Black Friday SEO Tips

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2018 Black Friday sales are expected to exceed 2017 sales numbers. Last year was all about digital purchases, according to data collected by Adobe Digital Insights. In just 24 hours, a record $5 billion was spent, up 16.9% from 2016. As for in-store shopping, the number of people visiting stores on Black Friday and Thanksgiving has declined.

If you have great deals and promotions for the holidays, you can use search engine optimization (SEO) to get found by the right audience. Optimizing your holiday campaigns is the way to accomplish this – and you have time to make last minute changes.

Below are Black Friday SEO tips that will help get your business noticed.

1. Address Technical SEO

Before you launch your campaigns, review a few SEO basics to ensure that your pages can be crawled, ranked and indexed correctly:

  • Resolve 404 pages
  • Improve page speed
  • Add visible calls to action
  • Put 301 redirects on broken links
  • Make sure your site can handle more traffic
  • Talk to your hosting provider about upgrading security
  • Optimize meta tags and descriptions with Black Friday keywords
  • Provide clear NAP information so people can find your business

2. Include Long Tail Keywords

Using the right keywords will help you get found by the right people. The best way to discover what keywords to use is by doing a quick analysis of last year’s campaigns. Refer to Google Analytics and look back on the pages that drove the most traffic, conversions and keyword rank. This will help you build more effective campaigns for 2018.

Also, brainstorm popular keywords that are used on Black Friday (Black Friday deals, promotions, flash sales, etc.). Include them in long tail keywords to boost your organic search strategy. Branded terms and product specifics can also be included.

3. Optimize Landing Pages

Landing pages attract leads and promote specific products that you want to sell over the holidays. Here are a few things to include on your landing pages:

  • Keyword optimized meta tags
  • Descriptive ad copy
  • Enticing headlines
  • Clear calls to action
  • Sense of urgency
  • Valuable content

4. Publish Seasonal Content

Keep your brand front and center by creating seasonal content. Publish news articles and blog posts that feature your products and services. Create a gift guide that makes recommendations for holiday shoppers and post it to your website. Update your social media channels with festive content such as shopping tips, gift ideas and limited time sales.

The more content you create, the more your brand will stand out and move people through the funnel. To save time, use some of your best content from last year and update it with new information.

5. Encourage Customer Reviews

Consumers read reviews before they make a purchase. To help shoppers make an informed decision, encourage reviews and testimonials from your customers.

Many people only leave feedback when they’re unhappy, so be proactive and ask for feedback after the customer has had time to use the product. Make it easy for them to review you, and if a customer is unhappy, use this as an opportunity to acknowledge their frustration and resolve the problem.

Black Friday is just around the corner. Get your business ready to ship out more products and generate more sales with an effective SEO strategy.