SEO & PPC Tips & Tricks for Holiday Success

This post is contributed by the team at Americaneagle.com, an industry leader in professional website design, development, ecommerce, hosting, and digital marketing, and ShipStation solutions provider partner.

Preparing for the holiday season is essential for any business, particularly for those in ecommerce. Customers finding your products is key to conversion: this article is here to help you manage your SEO and PPC for holiday success!

What is SEO?

SEO, search engine optimization, will help you rank organically on search engine results pages. SEO takes time and effort, it might take months or years for you to significantly improve your organic listings.

What is PPC?

Pay Per Click or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) makes it easy for you to rank in the paid search listings at the top of a search engine results page. This is an effective way to ensure customers find you if you’re in a hurry to boost your rankings for the holiday season.

Why SEO and PPC?

Google is the place to be for shoppers looking for gift ideas and great deals. Approximately 70% of people start with Google when using retail sites and apps on mobile (source: Google). This is why SEO and PPC are so important. If you’re not visible for your keywords, you won’t be found and will miss out on countless potential customers.

How to Improve your SEO for the Holidays – Organic Search Tips

Keyword research is a vital starting point if you’re looking to improve your SEO for over the holidays.

1. Start by making a list of the most important keywords for your business. Think of keyword variations and what your customers are most likely to search for.
2. Take a look at how well you’re already ranking for these important keywords. Some will be easier to improve than others.
3. Determine which keywords are most realistic for you to improve between now and holiday season. Bear in mind where your keywords are currently ranking, and how strong the competition is for each word.

Paid Search for the Holidays – How to Succeed

If you don’t have time to work on your organic search, paid search might be the answer for you. However, you’ll want to start testing which ads and campaigns work for you ahead of time, to ensure you invest in the efforts that are best for your business when holiday season is upon us.

Here are a few of our top tips for ensuring your holiday SEM and PPC campaigns work to their fullest:

• Decide ahead of time which products you want to focus on promoting
• Experiment with ad types ahead of time
• Test ad copy and creative so you know what works best before holiday season
• Use good quality images and content
• Determine a budget – consider cost per click and budget for each campaign
• Test promotions ahead if time– do your customers prefer free shipping? Coupon codes?
• Measure ROAS (return on ad spend) and track conversions

Holiday Success

By following the tips above and carefully planning for your holiday season, you can ensure you get the visibility you need, so your customers can find you. We wish you the best of luck this holiday season!