Pay per click is perfect for targeting seasonal search traffic as you can increase and decrease your budgets at anytime. In order to take advantage of seasonal peaks in traffic it is also worth while tailoring your keywords and advert copy.
The Google Insights for Search tool can help you to identify the times of year when people search for terms relevant to the products and services your business offers allowing you to plan your budget and seasonal campaigns accordingly.
This could be calendar events e.g. if you are a fancy dress business you would expect an increase in people searching for relevant terms on Google around Halloween.
Also keep in mind that search volumes can also increase in relation to new, events and social trends. For example search relating to ballroom dancing increases when Strictly Come dancing is on TV.
Now, we have all seen the Christmas aisles in the supermarkets already so that means it is also time to get into the festive spirit and set your Christmas campaigns live.
Remember not to just focus on the obvious trends such as Christmas Cards, Christmas gifts and Christmas parties. Think about the other businesses and services people will be searching for online over the festive period. Taxis peak over the festive season because more people will want to enjoy a drink, or do not want to drive in poor weather conditions.
A lot of New Year’s resolutions cause an increase in searches on Google, the most obvious being gyms as people resolve to lose weight and get fit.
As well as calendar events and social trends consider how the weather may affect search volumes. For example in sunny, hot weather searches for BBQ related terms increase. When the cold weather kicks in (as it has done over the past few weeks) searches for boiler and heating related terms increase.
In summary think about the times of year when people will be searching for your product and searches so you can plan your campaigns and budgets to ensure you take advantage of search volume increases and don’t lose out to your competitors.
