As the holiday season is just around the corner, you should be prepared for all the opportunities it comes with. This time of the year is when people will be taking a break from their usual 9 to 5 jobs and will be on vacation.
This means that they will have more time to spend on the internet, the question now is – are you going to be visible to them?
In this article, you will find out key things you should be focusing on to improve your online visibility this upcoming holiday season!
Study Last Year’s Trends
In preparation for the upcoming holiday, you should be looking at the trends and keywords that performed well for you and your website last year. Through this, you can analyze if you are sticking with the old strategies and keywords from last year or if you are going to research and find new ones that could further improve the quality of your SEO for this year’s holiday season.
The bottom line here is that the keywords you select should drive a fair to a high amount of traffic while still being relevant to your brand.
As an example, here are the SEO trends for 2021:
- Optimize for Core Web Vitals and Page Experience
- Focusing on User and Search Intent
- Verify Website on Google Search Console
- Utilize AMP
- Apply Schema Markups
You can check out this article we wrote about the SEO trends of 2021.
Research about Seasonal Keywords
One of the most critical things about SEO is keywords, that’s why trying to rank for the seasonal keywords can be a big boost for your website for the upcoming holiday season.
For example, this Christmas season brings in keywords such as:
- Christmas decorations
- Christmas foods
- best Christmas gifts
- top Christmas destinations
Another holiday is the upcoming New Year which brings another set of keywords:
- New Year firework show
- New Year countdown party
- best foods for New Year
In short, you will have a hard time being visible in the search results if your brand or website does not include seasonal keywords on your product pages, landing pages, blogs, or articles. That’s why you should always do your keyword research to find out the keywords that are most used by searchers and consumers during the holiday season.
Here are some tools you could use for your seasonal keyword research:
- SERanking
- SEMRush
- Google Keyword Planner
- Google Suggest
Create Content for the Holiday Season
Content is king!
Content that attracts and engages audiences can definitely help boost your website traffic during the holidays, so use creative content as leverage during this time of the year. Write how your brand can make this holiday celebration more special, you could provide gift ideas, or even share celebration stories with your readers!
You can also create a specific landing page on your website and add some design or flare that will make them feel more the essence of the celebration. This makes your website look festive and cheerful even for a short period of time but can make a lifetime impression on your audiences.
Here’s a checklist for a good content strategy:
- Always have a 1-3% keyword density for your focused keyword/keyphrase
- Engage with your target audience by writing long-form holiday content
- Avoid keyword stuffing; try using related phrases and keywords and spread them throughout your content.
- Create visually appealing content, and add videos, images, infographics, or even GIFs!
Optimize Your Website’s ‘Basic SEO’
In your goal to create content and be visible during the holiday season, you might overlook the basic SEO of your website. Here are the technical things you should be checking to ensure your website has a good SEO foundation:
- Review and resolve pages with error ‘400’ for the deleted or broken pages
- Fix the 301 redirects for broken links and lost landing pages
- Optimize your page speed – both desktop and mobile
- Check your server if it can handle high-load traffic
- Clear and Visible Call To Action (CTA)
There are many tools out there, but one of the most reliable tools that I personally use in tracking a website’s SEO is Screaming Frog.
Key Takeaway
As the holiday season is just around the corner, it is never too late to optimize your website to be visible during this time of the year. Make use of these tips and strategies not just for this season but also to help jumpstart your website’s SEO for the new year!
