If you’ve been in marketing for any length of time at all, you’re probably used to thinking of search engine optimization as a long-term game -- not something that shifts with the seasons. But seasonal SEO tactics can add depth and power to your overall SEO strategy.
If you’re not sure what seasonal SEO is or how to implement it, keep reading! We’re going to help you uncover the secrets you need to know.
What Is Seasonal SEO?
In a nutshell, seasonal SEO makes use of the way your target audience’s interests -- and keyword searches -- change throughout the year. You take a careful look at the seasonal influences that affect your brand’s sales, then incorporate relevant themes into your marketing efforts.
A lot of brands out there use some sort of seasonal SEO during the winter holidays. This is especially true in the retail market, where 30% of a brand’s annual sales can take place somewhere between Black Friday and Christmas! However, seasonal SEO can be focused both around events (like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day) and specific time periods (like summer, winter, or back to school time).
For example, imagine that you own a sporting goods store. You might have a spike in sales during the winter holidays related to search terms like “gifts under $50.” However, closer to New Year’s, search terms like “home exercise equipment” start to become popular as people set their New Year’s resolutions.
Every industry has its own unique peak seasons. Identifying those peak seasons and learning to optimize your SEO around them -- without losing focus on your evergreen efforts -- can be an important part of your long-term success.
Why Is Seasonal SEO Worth The Effort?
Seasonal SEO does take a lot of effort. You have to create a lot of content that you can only use for a short period of time. You also have to constantly tweak your SEO strategy in order to match the current needs of your customers.
However, seasonal SEO is absolutely worth the effort it takes because it:
● Allows you to pull in focused, qualified leads
● Drives conversions without a lot of heavy nurturing
● Can help you identify hidden opportunities for additional revenue
● Helps you present your products and services in a fresh, interesting way
● Helps prevent erosion of your rank in local search results during seasonal periods
As long as you don’t lose sight of your evergreen SEO practices, seasonal SEO can have a big impact on your bottom dollar.
What Does Seasonal SEO entail?
The hardest part of seasonal SEO can be just getting started. Here’s what you do:
1. Identify Seasonal Trends in Keywords
Seasonal SEO is ultimately a responsive process. You need to know what keywords your customers are using in order to provide them with what they want.
Google Analytics can help you analyze the keywords that people have already used to get to your site. Google Trends is another great tool that can help you see how interest in various keywords changes over time.
Some of the seasonal keywords that will be most effective may be fairly easy to discern if you simply think about what people are shopping for in your target season. For example, aside from “Gifts under $50,” a sporting goods store might also find keywords like “best health and fitness gifts” effective.
Merely adding a few words to your existing long-tail keywords may accomplish your seasonal SEO goals. For example, if your sporting goods store already targets categories like “gifts for hunters,” you can easily shift those during the holidays to “holiday gifts for hunters.”
2. Pay Attention to Timing
Start reviewing your company’s and industry’s patterns of sales in order to identify the events and time periods that should drive your seasonal SEO.
Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year’s Day drive a lot of searches in many industries -- but you could find success focusing some of your efforts around more obscure seasonal events. For example, a bakery might want to incorporate National Doughnut Day and National Bagel Day into its seasonal SEO.
You need to push your seasonal content at just the right time -- when your audience is searching for what you have to offer. However, it’s equally important to pull the seasonal content as soon as consumers move on. Keep your calendar handy and transition back to your regular SEO strategies as soon as consumer interest on the seasonal SEO terms has faded.
3. Optimize Your Consumer’s Entire Experience
You need to make sure that your seasonal SEO efforts are as thorough as your evergreen efforts. Get your content plan in place, then:
● Share seasonal messages on your social pages
● Update your navigation menu to promote key products
● Update your landing pages with seasonal offers
● Customize your calls-to-action with a seasonal message
The more you focus on making your seasonal SEO something that echoes through your entire marketing strategy, the richer the experience for the consumer. That ultimately helps increase engagement and drive conversions.
Seasonal SEO: The Bottom Line
In many ways, seasonal SEO isn’t that different from evergreen SEO. You’re merely refining your focus and presenting what you have to offer through a seasonal lens. While good seasonal search engine optimization does require a significant time investment, its cyclical nature allows you to build on your previous efforts year after year -- and the time investment is a small price to pay for the benefits you get in return.