With the end of the year approaching, it only makes sense to start working on your holiday SEO strategy.
Are you thinking it’s too early to start planning for the holidays? It isn’t.
The truth is search engine optimization is a game for the patient. So, while you may optimize your page for the holidays now, you’ll probably not see results for another month or two.
As for why you should optimize your page for SEO, the reason is apparent.
Every year, millions of people search the internet for the best shopping deals during the holidays. In 2015, the total U.S. holiday online sales were estimated to be $80.04 billion.
However, the number has risen by an average of 15 percent every year to reach 122.73 billion in 2018. Based on this current trend, 2019 should be no different.
That means you must optimize your page to have a shot at the coming windfall. With the right holiday SEO and marketing strategy, you’ll rank higher on the SERP for specific keywords, and this will lead to more traffic and sales.
But how?
5 Holiday SEO Tips to Help Increase Traffic and Sales
Here are five ways to use SEO to capture some of those holiday sales.
1. Consider Holiday-Specific Keywords
Imagine that your site is currently optimized for the “regular season” keywords. With the holidays approaching, it’s time to start considering holiday-specific optimization.
It’ll take the same time and effort as you would put into your regular keyword research. Also, the tools are the same too.
These include:
- SEMrush
- Keyword Planner
- Search Console
- Analytics
- Google Trends, etc.
Use these tools to check out the keywords that search engine users type into the query box from October till December. Then use this information to assemble a massive holiday SEO campaign.
2. Create Appropriate Landing Pages and Content
First, you may want to change your landing page to advertise your place in the world of holiday products. Whether you own a donut shop or a car dealership, your landing page should get visitors excited about buying your product for the festivities.
Now, let’s talk about your holiday content strategy.
Do you remember the keywords from the previous tip? Well, now it’s time to put it to use.
Publish fresh content on your blog as often as you can. Then, use the keywords to link users to where they can find more products.
As the regular season content, your holiday contents must help readers solve a problem.
3. Internal and External Linking For Holiday SEO
If you already have old holiday content on your blog, now is the time to link them to each other.
Internal linking is essential for Google to find and index your pages. So, look through your website and find as many internal linking opportunities as you can.
Also, don’t forget to build links to your site from external domains.
Whether it’s a blogger’s review of your product or a link to one of your articles, a high-quality external link can improve your search visibility for the holidays. This will lead to more traffic, performance, and, ultimately, sales.
4. Optimize Your Site for Mobile Users
It’s not enough to have a holiday-specific landing page and content if you don’t optimize your website for mobile users.
Every year, revenue generated from mobile devices on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have enjoyed a steady increase. According to Adobe Analytics, the total income on mobile increased to reach a cumulative $35.8 billion during November and December in 2017.
You can use a responsive WordPress theme, choose a reliable web host, and improve your site’s loading times. While that’s enough for the regular season, you must do more for the holidays.
For example, you can offer a special discount for iOS and Android users. Also, consider integrating dynamic checkout buttons to reduce the number of clicks required to make a purchase
5. Use Structured Data
Structured data allows you to present additional information in a way that the search engine would understand.
That means you have to mark up all the essential pages on your site, including the product page with product schema. Also, you must review the schema.
As your positive reviews increase, so will your product’s online popularity. Eventually, this will translate into an improved ranking on the search engine result page.
Start Planning Your Holiday SEO Now!
Holiday SEO is not as difficult as you may have imagined.
It’s the same SEO strategies, content strategies, and keyword research that you would have done at any other time of the year. The only thing is, it’s not just any other time of the year.
During the holidays, people tend to narrow down their shopping habits to specific products. The right holiday marketing strategy is supposed to convince people that your product is one of those select few.