As Black Friday approaches, ecommerce brands must fine-tune their SEO strategies to capitalise on the massive demand it generates. I have put together this guide on what to do from an SEO perspective to ensure your website is ready to maximise visibility, traffic, and sales.
Table of Contents
To get you started, here are the days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024:
When is Black Friday 2024?
Friday 29th November 2024.
When is Cyber Monday 2024?
Monday 2nd of December 2024.
1. Start Early with Seasonal Content & Blogs
Begin your Black Friday preparations well in advance by creating and optimising seasonal content. I suggest considering activities such as;
- Developing landing pages specifically for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These pages should be evergreen, allowing you to update them each year with new offers and relevant content.
- Make sure to include targeted keywords like “Black Friday deals” and “Cyber Monday deals” combined with your specific products or services.
- Writing and publishing FAQs about Black Friday and Cyber Mondays, and how your brand will support the event with tips and guidance on how to grab the best deal when a visitor lands on your website. Writing answers for questions such as “What is Black Friday”, “When is Black Friday? What are the dates of Black Friday?”, “How long do Black Friday sales last?”, or “What are some tips for shopping with [brand] on Black Friday?”.
2. Optimise Your Website Load Balancer & Core Web Vitals
Optimising load balancers and technical SEO is crucial during high-traffic events like Black Friday. Some of the steps you could take to maximise user experience are as follows;
- Use a CDN and caching techniques to make sure users can access your pages fast during a traffic spike.
- Optimise core web vitals, such as page speed and mobile responsiveness, as these factors directly impact speed and user experience. You want them to have an easy and fast browsing and check-out experience.
- Don’t forget to check for any broken links, 404 errors, and unnecessary redirects, which can disrupt the shopping experience.
3. Leverage Structured Data
Implement structured data on your product pages to enhance your search engine results. Rich snippets that display product ratings, prices, and availability can significantly improve click-through rates. This step is essential for standing out in crowded search results during the holiday shopping season. Here are some examples of the structured data that can be implemented on your Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and product pages;
- Black Friday, Cyber Mondays, and Product Q&As:
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/qapage - Information about a product, including price, availability, and review ratings: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/product
- A short excerpt of a review or a rating on your product: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet
4. Refine Your Keyword Strategy
Your keyword strategy should focus on a mix of broad and long-tail keywords. While “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” are essential, combine these with specific product-related terms to capture highly targeted traffic. For instance, use phrases like “Black Friday furniture deals”.
5. Enhance User Experience (UX)
A seamless user experience is critical during Black Friday. Simplify navigation, streamline the checkout process, and ensure that your site is easy to use on all devices. Consider implementing features like social media sign-ins to reduce friction during checkout, and always test your site across multiple devices to catch any potential issues.
6. Incorporate Social Proof
Social proof, such as customer reviews and ratings, can significantly influence purchasing decisions. Make sure reviews are prominently displayed on your product pages and consider incentivising customers to leave reviews after purchase. Highlight these reviews during Black Friday and Cyber Monday to build trust with your new audience.
7. Prepare for Paid Search and Social Campaigns
Complement your SEO efforts with a robust paid search strategy. Start running your Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads early to avoid the high competition and cost closer to the event. Make use of promo extensions in your ads to highlight special deals.
8. Refresh and Reuse Content
If you’ve created Black Friday and Cyber Monday content in the past, update it with the current year’s offers, keywords, and details. This not only saves time but also preserves the SEO value of the existing content. Redirect old URLs to the updated pages to maintain link authority.
9. Track Performance and Iterate
Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor your site’s performance throughout the Black Friday period. Track key metrics such as traffic, conversions, and bounce rates, and be ready to make quick adjustments if something isn’t working as expected. Set up events and goals to measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and identify areas for improvement.
By following these steps, I strongly believe you can enhance your site’s visibility and effectiveness in the run up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The earlier you start, the better positioned you’ll be to capture and convert the peak in traffic that comes with these events.
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