For many local businesses, especially retail, restaurant, entertainment, and hospitality industry businesses, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year. Doubling down on local SEO during the holidays is one of the best ways to boost online visibility, traffic, and sales during this busy period to finish out the year strong.
Optimize Your Google Business Profile for the Holidays
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is your most critical local SEO asset all year round, and by making a few seasonal updates, you can ensure your GBP continues to perform throughout the hyper-competitive holiday season.
Set Holiday Business Hours
Make sure to update your holiday hours on GBP to reflect any seasonal changes, such as extended or shortened hours. Not only does this ensure customers find accurate hours when they’re looking for businesses like yours to call or visit, but it also helps Google determine when to show your business in relevant local search results.
Upload Holiday-Themed Photos
Regularly adding photos to your Google Business Profile is a great way to increase engagement, which in turn can help improve its local search performance.
The holiday season offers a perfect opportunity to upload some festive photos to attract extra attention. For example, you might upload photos of your decorated storefront, seasonal products, or holiday-themed events.
Add Relevant Attributes
Google allows you to add attributes to your GBP to highlight unique characteristics, some of which may help drive more traffic during the holidays.
Now’s a good time to review all available attributes and add any that might be extra relevant for the holiday season, such as “gift wrapping” or “family-friendly.” That way, when people search for a store that offers gift wrapping services or a family-friendly restaurant, for example, they’ll have a better chance of coming across your business in search results!
Create Holiday Posts
Use GBP posts to announce holiday sales, promotions, or special events. For instance, you might share posts about seasonal discounts for a retail store or holiday party catering services for a restaurant. Make sure to include eye-catching images, end each post with a clear call to action (CTA), and create a sense of urgency to drive engagement.
Review Categories
Ensure your Google Business Profile categories accurately reflect what you offer during the holiday season. If you offer any seasonal products or services, consider adding secondary GBP categories to reflect those.
For instance, a retailer that sells Christmas decorations for a few months of the year might add “Christmas store,” or a produce farm that sells Christmas trees during the holiday season might add “Christmas tree farm.”
Target Seasonal Keywords with Local Intent
Holiday shoppers often use holiday season-specific keywords with local intent to find exactly what they’re looking for during this time of the year.
For example, people might search for things like, “Christmas gifts in [Neighborhood]” or “New Year’s Eve events in [City].
Capitalize on this by doing some holiday keyword research and incorporating relevant keywords into your website and content to improve visibility in local search results.
Create Holiday-Specific Landing Pages and Content
Creating dedicated landing pages for holiday offerings or publishing helpful seasonal content can significantly boost your local SEO during this busy time of the year. These pages not only help improve rankings and attract traffic, but also provide visitors with valuable information that can convert them into customers.
Dedicated Landing Pages for Seasonal Offerings
Any seasonal offerings should have a dedicated landing page on your website, which provides opportunities to include those seasonal keywords mentioned above and drive targeted local traffic.
For instance, a bakery that offers special holiday desserts could create a landing page for “Holiday Desserts in [City],” while a landscaping company that offers holiday light hanging services might create a landing page for “[City] Holiday Lighting Services.”
Helpful, Localized Holiday-Themed Content
Writing blog posts, articles, or guides around local holiday-themed activities is another great way to attract potential customers to your site during the holiday season. For example, a hotel might publish a blog post titled something like, “The Best [City] Hotels for a Magical Winter Getaway” or a retailer might create an article titled “Where To Buy Christmas Gifts for Kids in [City].”
Collect Seasonal Reviews
Collecting positive reviews on Google Business Profile and other platforms is a vital strategy for improving local SEO year round, but reviews can have an additional impact during the busy holiday season.
Shoppers often look for the most relevant reviews to help guide their purchase decisions when deciding what businesses to choose for seasonal products or services.
Not only that, but seasonal feedback can also provide valuable opportunities for review analysis that can help you address issues and adjust seasonal offerings, ultimately improving reviews and local rankings.
Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews
Politely ask customers to share their holiday experiences with your business in feedback. For instance, after a purchase, you could send an email saying, “We hope you loved our holiday gift selection! Please leave us a review and let others know about your experience.”
Ask Customers To Highlight Seasonal Details
Encourage customers to mention holiday-specific aspects of your business, such as festive decor, seasonal menu items, or exceptional service during busy periods.
Respond to Reviews
Engage with reviewers by thanking them or addressing concerns. Personalized responses show you care and encourage others to leave feedback, boosting engagement and local SEO.
