It’s time to prepare your eCommerce strategy as we grow closer to the Christmas shopping season. We know it's easy to overlook your SEO campaign at this time as you plan new marketing actions for next year, refill your product stock and set up holiday deals - so don’t worry, here’s your friendly reminder!     So, how can you prepare your eCommerce store for Christmas? You’re in the right place! Check out 7 of the most important SEO tips,  just in time for the peak season!

1. Prepare your website for a raise in traffic   

 With the festive season, comes the “Christmas shopping” surge in web traffic - this is especially true as we continue to rely on eCommerce with fluctuating pandemic restrictions. But, here’s how you can prepare for an increase in traffic:

  • Ensure that the servers are fast enough to get an increased amount of site traffic.
  • Implement a CDN, ( content delivery network), which can distribute the content delivery load for your website through the server closest to the web visitors location.
  • Upgrade browser caching: Caches store page elements on a local server so that website pages open faster the next time a user is visiting your website.

2. Make sure that you provide a smooth user experience

 User experience is an important factor for SEO, for eCommerce websites, therefore, you should ensure that the shopping experience is seamless - from the browsing stage to the checkout process.
How to do that:
  • Consider your shopping carts and review the quantities and the variants in the shopping cart.
  • Simplify the checkout process by granting immediate access to both guests and registered users, minimize form fields and make the form user-friendly (form fields are more likely to be filled out and CTA buttons are easier to be found and click on).
  • Ensure you provide secure payment methods: Security is a primary concern when it comes to online payments, therefore you should ensure that the eCommerce platform that you have chosen supports SSL encryption.
  • Implement easy payment and shipment options, which include: cash-on-delivery options, because online shoppers are likely to have the freedom to choose the payment method and which couriers they prefer.

3. The best Christmas campaigns are based on specific long-tail keywords

 Throughout the year, your search campaign gives you all the information that you need to make the right decisions on where to spend your extra campaign income for the best ROI. Categories that perform well, keywords that have a high ROI, keyword variations that are broadly related but won’t convert into sales that you need to know.

How to do that:
Long Tail keywords are key phrases of four or more words where users are searching for something very specific.  Therefore, you should target specific keywords, with a Christmas topic that can add value to your campaign. But, be careful when using these keywords, as they can work against you while spending a lot of money with having little return. For example, if you bid on keywords such as: “Vegan hampers Bondi”, “Christmas vouchers for dogs”, “Xmas gifts for him / her/ mum/ dad”, it can take the user to generic landing pages, or worse, your homepage! 

You can make these seasonal keywords work for you if you direct users to tailored landing pages with relevant content and more specifically, relevant product lists for the context of the keyword, such as "All your vegan hampers all your gift ideas for him/her/mum/dad that look more expensive."

Moreover, before investing in landing pages, you should consult Google Ads Keyword Planner for search volumes for the individual keyword and verify your last year’s search term to see volumes and past performances.

4. Optimize product descriptions and pictures

Product descriptions and pictures are very important for SEO, for the following reasons:

  • Make use of relevant keywords: Add relevant long-tail keywords in your product names and descriptions. For example, instead of “coffee beans”, be more specific by using “holiday special arabica coffee beans” instead.
  • Focus on the value and advantages of your online products: Remove all the unnecessary details and the technical jargon. Instead, use descriptions of the value that your product offers to customers.
  • Be concise: Be transparent about product information, such as dimensions, size and weight. Product pictures should be described accurately. 
  • Optimize product images: Get your products photographed by a professional and include more angles of your product, by making sure that the file size is optimized and the page speed is not affected.

5. Implement structured data to your products

To be on top of Google search results, you should optimize your products by implementing structured data. Nevertheless, schema data added on a product will specify to search engines how to rank your product pages on Google Search Results.

How to do that:
  • Add more parameters to your product schema, such as price, rating/reviews, shipping details. For more information on how to add structured data to your products, follow these guidelines:
How to add structured data markup to your product pages on Google
Rich results for product listings on Yoast

6. Repurpose and update current content

Do you have an existing blog on your eCommerce website or any evergreen content that you can use? If so, be sure to repurpose it to make it more relevant for the holiday season.

What you can do:
  • Reshare content: If you have a Christmas gift guide from previous years, you can reshare it on your social media accounts to drive more organic traffic to your website.
  • Repurpose to other content types: Evergreen blog content can be made into a video or an infographic. 
  • Update existing content by refreshing it and replacing irrelevant information with what is relevant today. For example, gift guides can be updated with the latest products that are on- trend.

7. Keep the same landing pages from last year

If you have created landing pages with a Christmas topic for SEO purposes, instead of building a new one each, keep the URL from the previous years and update only the content inside. In this way, data history such as traffic and backlinks will be an important part of the SEO ranking.
Building an SEO strategy for Christmas is very important for your eCommerce business. Keeping the same landing pages from last year, repurposing content, adding structured data, adding structured data, optimizing product descriptions - these are important tips to take into consideration.  Follow Kooomo SEO Blog for more exciting and knowledgeable tips.