Part #1: Preparing for peak trade – is your website ready? | Hallam


It really is the time to start pulling out all the stops as we Q4 races closer towards us. 

Not sure where to start? Or have you got your peak trade marketing strategy in place and want to see if you’ve got any gaps? We’ve summarised our best peak trade tips from our experts in our Ultimate Peak Trade Guide. 

In the first of this two-part blog series, we’ll give you a sneaky insight into our peak trade tips. This week’s focus is all about getting your website ready.

SEO: getting the basics right 

Before you start getting hung up on all the brand new SEO needed for seasonal web page launches, remember that the base on which you are building has to be strong in order to be successfully built upon. Once you have a solid foundation – the quality and authority of your content – you can start building on SEO for Q4.

In our guide, Senior SEO Consultant, Stanley Dunthorne, explains that a quick look at Google Trends is a great place to start. Searches for Christmas-related terms begin to pick up in early September and searches for Black Friday at the start of October – nearly two months before the event. You can find out when searches for seasonal sales are most popular and what search terms are used, and prepare your website, sales, content marketing and campaigns accordingly. Seasonal landing pages should be created in line with discoveries from Google Trends, and it is important to use the same URL each year to increase website authority.

Remember: double check when the seasonal peaks for your products are (hint: it might not be when you think they are…) 

Why is spending time on SEO in peak trade season so important?

Stanley highlights that ensuring your basic SEO is up to scratch and preparing your website and its pages for seasonal trends will keep you a step ahead of competitors, as you will start appearing in searches earlier in the year.

Keeping seasonal landing pages consistent and indexed year on year will increase your authority and help you rank higher in search results – so it is important to create a strategy now rather than later.

By making sure your website pages are set up to align with the seasonal peaks for your products (thanks, Google Trends), you will be prepared for customers to buy from you as soon as seasonal searches begin and make sure you are not missing out on any potential sales conversions that you would have otherwise been unaware of.

Boost your conversion rate 

But SEO is only half of the story. Once they’re on your website, what next? Consumers and website visitors want everything ‘now’, with as little effort as possible. Our Head of Experience, Francis Williams, reveals his top tips on how to set users up for success in the guide. 

He outlines 3 key areas of focus:

Test the performance of your site’s server 

If the hardware hosting your website is not performing optimally, the site’s performance will be impacted and, in turn, negatively impact your user’s experience.

Ensure key pages in the user journey are working optimally 

In particular, areas like checkout, search and product lists need any problems ironing out so users have an effortless experience.

Conversion rate optimisation 

User testing, A/B testing, user interviews, surveys and a whole multitude of research can help you understand your users’ needs and tailor the experience for them.


Think your website or SEO strategy might be missing a trick? Download the Ultimate Peak Trade Guide here. 

 




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