Before indulging in pumpkin-spice-and-everything-nice, let’s take a moment to plan ahead for the WINTER season.
For the sake of this article, we will be discussing a holiday content strategy for content marketing as it relates to SEO.
Why Create Holiday Content?
Creating engaging holiday-specific website content is a great way for your website to rank online in seasonal searches. The content can also be shared through other digital marketing channels, such as social media platforms, email marketing newsletters, or featured website content. As a bonus, it’s a great way to get in the holiday spirit!
SEO & Content Marketing for the Holidays
First, if you don’t already have an active content plan for your website, it’s a great time to consider adding a blog, news, or resources section where you can regularly update the website with high-quality, fresh content.tren
Second, if you already have a blog and a content plan in place with content scheduled ahead for the holiday season, high fives to you! Sit back and enjoy the pumpkin spice latte. Hopefully this article will provide a few additional tips on how to further optimize the upcoming content for SEO.
If you’re somewhere in the middle, this article is meant for you!
Keyword Research for Holiday Blog Posts
Before jumping into blog or article writing for your website, it is important to consider what people are actually searching in the industry. Ideally, you’ll want to pick topics that have high monthly search volume and high relevancy to your products or services (aka the customer would be more likely to engage with the rest of your website).
When preparing content topics for holiday blogs, we recommend beginning with old fashioned brainstorming to get the creative juices flowing. Ask yourself:
“What might people search in my niche as it relates to the holidays?”
In ecommerce: What are people buying as gifts? What are the hot gifts of the year? What are they researching before making a purchase?
In the home improvement/service industry: What are people doing to prepare their home for winter or the holidays? How will they decorate? What tips do they need?
In the food/beverage industry: What are people cooking this year? How are they cooking it? What are the trending foods, drinks, or diets?
… you get the idea. Jot down all ideas that come to mind; ask others to do the same.
Next, we recommend incorporating keyword research into the process to determine the most-searched topics. While there are plenty of excellent keyword research tools available, Google Trends is a great (and simple) place to start.
Google Trends for Content Topics
Within Google Trends, you can enter a search term, time range, location, and more. In this case, we searched ‘necklaces’ during the busiest online holiday shopping period from last year, November 22, 2017 – December 22, 2017.
Here are the findings:
Based on these top results, some necklace-related blog topics for the holiday could be:
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"Topaz Birthstone Necklaces” (and other related birthstones during this time)
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“Christmas Light Necklaces”
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“Sister Necklaces for Holiday Gifts”
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“Personalized Necklaces for Mom”
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“Customized Necklaces with Names for Holiday Gifts”
Keep in mind, these trends are from last year. While the data is great to get ideas, we recommend sticking to timeless trending topics rather than come-and-go trending topics like perhaps a brand name or style fad.
For ideas on NEW trending topics, we recommend looking at a more recent date range. Then consider adding a modifier like “holiday gifts” or “2018” to the title.
Prepare the Calendar & Begin Writing
Once you have a solid list of topics, begin scheduling of the topics. Determine when each article needs to be written and when/where it will be posted.
When it comes time to begin writing, quality will be key. There are many others who will also write blog articles around the holidays, so in order to be effective, it will be of utmost importance to create a high quality, engaging experience. Be sure to include original information, plenty of high resolution images, and internal and external links to products or additional resources.
More Holiday Planning Tips for Digital Marketing
Check out these past articles for more tips on holiday planning for SEO, PPC, content marketing, and more!
Need help with your holiday planning, content writing, or paid or organic promotion? The Americaneagle.com Digital Marketing team has numerous resources to help as little or as much as you need. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for more information!
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