Holiday Keywords to Boost Your Blog Traffic
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Small differences in the keywords and hashtags you use this holiday season can mean big gains in traffic for your blog and social media accounts. We’ve researched some of this season’s most popular phrases for fashion and lifestyle -- and added some tools and resources to help you perform your own keyword research.
Keep in mind when choosing your focus keywords that a higher search volume doesn’t always mean a better fit for you, particularly if you’re looking at broad phrases like “holiday gifts,” which draw immense competition. Rather, use the phrase comparisons to guide you in building long-tail keywords that incorporate your specific niche or demographic (for example, by adding your location or words like “plus size,” a particularly popular phrase in fashion).
Top Holiday Keywords for 2016 (Search volume in parentheses)
Use holiday dresses (14,800) vs. holiday dress (2,900).
Use holiday decorations (3,600) vs. holiday decor (1,600)
Use Christmas shopping (5,400) vs. holiday shopping (1,600)
Use Christmas sweaters (49,500) vs. christmas outfit ideas (2,400)
Use Christmas makeup (2,400) vs. christmas makeover (210)
Use Christmas gift ideas for mom (5,400) rather than best Christmas gifts for mom (1,600)
These are just a few examples of how the phrasing you use affects your traffic potential. Before choosing a focus keyword, use a keyword search tool like this one to check the search volume of similar phrases.
Trending Holiday Hashtags for 2016
As you already know from building your Instagram following, hashtags matter! Bear in mind, however, that more isn’t always better. Although Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags per post, going overboard can start to confuse and annoy viewers. More than 10 appears to be the collective tipping point, although best practices indicate sticking to between 3-5. Keep in mind that as with keywords, popular hashtags also mean more competition, so the more descriptive your words, the better.
To help you decide which top phrases to incorporate, below is a list of how popular tags stack up against different variations. (Number of posts with the hashtag in parentheses)
#holidays (27,678,741) vs. #holidayseason (1,292,937)
#merrychristmas (65,869,848) vs. #happychristmas (485,598)
#giftideas (1,367,274) vs. #giftidea (473,310)
#holidaygifts (121,892) vs. #holidaygift (56,017)
#seasonofgiving (42,399) vs. #seasonofjoy (5,517)
#christmasspirit (768,845) vs. #christmasspirits (3,945)
More holiday hashtags:
#christmastree (6,999,178 posts)
#santa (6,547,502)
#happyholidays (5,166,494)
#blackfriday (2,760,735)
#tistheseason (2,729,944)
#christmasparty (1,636,190)
#holidayshopping (249,681)
#deckthehalls (116,302)
RESOURCES
Best Free Tools
SERP’s Keyword Research Database is one of the only truly free keyword generators available -- and the only completely free tool online that shows search volume, allowing you to gain an objective sense of the keyword’s popularity.
One of the best tools for tracking online interest in a topic over a period of time (whether globally or by country), Google Trends is a must-add to your SEO toolkit if you haven’t already started using it. One of its greatest advantages is the ability to look at conversations and topics of interest, rather than just keywords or phrases, which can help to inform your future blog topics and social media content.
A tool with one of the most helpful free versions available, UberSuggest lets you filter, search and download unlimited keywords in list or cloud form. You can also view search volume and cost-per-click info for free by downloading the Keyword Everywhere extension for Chrome for Firefox.
Best Paid Tools
Long Tail Pro is one of our favorite tools for finding the best keyword searches for your blog. Even better? It’s also one of the most cost-effective. Starting at $37 per month (roughly half the price of similar products), Long Tail Pro lets you score keyword competitiveness, calculate keyword profitability and assess AdWords data on your keywords.
A great alternative to Google’s Keyword Planner (now only available with AdWords), KeywordTool.io ranks the popularity of hundreds of keywords related to your search, giving you lists for Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon and the App Store. The “Pro Plus” version allows you to access keyword search volume, the average cost-per-click for various keywords, and the number of competitors bidding on those words. Unless you advertise your site, these terms may not mean much to you, but understanding the competitiveness of different phrases will also give you an idea of how much competition you face in an organic sense.
Want to build traffic to your blog all year round? Check out our guide to SEO for Fashion Bloggers.