It's that time of the year for e-commerce brands. With Cyber Monday, Black Friday, Hanukkah, and Christmas fast approaching, people will soon be spending money on holiday gifts for the people they love. Your brand should definitely capitalize on this chance!
Using a gift guide is an excellent way to improve organic search and SEO performance during the forthcoming holiday season. Here are eight keys to creating SEO-friendly gift guides that attract online shoppers and boost sales.
1. Create Gift Guides by Category
Start by categorizing your holiday gift guides in a way that encompasses your shopper's behaviors and demographics. For instance, you can arrange your gift guide:
Based on pricing: "best gifts under $25"
Based on the audience: "best gifts for dads"
Based on interested: "best gifts for gadget lovers"
Based on intent: “best gifts for better sleep”
The winter holidays bring a bonus category that can really help boost add-on sales - Stocking Stuffers. Add as a suggestion at checkout for extra pop.
2. Choose the Right Keywords
SEO keywords are essential in creating gift guides, as in any other content for your site. Use Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends to find the most popular holiday gift ideas, then optimize your gift guide based on those keywords.
3. Optimize Your Gift Guide
Using keywords correctly is just one way you can optimize your gift guides. A great title can drive traffic and boost visibility significantly. Enter a keyword into Answer the Public's search bar to get popular question-based searches containing those keywords, then use those search questions to get ideas for attention-grabbing titles.
Make sure your gift guides include trending products and perennial holiday best-sellers. Search Google Trends to find the most current hot products and keep the oldies but goodies.
To stay competitive consider optimizing for voice search, anticipated to account for 50 percent of all internet searches in 2020.
4. Add to Blog
Gift guides provide nearly endless fodder for your blog. Write an overarching article that highlights gift guides in general, then write shorter blog posts for each guide. You can even highlight single items from gift guides in separate blog posts. Publish one at a time and use your keywords and SEO-friendly titles to improve your ranking.
5. Create Gift Section
According to a study by Clutch, 94% of internet users say easy navigation is the most important website feature. Create a new category on your main menu to give gift guides a section of their own. That way, shoppers can easily find the best gift guide for them, making them more likely to return.
6. Share! Share! Share
It's simple enough to put up a banner publicizing your gift guide, but this depends on people actually visiting your site. Email and social media are your best bet to spread the word and get people revving about your products this coming holiday.
7. Send Gift Guide Emails
Email lists are still one of the best ways to reach customers and drive sales. Create eye-catching emails that tell your subscribers about the fabulous gift guides you've created. Add a few links to relevant blog posts and gift guides to boost sales quickly and efficiently. Create a promo code for email subscribers only to build your email list.
8. Don't Stop After the Holidays
Did you know that 65% of customers go gift-shopping even after the holidays are up? Once the holidays are over, just update your gift guides to reflect other occasions and reap the rewards all year long.
If you want to learn more about creating SEO-friendly gift guides, contact us. We're always happy to help!