With December starting tomorrow I thought it might be worth pointing back to a series of posts that I wrote at this time last year on How to Optimize Your Blog for Christmas.
Keep in mind that positioning yourself for seasonal traffic (and believe me that the next month there are significant opportunities to do this) means thinking ahead.
Getting your blog ready in the week before December 25 means you’ll miss out on much of what you could gain by getting your blog ready now.
What are you doing to prepare your blog for the silly season?
Nothing really.
I suppose I’m missing an opportunity, but it’s difficult for me to write about Christmas (every year I do do a “Twas the night before Christmas” post about blogging).
I suppose it’s just me giving the old two fingers towards the commercialisation of Christmas. I send a few of my readers a christmas card, and that’s it :)
St. David’s Day however? That’s the money spinner for me :)
Um, nothing special.
I’m thinking that’s not the right answer.
I’m a newbie. Guess I should get with the program.
To be honest, I haven’t thought about it too much. So the first thing I am going to do is read your series of posts on how to optimize my blog for Christmas and go from there :-)
I have a webmaster related blog. I have no clue how I can optimize it for christmas. Christmas is totally a different niche compared to my blog. So I have no idea how to do it.
I’m going to setup some posts a little early so they will be delivered throughout that week. I won’t have a lot of opportunity to post fresh news so I might as well give those that are bored with their family and in-laws something to read.
I optimized my blog for Halloween – why not Christmas? :)
The simplest of things – I decorated my blog. I designed myself a new Christmas theme, and it brought a lot of my feedreaders directly through to have a look. It really adds a lot to the season, and keeps me in the spirit while I’m writing, too. :)
Since a lot of the news I write about will be slowing down in the winter, I’ve already done one warm and fuzzy post (about the Flying Santa) right after Thanksgiving. I think one each week will be more than sufficient to do this. However, my most popular post has been Lighthouses For Sale Around the World. Perhaps people are looking to buy extreme gifts this year? At any rate, I’ll probably do one more of those, so even if we can’t buy, we can drool.
All I’m really going to do is use holiday images with my posts unless other images are more appropriate. Each image will take up no more than half of my article column and will be accompanied with some sort of appropriate holiday related caption.
I’ve been having my normal “Bah! Humbug!” reaction to the holidays and am using the images as much to get myself into a better spirit for the holidays as anything else.
Have a great holiday season… and “bless you everyone!”
Might as well have fun with it, no?
I actually just got done listening to your podcast interview with Yaro Starak: http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/363/blog-traffic-darren-rowse/
I liked it a lot!
I will probably focus on the help some businesses will need right after Christmas when they have the lull of the cold months. What about you?
Is it really worthwhile to redesign a blog for different holidays? I know it may be interested, but bloggers who do it will only ever generate an extra 4 or 5 seconds of my attention — and that’s if I really like the design. Is it worth the extra time on the part of the blogger/designer?
Great idea but I think time is out now, if the optimization job started last 2 month then the result will be significant.
@ Ryan Imel
Ryan – You make a good point, actually and pose a thought-provoking question. Maybe it’s not worthwhile to do this. I’ll give it some thought.
I don’t know how much traffic there will be out there for xmas , I bet everybody will shop online, but rarely read any blogs.
That’s my opinion :)
I have a few minor tweaks to my design that will be unrolling next week. Mainly graphic elements and photos like a few of the other commenters. I think giving a small tweak for holidays will give a website a connection with the real world and a comfortable environment.
I got another great idea from another commenter about Christmas cards. I think I might implement this into my blog for my subscribers and commenters. Just a quick friendly note goes a long way.
I have been writing holiday related posts for two weeks now and am getting hits already, but no spikes yet. I am also putting together a holiday guide this weekend (I write about stuff for kids in NYC) and will put all my Holiday posts plus additional content there. I did find that the end of Nov. is too late to go after Holiday advertisers though. Next year I’ll know that has to come in Oct!
I really never thought of positioning my blog for the holiday season. I would love to read some tricks and tips to get the best experience out of it as possible.
I’ve been writing posts related to Christmas, particularly focusing on my top twenty gift ideas!
Thx.You remind me.Its good idea to change something on holiday, it’s cool.
I just started a blog and there are practically no visitors/subscribers right now. You just gave me the idea that the holidays could generate some traffic. Thanks!
I made a “Holiday Center” that includes articles relevant to my blog and to the holidays as well as sharing coupon codes and the like for my affiliates. I’m still working on it but I think it looks good so far. I even made a nifty add for the new blog section with a pic link in my sidebar. I also added a contest where readers can win a $25.00 gift certificate and a spot on my blog during December to help generate some holiday spirit! :)
For me Christmas blooging is all about affiliate links. I’m planning a few “What to get a geek for Christmas” articles along with approriate affiliate links.
Oh and some snow on my blog logo.
@Ryan – yes, a holiday design is worth it. I’m a visual artist & designer, so eye candy is what I’m all about. If you’re not, then no – it might not serve any purpose for you. Having an appealing design helps me tell more stories and feel that my guests are getting visual treats and something fun(ny) to read, too.
I have several bullets in the chamber on the subject of Christmas. Like how we’re banning all technology from the gift list this year after watching our kids turn into evil, zombie-like, greedy, bickering little trolls every time they get within 20 feet of a Wii. Last week I kicked off the holiday blogging with a post entitled “Santa Is Lazy.” Check it out :)
I hadn’t really thought about this Darren. Surely there must be some way that I can put something festive in my business blog, without scaring off the regular readers. So, I suppose I better start thinking, since it’s December already!
I plan on posting many articles on how to leverage the season to market your business better.
Just as department stores decorate for Christmas to bring in more customers, I’ve decorated my blog header with some Christmas flare. Check it out!
If you’d like a copy of the image I used so you can “Santa-ify” your blog, let me know. I’ll be more than happy to send it.
Cheers!
I decked the blog! My header went freaky on me last week, so I came up with a Christmas Design that I am so excited about.
I also held a fun little carnival called, “My Least Favorite Things”, all about what NOT to get for Christmas.
I’m also posting a lot of Christmas decorating and cooking tips, as well as frugal ideas for the holidays. My most viewed post of all time was one of the recipes for easy Christmas gifts.
I’m sure I’ll do a little on the spiritual side of Christmas, too. Mine is a Christian Family blog, so Holiday stuff is right on target for me.
Plus- this is my favorite time of the year! I’ll be checking out all your Holiday ideas!
I have a blog about herbs, and I’m planning a few blogposts about mistletoe. How to sow it, myths and herblore, medicinal facts…
Not really ‘optimizing for Christmas’, but at least a subject that’s inline with my blog’s focus, and has some links to the holiday’s season.
I created a new header for the season but plan on totally re-designing my blog for the new year – it is kind of expected in my line of blogging – doing digital scrapbooking design – you have to be creative and my readers like a change.
I have done a lot of posts about cmas projects I am working on, etc. Totally looking forward to optimizing on Valentine’s Day with projects, free downloads, etc.
Next year I am planning in July for my Christmas posts so that I get them out earlier to be more inspirational for my readers’ projects….
Didn’t change much. Just got a new theme and customized it and added a Christmas rss feed icon.