Thanksgiving is in just a few days, so we thought we’d remind you of a few things: first off, if you haven’t started defrosting your turkey, do so NOW! Secondly, you got your site’s SEO in tip-top shape for the holiday shopping frenzy, right? Right?
Much like the turkey, there’s a way around your mistakes if you forgot – or simply neglected – to get ready properly. Neither solution will have optimal results, but unless someone is really paying attention, you’ll still be able to pull off the perfect day without a hitch.
Great, now that you have your turkey in a cold water bath in the refrigerator, let’s get your brand ready for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the entire month of December. We spoke with the team at 180Fusion to find the best last-minute hacks to make sure your customers still find you when they have their credit cards and spike eggnog out this holiday season.
Make Sure You’re Mobile Friendly
If your site isn’t compatible with mobile viewing, it’s less likely to show up during search in a mobile browser – this is critical if you have a brick-and-mortar store, as in-store searches are critical to closing sales. How critical? 43% of mobile searches in-store are about the product the customer is currently looking at. They’re practically begging for you to sell them on the product – don’t let them down!
Create A Dedicated Holiday Landing Page
A quick way to increase your appeal to search engines is to include the keyword you’d like to rank for in your URL. The easiest way to do this is to create a dedicated landing page for your site, such as “www.fakestore.com/cyber-monday-deals.” This will help your customers not only find your store faster, but also specifically what they’re looking for.
Incorporate The Word “Best” In Your Targeted Query Phrases
Your customers are overwhelmed with options – using the word “best” will help you rank with their most common query, which is “best [product].” Think about it – how do you find gifts for people who have hobbies you’re unfamiliar with?
Remove Or Update The Year From URLs
A great way to tank your SEO is to have the wrong year listed! Nobody wants to give last year’s trends, and Google knows that.
Optimize Your Image Alt-Tags
Search engines love images, as long as they’re presented correctly. Make sure to have a well written alt-tag description that hits your keywords while accurately describing the picture. This is especially important on product pages, and will help your products rank high in Google Images and Shopping as well as in the general search result page.
Claim Your Site On Review Sites
Top ranking review sites – like Yelp – do not have nearly as sophisticated a ranking algorithm as Google does, so make sure you claim your listing if you haven’t already. If you can get a few reviews up in time, all the better.
Push Out Lots Of Holiday Content
The best way to increase SEO quickly is to push out content – namely blogs, whitepapers, social posts and page updates – that include the keywords you want to rank for, while still retaining their value as actual entertainment or educational material.
If You Have A Relationship With A Blogger, Now’s The Time To Publish
Have you had your products featured on blogs or review sites? If you have an existing relationship with those people, now’s the time for more content! If you haven’t, now’s the time to see if you can form them – the more links back to your site from reputable sources, the better!
Hire An Expert To Jumpstart Your SEO
If this all seems overwhelming, call in an expert who can help you get ready in record time! The investment in a professional SEO, social media and paid advertising upgrade will more than pay for itself when your customer start (virtually) lining up at your door.
The holidays are stressful for everyone, but you shouldn’t have to worry about your company’s SEO! These SEO quick-fixes are the best things you can do for right now, but make sure to also focus on long-term SEO and building up your website’s credibility with both algorithms and consumers. We’re just at the very start of the major shopping seasons – the holiday season, engagement season and Valentine’s day are quickly followed by the spring holidays. Get ready, and stay ready!
