SEO
6 Holiday SEO Tips (To Boost Traffic During the Shopping Season)
Holidays are that time of the year when people spend tons of money on gifts for friends, family, and loved ones.
In fact, according to the National Retail Foundation (NRF), American consumers each planned to spend ~$998 on holiday gifts in 2021.
This is a fantastic opportunity for SEOs and marketers.
In this post, you’ll learn six simple SEO tips to implement for the holidays so you can rank your pages higher for the busiest seasons of the year.
Internal links are links from one page on your website to another. They aid the flow of PageRank around your site, which is important because PageRank is a Google ranking factor.
That means if you can add internal links from relevant pages on your website to your important holiday pages, you can actually boost their rankings on Google.
Here’s how to do it. First, make a list of all your important holiday pages. Next, sign up for our free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) and run a crawl on your site.
When the crawl is done, go to the Link opportunities report in Ahrefs’ Site Audit. This report will show you relevant link opportunities on your site.
To find relevant and contextual internal link opportunities, set the filter to Target page and search for your holiday pages.
Look at the suggested opportunities and add internal links where relevant. We recommend doing it at least one to two months in advance so Google and other search engine crawlers have time to crawl those pages and discover the new links.
Learn more: Internal Links for SEO: An Actionable Guide
Holiday season means people are looking for holiday-specific keywords. For example, there’s a huge spike in Halloween-related dental queries every year:
You should be creating pages to rank for these keywords.
Here’s how to find them:
- Go to Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
- Enter one or a few relevant keywords (e.g., if you sell consumer electronics, you can enter keywords like “air fryer,” “headphones,” “laptop,” etc)
- Go to the Matching terms report
- Use the Include filter to search for relevant holidays (e.g., Black Friday, Christmas, etc)
Note that keywords relevant to a holiday don’t necessarily have to include the actual name of the holiday. It can be related to the person whom people are buying for. For example, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
So we can follow the above steps. But this time, in the Include box, we’ll search for “for dad” and “for mom.” If we do this for the keyword “golf,” here’s what we see:
When you have a list of good holiday topics to target, follow the video below to create pages that can rank for them:
Sidenote.
Since it’ll take time to rank for these keywords, create these pages before the holiday season begins.
Within a single year, holidays are seasonal. But look at it from a long-term perspective, and holidays are actually evergreen.
For the foreseeable future, holidays like Valentine’s Day, Black Friday, and Christmas are always going to be big shopping seasons. That means from an SEO perspective, search intent isn’t likely to change much.
So rather than creating new pages every year (and deleting old ones), it’ll be much better to create an evergreen page that you’ll update one or two months before the holiday.
This way, you’ll retain the link equity, continue to build authority to that one page and, hopefully, appear at the top of Google for your target query every year.
For example, that’s what TechRadar does every year for its “Black Friday deals” page. You can see that it consistently maintains top rankings for that page since 2020:
So even though it doesn’t get much traffic during the “off season,” it gets tons of it during the holidays:
Sidenote.
Even though the spike in 2020 looks small, it still received around 150K search visits. But keeping the page evergreen led it to even more traffic in the next holiday season, peaking at around 1.7M search visits.
If you’ve already created seasonal pages for previous years, consider redirecting them to your evergreen page.
If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, make sure you’ve claimed your Google Business Profile (GBP) and optimized everything (including adding your holiday hours).
This will ensure that your business has the chance to appear on the Google Map Pack whenever someone is looking for something in their vicinity.
Claiming and optimizing your GBP is a pretty straightforward process, which you can complete in 30 minutes. Just follow the guide here.
Google Business Profile also allows you to share updates, offers, and events related to your business. They show up in a carousel near the bottom of your Google Business panel.
Use this to share any deals and offers for the upcoming holiday season.
Learn more about creating great business posts in this short guide from Google.
Google Shopping was originally only “pay-to-play.” But in 2020, Google opened it to organic listings.
With 1.2B monthly searches on Google Shopping, it means you’ll want to be here during the holiday seasons.
To show your products in Google Shopping’s organic listings, you’ll need to have a Google Merchant Center (GMC) account.
Then follow Google’s instructions below on how to show your products for free on Google Shopping.
Learn more: Show Your Products for Free on Google
More clicks mean more visitors. And having more visitors during the holidays probably means more sales.
So ideally, you’d want to optimize the titles and meta descriptions for your important holiday pages.
Usually, the best way to do this is to test them using search ads. This is because Google Ads will give you click data on which title and meta description combinations work best for a particular page.
The issue, however, is that holidays only run for a short period of time. This means there isn’t time to gather enough data on the combination that will work.
So here’s an alternative method. We can look at how your competitors’ paid ads have performed and use them as inspiration.
Here’s how to do this:
- Enter the URL of a competitor’s ad into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
- Go to the Ads report
Here, you’ll see their ad copy, the exact landing page they’re sending traffic to, the keywords they’re targeting, and the amount of estimated traffic each ad is generating.
Use it to inspire not only your own ad copy but also your holiday paid advertising strategy!
Learn more: How to Craft the Perfect SEO Title Tag (Our 4-Step Process)
Final thoughts
These are some low-hanging SEO tips for more organic traffic. But SEO takes time. So if a holiday is coming, make sure you implement them soon!
Did I miss out on any holiday SEO tips? Let me know on Twitter.
SEO
How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results
ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.
However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.
To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.
Writing Prompts For ChatGPT
What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?
A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.
The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.
Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.
ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.
How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT
Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”
ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.
Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.
If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.
For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”
Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.
However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.
Must-Have GPTs Assistant
I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.
This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.
It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)
For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.
With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.
You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.
Master Reverse Prompt Engineering
ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.
By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.
One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.
This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.
Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.
Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts
First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.
- Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”
ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.
- Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”
The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”
I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”
But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.
Go Deeper
Prompts and examples for SEO:
- Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
- Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
- Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”
Important Considerations:
- Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
- Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
- Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.
Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.
Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.
Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques
Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.
Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.
Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.
This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.
More resources:
Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock
SEO
Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey
Understanding the impact of your content at every touchpoint of the customer journey is essential – but that’s easier said than done. From attracting potential leads to nurturing them into loyal customers, there are many touchpoints to look into.
So how do you identify and take advantage of these opportunities for growth?
Watch this on-demand webinar and learn a comprehensive approach for measuring the value of your content initiatives, so you can optimize resource allocation for maximum impact.
You’ll learn:
- Fresh methods for measuring your content’s impact.
- Fascinating insights using first-touch attribution, and how it differs from the usual last-touch perspective.
- Ways to persuade decision-makers to invest in more content by showcasing its value convincingly.
With Bill Franklin and Oliver Tani of DAC Group, we unravel the nuances of attribution modeling, emphasizing the significance of layering first-touch and last-touch attribution within your measurement strategy.
Check out these insights to help you craft compelling content tailored to each stage, using an approach rooted in first-hand experience to ensure your content resonates.
Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or new to content measurement, this webinar promises valuable insights and actionable tactics to elevate your SEO game and optimize your content initiatives for success.
View the slides below or check out the full webinar for all the details.
SEO
How to Find and Use Competitor Keywords
Competitor keywords are the keywords your rivals rank for in Google’s search results. They may rank organically or pay for Google Ads to rank in the paid results.
Knowing your competitors’ keywords is the easiest form of keyword research. If your competitors rank for or target particular keywords, it might be worth it for you to target them, too.
There is no way to see your competitors’ keywords without a tool like Ahrefs, which has a database of keywords and the sites that rank for them. As far as we know, Ahrefs has the biggest database of these keywords.
How to find all the keywords your competitor ranks for
- Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
- Enter your competitor’s domain
- Go to the Organic keywords report
The report is sorted by traffic to show you the keywords sending your competitor the most visits. For example, Mailchimp gets most of its organic traffic from the keyword “mailchimp.”
Since you’re unlikely to rank for your competitor’s brand, you might want to exclude branded keywords from the report. You can do this by adding a Keyword > Doesn’t contain filter. In this example, we’ll filter out keywords containing “mailchimp” or any potential misspellings:
If you’re a new brand competing with one that’s established, you might also want to look for popular low-difficulty keywords. You can do this by setting the Volume filter to a minimum of 500 and the KD filter to a maximum of 10.
How to find keywords your competitor ranks for, but you don’t
- Go to Competitive Analysis
- Enter your domain in the This target doesn’t rank for section
- Enter your competitor’s domain in the But these competitors do section
Hit “Show keyword opportunities,” and you’ll see all the keywords your competitor ranks for, but you don’t.
You can also add a Volume and KD filter to find popular, low-difficulty keywords in this report.
How to find keywords multiple competitors rank for, but you don’t
- Go to Competitive Analysis
- Enter your domain in the This target doesn’t rank for section
- Enter the domains of multiple competitors in the But these competitors do section
You’ll see all the keywords that at least one of these competitors ranks for, but you don’t.
You can also narrow the list down to keywords that all competitors rank for. Click on the Competitors’ positions filter and choose All 3 competitors:
- Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
- Enter your competitor’s domain
- Go to the Paid keywords report
This report shows you the keywords your competitors are targeting via Google Ads.
Since your competitor is paying for traffic from these keywords, it may indicate that they’re profitable for them—and could be for you, too.
You know what keywords your competitors are ranking for or bidding on. But what do you do with them? There are basically three options.
1. Create pages to target these keywords
You can only rank for keywords if you have content about them. So, the most straightforward thing you can do for competitors’ keywords you want to rank for is to create pages to target them.
However, before you do this, it’s worth clustering your competitor’s keywords by Parent Topic. This will group keywords that mean the same or similar things so you can target them all with one page.
Here’s how to do that:
- Export your competitor’s keywords, either from the Organic Keywords or Content Gap report
- Paste them into Keywords Explorer
- Click the “Clusters by Parent Topic” tab
For example, MailChimp ranks for keywords like “what is digital marketing” and “digital marketing definition.” These and many others get clustered under the Parent Topic of “digital marketing” because people searching for them are all looking for the same thing: a definition of digital marketing. You only need to create one page to potentially rank for all these keywords.
2. Optimize existing content by filling subtopics
You don’t always need to create new content to rank for competitors’ keywords. Sometimes, you can optimize the content you already have to rank for them.
How do you know which keywords you can do this for? Try this:
- Export your competitor’s keywords
- Paste them into Keywords Explorer
- Click the “Clusters by Parent Topic” tab
- Look for Parent Topics you already have content about
For example, if we analyze our competitor, we can see that seven keywords they rank for fall under the Parent Topic of “press release template.”
If we search our site, we see that we already have a page about this topic.
If we click the caret and check the keywords in the cluster, we see keywords like “press release example” and “press release format.”
To rank for the keywords in the cluster, we can probably optimize the page we already have by adding sections about the subtopics of “press release examples” and “press release format.”
3. Target these keywords with Google Ads
Paid keywords are the simplest—look through the report and see if there are any relevant keywords you might want to target, too.
For example, Mailchimp is bidding for the keyword “how to create a newsletter.”
If you’re ConvertKit, you may also want to target this keyword since it’s relevant.
If you decide to target the same keyword via Google Ads, you can hover over the magnifying glass to see the ads your competitor is using.
You can also see the landing page your competitor directs ad traffic to under the URL column.
Learn more
Check out more tutorials on how to do competitor keyword analysis:
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