How to Create a Christmas SEO Strategy That Delivers Long-Term Value

Have you ever noticed how some brands seem to dominate search results every holiday season? One of their secrets is evergreen landing pages. Instead of starting from scratch each year, they use consistent URLs—like “/christmas-deals”—and simply refresh the content to reflect the current year.

This approach allows you to build on the SEO equity you’ve worked so hard to earn, preserving backlinks and rankings. For example, you can update the headline to “Top Christmas Gifts for 2024” while keeping the URL the same. It’s efficient, effective, and keeps you one step ahead of the competition year after year.

Add product schema, FAQ schema, and review schema to your holiday landing pages. These efforts make your site more attractive to search engines and can help you reach more holiday shoppers.

If a user’s search for “luxury Christmas gift ideas” shows your site and products high on results pages, you have set yourself up for success. That’s the power of structured data–the right schema markup enhances your visibility during the holiday sales season and helps you stay competitive in organic traffic rankings long after.

During the holiday shopping season, consumer behavior shifts faster than Santa’s sleigh. Tools like Google Trends help you identify rising search queries (hello, “eco-friendly Christmas gifts!”) so you can pivot your strategy on the fly.

Let’s say you notice a surge in “last-minute Christmas gifts” searches during the week before December 25th. Instead of missing out, update your holiday landing pages with language like “Fast Shipping on Last-Minute Gifts” to capture those procrastinating shoppers.

Image Optimization for Holiday Products: Shoppers love visuals—whether it’s festive décor or dreamy gift sets–if your products are displayed in a way that can tap into the vibe of the season then you’re already a step ahead. But, large image files can bog down your site speed, especially during traffic surges, and nobody likes slow sites, not search engines or shoppers. Optimize images by compressing files and adding alt text with relevant long-tail keywords, like “best Christmas gift for dads.”

Lazy Loading for Heavy Traffic Periods: When your site is packed with seasonal deals and holiday content, lazy loading ensures that only the most essential elements are visible to users upfront. 

AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for Holiday Shoppers: Nearly half of all holiday shopping happens on mobile devices. Implementing AMP for key pages—like holiday gift guides or product listings—ensures they load quickly, which can help your rank higher on mobile search results.

Tools for Speed Optimization: There are many tools on the market that can help diagnose bottlenecks and provide actionable fixes. From reducing render-blocking scripts to compressing JavaScript, these tweaks can make a world of difference.

Planning is everything in so many business efforts–holiday SEO is no exception. To help you get started, here’s a hypothetical week-by-week roadmap you can adapt for your business:

• Keyword Research: Use tools like Google Trends, Google Analytics, and SEMrush to identify trending and long-tail keywords related to your niche. Focus on terms with rising search volume.
• Refresh Evergreen Landing Pages: Update your seasonal pages with new content, visuals, and optimized metadata. If you don’t already have evergreen URLs (e.g., “/holiday-deals”), create them now to start building their SEO equity.
• Technical Audit: Run your site through Google Search Console and GTmetrix to fix any performance issues, such as slow page speed or broken links.

• Publish Holiday-Themed Content: Write blog posts like “Top 10 Christmas Gifts for 2024” or “Best Stocking Stuffers for Under $50.” Use a mix of the short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords you have already identified to capture diverse search intents.
• Build Internal Links: Link your new content to related pages (e.g., from gift guides to product categories) to boost site authority and help users navigate.
• Launch a Social Media Tease: Start promoting your upcoming holiday deals on the social media platforms where your business is active.

• Enhance Mobile User Experience: Test your site for fast loading times and easy navigation on a variety of devices (the UX can change a lot from device to device, don’t forget!) Implement lazy loading and compress images to optimize for mobile shoppers.
• Set Up AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages): Use AMP for your gift guides and other high-traffic pages to improve rankings on mobile search results.

• Run a Pre-Holiday Campaign: Promote your holiday content (e.g., gift guides or blogs) via email newsletters and paid ads. Include early bird discounts or free shipping offers to entice customers.

• Encourage User-Generated Content: Ask your customers to share photos or reviews of their favorite holiday products (a contest-themed promotion can go a long way here). Feature these testimonials on your site and social media pages.
• Add Schema Markup: Implement review and product schema on your landing pages to make them stand out in search results with star ratings and pricing.

• Push Urgent Messaging: Update headlines on landing pages and ads to reflect urgency, such as “Last-Minute Christmas Gifts – Ships in 24 Hours!”
• Highlight Shipping Deadlines: Include a countdown timer or clear messaging about when customers need to order to guarantee delivery before Christmas.

• Analyze Performance: Identify the pages that are performing best and use them as your guiding light to double down. Lean in to the highest-converting products or content.
• Promote Gift Cards: For ultra-last-minute shoppers, gift cards are a lifesaver. Create a dedicated page or section promoting them.

• Launch Clearance Sales: Extend the holiday shopping season by promoting post-Christmas deals. Update your seasonal landing pages with fresh offers to capture leftover holiday traffic.
• Evaluate and Plan Ahead: Take notes on what worked and what didn’t. Use these insights to refine next year’s strategy.