It’s Thanksgiving Eve, and shoppers are considering two options for Black Friday: get in line in the early hours of the morning, or shop Amazon from the comfort of their home. Many will pick the latter--over 80% of online shoppers will use Amazon for holiday shopping research and purchases in 2018. As these consumers search for gifts for loved ones, algorithms are what will help them unearth the perfect item. To win more of these moments, brands must be prepared to deliver their products with compelling content and an understanding of what lifts products in search rankings.
So how can you ensure your brand wins the search bar and the buy button for Holiday 2018? In our Holiday Shopping Keyword Intelligence Report, we analyzed over 10 million SKUs to identify what top search queries have in common to maintain ranking and to drive sales.
Unbranded Terms Dominate Year-Round
Regardless of the time of year, online shoppers are rarely for your brand, they are looking for a product. Sixty-three percent of gift-giving search terms are unbranded, during holiday and non-holiday periods. Products that perform well during the holiday often maintain their rankings--45% of unbranded gift giving search terms stay in the top 1000 in the new year.
This means investing in strong product content and optimization will make an impact for seasons to come.
Consider the End User and Optimize for Gift-Giving
When looking to optimize search terms, consider who the end purchase is for: searches for “gifts for men”, “Christmas decorations” and “stocking stuffers” increase during the holiday period and should be a part of your brand’s strategy. Not all shoppers are given a wish list, and they need to be guided to your products. Brands who continuously optimize their product pages throughout the season are able to capitalize on trends faster and lift their Sales Rank for a longer time period, than those that maintain status quo.
Product Category Determines SEO Opportunity
Top unbranded search terms vary by category. Certain categories, like clothing are more likely to be holiday focused, whereas others like CPG are holiday agnostic (paper goods, protein powder). Opportunity for growth is heavily dependent on category and current trends.
- Toys Need Unbranded Terms: Toy manufacturers have a sizeable opportunity during the holidays, with a 23% share of unbranded search terms in the top 1000. Adding keywords to the product description and titles that speak to the age group of the future toy owner (e.g. Fun, educational toy for kids ages 6 and up!) will help lift placement within these type of unbranded search terms.
- Products Used for Entertaining Surge: Holiday season means parties and entertaining guests, and search trends indicate products in the home category have an increased opportunity to perform well. If your brand sells home goods, kitchen wares and hardware, consider adding search terms that speak to entertaining during the holiday season.
The Holiday season presents a great opportunity for brands to gain traction and grow sales as long as they recognize product pages should not be stagnant. Remembering that shoppers’ needs go beyond gift giving in the holiday season will help brands capture more sales.
