The holiday season is a crucial time for eCommerce businesses, as consumers are out spending money on gifts and other items. If you want to make the most of this period, it's essential to ensure that your website is optimized for organic search traffic.
In this blog post, we'll share some top tips to Capture Organic Search Traffic during Holiday Season for your eCommerce Site. Following these simple tips ensures that your site is ready to capture organic search traffic during the all-important holiday season. So read on and get started today.
5 eCommerce Website Tips For A Successful Holiday Season
Although eCommerce retailers don't enjoy the foot traffic that brick-and-mortar stores do during the holidays, they can make up for it by capturing organic search traffic.
Following simple tips, you can ensure that your website is visible to potential shoppers and capitalize on the holiday sales season.
Here's what you need to do:
Evaluate Your Website’s Current Load Times
Anyone who has tried to purchase something online knows the frustration of a slow-loading page. You click the buy button, wait, and wait...and wait.
By the time the page finally loads, you've lost interest in the product and are ready to move on.
Slow load time is one of the many ways to lose sales.
Another common issue is missing images. Nothing is more frustrating than clicking on a product only to find no image. That’s why you should consider working with a web design agency if you want to improve the performance of your website as much as possible.
And if the image loads, it's often blurry or low quality. Poor images make it difficult for potential customers to get a good sense of what they're buying, leading them to abandon their purchase altogether.
Glitching forms are another common problem, particularly during checkout. If customers can't successfully enter their payment information, they will not likely try again.
And finally, non-intuitive navigation can also lead to lost sales. If customers can't figure out how to find what they're looking for, they'll quickly become frustrated and give up.
Furthermore, everyone wants their website to appear at the top of a Google search. And while many digital marketing strategies can help you achieve this, if your website is not optimized, all your efforts will be for naught.
Moreover, Google's algorithms are constantly changing, and they are getting better at detecting which websites provide a good user experience and which do not. If your website is challenging to navigate, slow to load, or lacks relevant content, Google will rank it lower than your competition, no matter how much money you spend on ads.
So before diving into anything else, focus on ensuring your website is up to par. Optimize it for both customers and Google's algorithms, and you'll be well on your way to achieving sustainable growth.
Brands like Shopify and BigCommerce are some of the best eCommerce store solutions.
Check Out And Analyze Last Year’s Trends
As the holidays approach, many retailers wonder where their organic search traffic will come from next. After all, the holiday season is a critical time for sales, and a sudden drop in traffic can significantly impact the bottom line.
Fortunately, there's an easy way to get a sense of where your holiday traffic will come from: simply look back at last year's Search Terms report in Google Search Console. This report will show you which pages generated the most traffic last year and which queries people used to discover your products and deals.
Furthermore, look at the holiday season as a reflection of your referral data. So you need to review and analyze which channels drove you the most organic traffic and conversions during last year’s holiday season to prioritize them for this year's sales strategy.
Reviewing your referral data ensures you're making the most of your marketing efforts. If you notice your top referral source is an email campaign, you know you need to focus on generating more email subscribers. Suppose you see that social media websites drove a lot of traffic but didn't result in many conversions. In that case, you know you need to work on your social media marketing strategy, probably using influencer marketing software.
Armed with this information, you can ensure that your site is optimized correctly for the holiday season and anticipate changes in consumer behavior.
Find out The Relevant Keywords for the Holiday Season
If you want your holiday shopping season to be merry and bright, you must start with a solid keyword plan. Keyword research is a crucial part of any successful SEO strategy leveraging different SEO tools, which is vital during the holidays.
Shoppers are looking for bargains, and they're also looking for unique gifts, so you need to make sure you're targeting the right keywords.
Remember, during the holiday season, it's not that simple to show your online store on the first page of search results. That's why you need to pick your keywords carefully.
In our opinion, don't go after overly-competitive terms that you'll never be able to rank for effectively. Instead, focus on long-tail keywords specific to your product or service. By targeting a narrower audience, you'll have a better chance of getting your website in front of potential customers.
Luckily, there are some other ways to create your holiday keyword plan.
The first thing to do is look at the last year's data. Check the Queries report on Google Search Console to see which keywords shoppers used to find you. You may also want to look into historical data from other years to see if there are any interesting trends.
Lastly, target a mix of high-volume and long-tail keywords, and include relevant seasonal terms.
With some planning, you can ensure that your website is visible to shoppers looking for what you have to offer.
Create Engaging Landing Pages
The holidays are a busy time for everyone, including your customers. If you want to capture their attention (and their organic search traffic), you need to create landing pages that are both engaging and informative. They also search for the ideal deals and the perfect gifts.
The best landing pages are designed with the user in mind, providing everything they need to know about your products or services in an easy-to-navigate format. They should also be visually appealing, with high-quality images and videos that showcase your products in their best light.
Finally, your landing pages should be periodically updated with fresh content, keeping them relevant for search engines and users alike.
By following these tips, you can ensure that your eCommerce site is ready for the holiday rush.
Update Product Descriptions
As any eCommerce expert knows, product descriptions can significantly impact conversion rates. And with the holiday season coming up, it's even more important to spruce up your copy to stand out from the competition and gain more organic traffic.
You can also focus on the benefits of your products rather than just the features. One way to do this is to use more emotional words in your descriptions. Words like "cozy," "festive," and "jolly" can create a sense of warmth and excitement that will resonate with holiday shoppers.
For example, rather than saying, "our hiking boots are waterproof and have great traction," try something like, "our hiking boots will keep you dry and comfortable no matter what the weather is like."
Using more emotive language in your product descriptions can make a lasting impression on holiday shoppers and boost your conversion rates. So don't be afraid to get a little creative this season.
Wrap Up:
It’s your opportunity to capitalize on the holiday shopping season by optimizing your site for search traffic. Following our tips, you can capture a larger share of organic search traffic and increase sales. Have you tried these techniques?
About the Author
Alan S Lui is a seasoned executive. He is now Global Head of Shangri-La Circle, the 11-million-member loyalty program of Shangri-La Group, Asia's leading hospitality brand. He was previously CMO of Fusion Bank, a digital bank based in Hong Kong, and COO of Asia Miles, a 12-million-member mileage program of Cathay Pacific Airways.
He shares his views on marketing, operations, and investment trends on his blog iamalanlui.com. Connect with him on LinkedIn and email.