Sleigh Your Q4: Brands' Guide to Ecommerce SEO & Paid Search ????

Introduction ??

Did you know that 80% of holiday shoppers start their search online? With over 20 years of experience and having worked with more than 400 brands since 2007, I'm thrilled to bring you the most cutting-edge, high-impact strategies to skyrocket your SEO and paid search advertising this holiday season. Let's dive in!

SEO Strategies for the Holidays ??

1. Target Relevant Keywords

How to Do It: Use Google Trends to identify trending holiday keywords. Create a list of these keywords and incorporate them into your website's meta descriptions, titles, and content.

Example: Macy's targets "best holiday gifts" and sees a 30% increase in organic traffic.

2. Optimize for Mobile

How to Do It: Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check your site's mobile compatibility. Make necessary adjustments to improve mobile responsiveness.

Example: Nike's mobile-friendly site experiences a 20% uptick in mobile conversions.

3. High-Quality Content

How to Do It: Create holiday gift guides, blog posts, and landing pages that are rich in keywords and provide value to your audience. Use internal links to guide users to relevant products.

Example: Sephora's holiday gift guide drives 15% more organic traffic.

4. Use Structured Data

How to Do It: Implement schema markup for your products and holiday-specific pages to help search engines better understand your content. Use Google's Structured Data Markup Helper for guidance.

Example: Best Buy's rich snippets result in a 10% higher click-through rate.

5. Social Media Promotion

How to Do It: Share your holiday content and promotions on all social media platforms. Use tracking URLs to measure the effectiveness of each platform.

Example: Adidas shares its holiday gift guide on Twitter and sees a 25% increase in site visits.

Paid Search Strategies for the Holidays ??

1. Master Google Shopping

How to Do It: Use Custom Labels in Google Merchant Center to segment your products based on holiday relevance. Modify your product feed to include holiday-themed titles and descriptions. Run A/B tests to find the most effective product listings.

Example: Toys "R" Us modifies product titles to include words like "holiday" and "gift."

2. Seasonal Ad Copy

How to Do It: Update your ad copy to reflect the holiday season. Use A/B testing to find the most effective headlines and descriptions.

Example: Gap's "Holiday Sale" ad copy results in a 20% increase in click-through rates.

3. Bid on Holiday Keywords

How to Do It: Increase bids for high-performing holiday keywords. Use Google Ads' Keyword Planner to find new opportunities.

Example: Dell increases bids for "holiday laptop deals" and sees a 30% increase in conversions.

4. Use Ad Extensions

How to Do It: Utilize site link, callout, and structured snippet extensions to provide more information and encourage clicks. Update these regularly to reflect current promotions.

Example: Samsung uses site link extensions for "Holiday Deals" and "Gift Guide."

5. Implement Retargeting Campaigns

How to Do It: Use Google Ads and Bing Ads to set up retargeting campaigns. Segment your audience based on past behavior and target them with special holiday offers.

Example: Apple retargets past customers with exclusive holiday promotions.

6. YouTube Advertising

How to Do It: Create holiday-themed video ads and use YouTube's targeting options to reach your desired audience. Measure performance through YouTube Analytics.

Example: Sony's holiday video ad campaign results in a 25% increase in brand awareness.

7. Monitor Search Terms Report

How to Do It: Regularly check the search terms report in Google Ads and Bing Ads. Add irrelevant terms to your negative keyword list and adjust bids for high-performing search terms.

8. Regular Monitoring and Optimization

How to Do It: Assign a team member to monitor your campaigns daily. Make weekly optimizations based on performance metrics.

Conclusion ??

The holiday season is a pivotal time for ecommerce brands, and with the strategies outlined in this guide, you're well-equipped to make this Q4 your most profitable yet! If you're looking for more cutting-edge insights across all digital marketing channels, be sure to check out my other articles on Evan Weber's Marketing Updates . If you're interested in taking your digital strategy to the next level with a seasoned agency, feel free to reach out. Let's make this holiday season not just merry, but absolutely record-breaking!