As the holiday season quickly approaches, it’s time to start planning. Those who have been following along might remember an article I published last November about optimizing SEO during the festive period. Here’s a quick summary of what I suggested could impact site rankings:
- Ensuring your Google My Business is accurate
- Optimizing titles and descriptions for increased click-throughs
- Focusing on long-tail keywords
- Buying advertising on existing high-traffic sites like Yelp instead of on costlier platforms
- Refining content optimization on pages that are performing well but are just below top click zones
These strategies were intended as quick fixes to get through the holiday period. Now it’s time to ensure we’re well-prepared for the coming season. Have you started yet?
Although I won’t delve too deeply into specific SEO tactics in this piece—since each scenario varies and requires its own focus—I’ll refer you to some useful articles to help you begin. Let’s discuss sensible timelines for core optimization activities to assist your prioritization.
Keyword Research
Before diving into timelines, let’s touch on keyword research. There are multiple tools available for this task, each with its own imperfections. But here’s my mantra:
All data is flawed. Understanding how it misleads you makes it beneficial.
Most online data is not entirely precise, yet recognizing its inaccuracies helps you make informed decisions. Some popular keyword research tools include:
- Google Keyword Planner: The tool focuses on paid search impressions, resulting in inflated figures for unique organic queries.
- Moz Keyword Explorer: While adjusting for Google’s tool issues, this tool is built on algorithms and may not always be correct, but it often yields less skewed results from an organic perspective.
- Ahrefs Keyword Explorer: Leverages Google Keyword Planner data and adjusts based on clickstream data. This method is skewed by the precision of its click models and data availability.
These tools, along with others, should be used with an understanding of their limitations.
Seasonal Keyword Insights
For example, the keyword “ugly sweater” spikes in search traffic during December. Looking solely at spreadsheet data could mislead you into thinking it’s a consistent keyword with average monthly searches. But the reality is that its popularity surges during the holiday season. By reviewing seasonal trends, you identify the actual value of key terms before focusing on them.
Additional keyword analysis using tools like Google Trends helps verify results and gives historical trends for terms such as "ugly sweater," which saw peak interest during the 2014 holiday season. Understanding these declines helps set realistic goals for the present year.
Link Building
Links are a significant ranking factor, and acquiring them can take considerable time. Kristina Kledzik’s research demonstrated the value gained from links over several months. Quality and authoritative links influence ranking faster, so having these established by May allows substantial growth in time for the holiday season.
Content Creation
Creating content is crucial for ranking. This includes crafting new content and updating existing materials while incorporating material for link-building and social content. Estimating a specific timeframe is challenging, as it varies by factors like industry and resources.
Conversions
Beyond traffic, optimizing conversions requires time for data analysis, testing, and adjustments. Typically, a cycle lasts around a month. Testing around October is ideal to hit the holiday season primed for success.
Conclusion
The time to prepare is now. With just eight weeks to maximize your efforts for holiday rankings, prioritizing tasks is essential. Begin by focusing on content creation and link building, adjusting as needed. Best of luck to those gearing up for the holiday season!
