the destination's vibrant personality to life through contemporary design, intuitive navigation, and a more strategic approach to content organization.
The previous website felt a bit too corporate, and Baton Rouge is anything but. The new site needed to capture the city's unmistakable personality: metropolitan, approachable, culturally rich, and a little unexpected. More than a visual refresh, it was an opportunity to create a digital experience that felt as distinctive and welcoming as the destination itself.
Building on Visit Baton Rouge's distinct brand identity, Tempest incorporated bold typography, creative imagery, textured patterns, and subtle animations to give the website a fresh, contemporary feel. But looking good was only part of the equation. Meeting planners, leisure travelers, and sports visitors each needed a clear path to the information that mattered to them, with meeting content given the same attention and prominence as leisure travel.
A fresh design deserved an equally thoughtful content strategy. To make sure the website delivered more than a great first impression, Tempest conducted a comprehensive crawl of the existing site, pairing search performance data with content insights to develop a strategic sitemap. With AI-generated answers changing how travelers research destinations, the team focused on organizing content to make it easier for visitors to explore while strengthening discoverability across traditional and AI-powered search engines. Tempest consolidated overlapping and duplicate content, improved access to previously difficult-to-find pages, and identified opportunities to target high-interest topics, including Downtown Baton Rouge and local attractions.
Building Search Visibility Through Ongoing Content Optimization
A successful website launch is just the beginning. Working closely with Visit Baton Rouge, Tempest's Growth Marketing team continued identifying opportunities to strengthen existing content, capitalize on seasonal search trends, and connect more travelers with the events and experiences that make Baton Rouge worth exploring.
That ongoing work delivered measurable results. An August refresh of the Long Weekend in Baton Rouge blog was followed by a 1,619% year-over-year increase in organic traffic, and the page earned a Google AI Overview citation for searches related to Labor Day events in Baton Rouge. Seasonal content saw gains, too, with the Juneteenth Events blog increasing organic traffic by 50% and the Restaurant Week page by 180% year over year following their respective optimizations.
Expanding Reach Through Targeted Paid Media
Alongside ongoing organic search efforts, Tempest implemented coordinated PPC and programmatic advertising strategies to expand Visit Baton Rouge's reach and connect prospective travelers with destination experiences.
With nearly the same advertising budget as the year before, Tempest increased PPC traffic by 169% YOY while reducing average cost per click by 78%. The site launched at the end of April and by the end of August, paid campaigns generated approximately 47,500 sessions and 476,000 impressions, delivering substantially greater reach and traffic efficiency.
These efforts also translated into meaningful visitor actions. Paid media generated approximately 9,800 partner referrals, an 800% year-over-year increase, along with 26 newsletter signups, representing 333% growth compared with the previous year.
Measurable Impact Across Digital Channels
During the first four months following launch (April 30–August 30, 2026), VisitBatonRouge.com generated more than 13.3 million Google Search impressions, including over 535,000 impressions in Google's generative AI features. The website also received over 1,800 sessions from AI referral sources, including ChatGPT, demonstrating emerging opportunities for destination discovery beyond traditional search.
Organic search remained the website's largest individual traffic source, generating more than 180,000 sessions during the reporting period.
More importantly, the website connected travelers directly with Baton Rouge businesses and experiences, generating over 40,800 partner referrals, with nearly 70% originating from organic search. Events content alone attracted more than 80,900 sessions and 156,000 page views, reinforcing the importance of destination-focused content in supporting visitor planning.
A Connected Strategy for Long-Term Destination Growth
Visit Baton Rouge's new website represents more than a visual transformation. By combining thoughtful design, a search-focused content structure, ongoing SEO and GEO optimization, and efficient paid media campaigns, Tempest established a connected digital strategy that supports both destination discovery and measurable visitor engagement.
Baton Rouge has never been short on stories worth sharing. With a website that captures the city’s character and a collaborative team committed to making the most of every opportunity, Visit Baton Rouge is well-positioned to turn curiosity into exploration, inspire future visits and keep Louisiana’s capital city top of mind for travelers.
Connect with our team to discover how integrated Growth Marketing strategies can strengthen your online presence, expand reach across digital channels, and bring your destination's unique stories to life through compelling, search-driven content.
Connect with our team to discover how integrated Growth Marketing strategies can strengthen your online presence, expand reach across digital channels, and bring your destination's unique stories to life through compelling, search-driven content.
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At Tempest, we define growth as a broad, data-driven approach focused on ensuring visitors connect with your destination at every stage of the travel planning process.
The Tempest web development team are digital craftspeople building destination websites that set the benchmark for the industry.
