Saltwater Pulse began as a printed outdoors newspaper called The Gillwetter, distributed throughout the coastal communities of southeastern North Carolina. It later expanded into a network of saltwater fishing eZine–style websites for dedicated anglers, featuring monthly covers, local captains’ fishing reports, photos, videos, and charter boat listings.
Over time, Saltwater Pulse evolved into an informational resource for fishing charter captains, guides, outdoor service providers, and small business owners who want practical, real-world guidance on online marketing and business growth.
One of the most common questions we hear is:
“How do I get my business to show up at the top of Google?”
The honest answer hasn’t changed—it takes time, effort, and consistency.
While SEO has become more technical, the core principles remain largely the same as they’ve been for decades. What is new is the role of artificial intelligence in search. AI now influences how search engines understand content, user intent, local relevance, and trust signals. At the same time, the internet is flooded with recycled advice and AI-generated content that lacks real-world perspective, making it harder than ever to know what actually works.
Everything shared on Saltwater Pulse is grounded in years of hands-on, in-the-trenches experience, combined with a practical understanding of how modern AI-driven search systems evaluate websites today. No shortcuts, no hype—just clear insight into what may, and may not, work in your local market.
Stick around, bookmark the site, and explore the resources. I’ll continue sharing real-world guidance to help you adapt, stay visible, and grow—without chasing trends that don’t deliver results.
Thanks for stopping by,
Mark Mayo
601MEDIA / Saltwater Pulse
We also design and build custom websites for fishing charters and guide businesses, built for visibility, trust, and conversions.
eZine Marketing Strategy
For many years, we featured monthly eZine covers across our local fishing websites using real catch photos from captains’ reports and galleries. These eZines promoted our captains’ businesses while showcasing our charter fishing website designs, WordPress development, and SEO services.
Proven Marketing Strategies for Charter & Outdoor Businesses
From the Saltwater Pulse Blog
How To Start A Charter Fishing Business (Part 2)
As I stated in PART 1, the charter fishing business is more about entertainment than catching fish. If you are new to the business, you may have difficulty believing that: but it is true. Suppose you are running a trip and for some reason, any reason, your clients are not catching much and sometimes nothing. If you are a good conversationalist, you can still save the day. Tell some of your fish stories, ask about their work or interest; anything to get them talking about something in which they are interested. Open conversation helps pass the slow times and makes [...]
How To Start A Charter Fishing Business (Part 1)
My name is Capt. Rick Bennett, Ret. After 25 years as a banker, where I ended up my career in Wilmington, NC, I decided to pursue my lifelong passion: FISHING! I had a 17’ skiff and I thought I had the fishing knowledge to make it work. I quickly found that catching fish was just part of the “business”. As my new career progressed, the first thing I learned was that I was in the entertainment business and that fishing/catching was a sideline; important yes but a sideline none the less. More about that later. Over the next twenty-two years [...]
A damn good 2023 and forward Fishing Charter Marketing Strategy
This article was originally published by Mark Mayo over at 601MEDIA,LLC. Marketing is an Investment Q: What is a Marketing Strategy? A: 1)A plan of action designed to promote and sell a product or service. 2)A business's overall plan designed to reach prospective consumers and turn them into customers. In preparation: 1st step) This is a process. You can't be expected to remember everything over time, so document everything as you go... names, dates, cost, descriptions, etc. You'll need this information at a later date. In preparation: 2nd step) Develop a system, a blueprint, and treat everyone the same. Use [...]
Google, The Great Wizard
Google, “The Great Wizard, Controller of All”, see’er of everything, right? Not at all. Google’s core functionality is counting and storing. Breaking it down further, it performs mathematical functions on 0’s and 1’s, on or off, switched unswitched, Vref+ Vref-, however you want to look at it. Sorry folks, No Wizards found here! The Great Google is just a COMPUTER!
Link Building Tips using ahrefs.com FREE backlink checker tool
1)Linking in general, Don’t send all of your incoming links to the home page. Instead send some of them to your most important pages, such as a blog post, a service page, etc. 2)Link building for rankings, spy on your competitors backlink profile. Find Googles #1, #2, and #3 listings for the keywords you are targeting on your web page. Visit Ahrefs.com backlink-checker and check those competitors backlinks. Copy down the links of the referring web pages with the highest “DR” (Domain Rank). Visit those websites and negotiate backlinks of your own. 3)Link building for traffic, spy on your competitors [...]
Content Marketing Strategy Tip
Content Marketing Strategy: Content Marketing Strategy Tip: Using Keyword Research, figure out what search terms your ideal customers are using to find you. Write down the keyword phrases with the highest search volume. Now, do a Google search for each of the keyword phrases and write down the top three results. Visit each of these web pages and reverse engineer the articles content. Create a new article of your own that is much better than any of the top 3 Google results. If you create more than one article, great, you’re a commando! I recommend you create a publishing schedule [...]