The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article: September 2009, Volume 7, Issue 9
SEO: Gearing Up for the Holiday Season
by Julia Ciebiera, Search Marketing Specialist, iProspect
Now that summer has come and gone and the holidays are just around the corner, soon it will be time for the peak buying season. If you are a search marketer that means one thing: you need to start planning your seasonal SEO efforts now!
To fully capitalize on user behavior and consumer spending during the holiday season, search marketers need to gear up early with a well thought out plan of action. In short, advanced strategic planning is absolutely essential at this juncture. And while your plan will be comprised of numerous elements, be particularly mindful of these three: dedicated website real estate, keyword consistency, and marketing integration. Let's take a look at how each can help you have a successful holiday season.
Dedicate website real estate for seasonality
In order to capture those users who are ready to buy, you need to ensure that your website has dedicated pages for seasonal content. Doing so will not only guarantee a prime location for holiday promotions, but it will also help your customers find what they are looking for. The seasonal isle at your local grocery store is a perfect example of this concept in action. By having a dedicated isle, the store always has a place to rotate its specialty merchandise from one season to the next. Your website is similar in that you should allocate specific pages on it that are solely for seasonal times of the year.
Strive for keyword consistency
One of the best ways to capitalize on holiday shopping behaviors is to strive for keyword consistency across your various marketing channels. This includes everything from PPC ad copy to display content, email marketing, shopping feeds, mobile ads, print, radio, TV, and any other means of promotion your company leverages. By tapping into keywords that you've already optimized for your site and using them in your various marketing channels, you will not only boost your conversion rate, but also help your customers have a better user experience and find you faster.
Marketing integration for all channels
Integration is essential today as research shows that consumers are driven to search by other channels. Fortunately, communication will facilitate integration and can help you reap its benefits during the holiday season. When integrating offline marketing initiatives with search marketing, it is essential to work closely with your colleagues and partners by sharing marketing calendars so everyone can be on the same page about planned initiatives. This communication will allow you to leverage search to capture the demand these initiatives will create. In addition, be sure to also share data on your most successful keywords and ad copy that can be integrated into your colleagues' efforts.
While it may seem far off at the moment, people will soon be shopping for the holidays. To fully capitalize on the opportunity, take the time now to invest in some strategic planning. Doing so will help ensure that your 2009 holiday season is a success!
