SEO (Search Engine Optimization) For The Holiday Shopping Season

By Vanessa Salvia, 9/18/07

For retailers, November and December are critical months. Most brick and mortar stores traditionally begin their holiday sales push before Halloween. Storefront retailers put up Christmas trees and snowmen, and pipe in holiday carols. As an online retailer, you can’t provide cookies and cups of hot apple cider to get people into the shopping mood, of course, but there are steps you can take now.

People spend more time online during the holidays, as they shop for the perfect gift. People who wouldn’t normally purchase online are comparison shopping, pricing, or looking for something new. Preparing your site means optimizing for different search terms than what you may already consider, and preparing for a different type of shopper than what you may normally experience.

Keyword Research

One important way to optimize for what people are actually searching for is by using a keyword research tool. Using the keyword tool you can search for synonyms and other terms related to your products, and get search volumes to help you determine if the phrase is worth competing for. But when considering seasonal searching, it is important to use the right data. Most keyword research tools will show data from the last month or so. Change the date ranges of your keyword searches to October and November of the previous year, which will provide you with more accurate data than July and August searches. Wordtracker

is a good subscription service, while Keyword Selector Tool is a good free one. Overture is now called Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Once you have determined the phrases you are interested in, add the terms to your title tags and work them into the text on your page where appropriate. It may be worth your effort to bid on the phrases you have selected in a targeted PPC campaign.

When customers are researching what they want to buy, they often start off generally, using non-specific keywords such as “digital camera.” When it comes time to buy, they are done with the research phase and they are looking for something highly specific, like a “Canon PowerShot SD450.” At this time of year, target the keywords that attract buyers.

Incentives

Offering free shipping this time of year can be a great incentive to buy from you. Sending out a holiday newsletter with a coupon code for a discount can draw people to your site. Also, if you don’t already, emphasize your guarantees and return policies so buyers know they have recourse if their gift isn’t the hit they imagine it will be. Your site’s security will also be an issue, so ensure that browsers on your site know it’s safe to purchase from you. Remember, there are more people online everyday who are new to the web, and during the holidays there are people shopping online who don't normally do so. Neglecting the shoppers who may not be as tech savvy as you are means less dollars in your pocket.

Revisit your strategy throughout the season, to give customers what will benefit them the most at that time. For example, during October and November, customers will be looking for discounts, free shipping or other special offers. But after the first week of December, discounts will be less important than making sure their purchase arrives before Santa does. Switching your focus from sales to guaranteed delivery may be a wise move.

Don’t make potential customers work too hard. Provide gift ideas right on your home page, and consider providing gift-wrapping options. After all, most holiday shopping is for someone else. Gift cards and gift certificates are always appreciated. Do you offer them? Make it plain that you do.

Site Organization

Consider your site navigation for a moment. Do you sell items that are commonly bought as gifts? Ornaments, decorative objects, jewelry, or other items that would make great gifts should be right on the home page. If your diamond bracelets are three clicks off the home page, consider putting a link on the home page taking people directly to that page.

Are you Trustworthy?

Your site’s security will be an issue more than ever this time of year. Are all of your certificates valid? Having a certificate showing that you follow best business practices and provide security for online transactions will increase consumer confidence in your site. See MightyMerchant’s article “Increase Sales Conversion By Reducing Customer Anxiety" for more information about providing trustworthy website content.

Update Your Copy

Now is an excellent time to review your product descriptions. It’s safe to say that you probably haven’t changed your product descriptions in a while…most online retailers don’t. But we all know that the search engines love changing content, so revising your advertising copy now and then is smart any time of year. If you have items that would make great gifts let the world know! Play up the gift aspect of your merchandise through words that evoke the spirit of holiday giving.

The Time Is Now

The time to optimize your site is now. You may be thinking that you will “do it later,” or that you will wait until November, but remember, there is a time lag between when changes are made on a site and when the search engines respond. There is money to be made online, so positioning yourself in the best possible way now will go a long way when the shopping season really begins.

About MightyMerchant

MightyMerchant specializes in developing e-commerce and database driven, content-rich websites for small business customers across the US. The company as listed as one of Practical eCommerce Magazine’s “Top 100 Notable Shopping Carts” in September/October 2007. Hundreds of site owners use MightyMerchant to manage their online stores. For more information visit www.mightymerchant.com, and for ecommerce knowledge and tools visit the MightyMerchant eCommerce Blog.