Most companies now know the importance of SEO, and no doubt you have some sort of strategy in place to get your business on the first page of Google’s search results. However, many strategies focus on the business as a whole, and when it comes to businesses that have seasonal campaigns, they may not get the same results as they enjoy with evergreen content.
Here are some ways that you can make a seasonal SEO strategy and take advantage of your peak season.
Identify your peak times
For many retailers, it’s obvious when their busy time of year will be. For example, if you sell toys, you’re going to be busy during the holiday season, while garden supplies are in demand in the spring. It doesn’t mean you can ignore SEO during the quieter season, in fact, off-peak times can often be a good time to work on optimizing your site, so it’s ready for the rush.
Have a look at Google trends and similar sites that show you when people search for certain keywords. Also, pay attention to trends that are growing, for example, searches for ‘Black Friday deals’ were up 200% in 2019, so might be something you’ll want to focus on in 2020.
Don’t leave things to the last minute
Google crawls the web regularly and updates search rankings, but it’s important not to launch your seasonal campaigns at the last minute. People also start their holiday shopping early, so if you’re starting a campaign for Christmas and are going to be using festive keywords, then it’s worth consulting with an SEO agency Birmingham based during the summer months, perhaps starting to release relevant content around September.
Create a content calendar
Many retailers tend to focus on Christmas when it comes to seasonal SEO, but there are holidays and events throughout the year that you could be taking advantage of. Creating a content calendar will help you to see when opportunities are coming up, so you can plan your keyword research and content creation well in advance. Many businesses, for example, plan a big campaign around Christmas, yet neglect things like Valentine’s Day or the summer wedding season, when people are going to be spending money.
Find your niche
Of course, your company won’t be the only ones trying to sell gifts at times like Christmas. While the search volumes for terms such as ‘gifts’ is huge, the competition is fierce, so it’s worth looking for keywords that are a little more niche, yet still have a decent search volume behind them. If you can find relevant keywords that have little competition, you’re more likely to pick up new customers.
The world of online retail is extremely competitive, which is why you’ve got to make the most of any opportunity, and when it comes to the peak seasons, it’s important to have a separate SEO strategy. This will help you acquire more customers, even during the busiest times, and can open up new markets.