The goal of SEO is to increase your web pages’ search engine rankings, aiming for the first page of the search engine results, as 75% of people never go past the first page. Ideally, you want to rank in the first three positions, because those positions have the highest click-through rate. Industry data shows that on average, the #1 search result on Google has a CTR of 31.73% while the second and third results have a CTR of 24.71% and 18.66% respectively. Unsurprisingly, CTRs diminish the lower you get on the search results page. The fourth search result has a CTR of just 13.6% and the succeeding search results get single-digit CTRs. So let’s talk about how you can do just that. Follow these retail SEO tips to help your ecommerce site hit the first page of the search engine results for the keywords you want to rank for.

1. Conduct keyword research to build your SEO strategy.

Keyword research is the foundation of all good SEO strategies. This step is all about figuring out what relevant keywords your various web pages should be ranking for so you can accurately optimize each of your pages to those keywords. Effective keyword research isn’t just about determining which keywords you should be ranking for, but also which ones provide the best opportunities. Certain keywords will have a huge amount of competition on them, while others will have less. Generally, the ones with less competition get less traffic, but if you can knit together several number one rankings on smaller keywords, it can often be just as effective. As a bonus, the less competitive keywords are often much more specific phrases, known as long-tail keywords. These long-tail keywords tend to have a much higher conversion rate, averaging 36%, according to Neil Patel. To perform keyword research, you’ll want to blend two techniques:

• See which search terms your pages are currently ranking for. These keywords will help you determine opportunities, as well as bringing up some keywords you may not have thought of. You can use a tool like Google Analytics or Google Search Console to discover which keywords you’re already ranking for.
• Use a keyword tool like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMRush to discover related relevant keywords, as well as their monthly search volume and competitiveness.
• If you have a dedicated SEO team, there are enterprise SEO analytics platforms that can provide even more detailed metrics, analytics, and performance tracking. Thrive’s clients benefit from these powerful SEO tools through our partnership with Conductor, a company that offers an organic marketing platform along with digital strategic services for enterprises.

Once you’ve created a list of target keywords, you can optimize your pages and content marketing for them.

2. Optimize your product descriptions.

It’s important to get your keywords into your page copy, but it’s even more important to write your copy for humans, particularly when it comes to your product descriptions.

Product descriptions are an easy way to set your site apart from others to search crawlers. They’re also one of the main ingredients in getting visitors to stay on your site, rather than hopping back to the results page, which the algorithm sees as a huge mark in your favor. Google’s algorithm favors an excellent user experience. When users spend more time on your page and don’t hit the back button to look at other search results, Google sees that as a positive ranking signal, which may ultimately help improve your position in SERPs.

Search engine optimization tips for writing product descriptions:

• Write a unique description for each product. Duplicate content on your website or from other websites will always get you dinged by the algorithm, even when it’s high-quality content.
• Clayton Nichols, ecommerce SEO expert, recommends writing descriptions over between 300 and 500 words.
• Do utilize your keywords. If you can work them in naturally, they not only serve to tell the crawlers where to rank the page, but they act as a sign to visitors that they’ve found the page they were searching for.

A great example of well-optimized product descriptions can be found on BuyDig, an electronics and appliance e-tailer. In addition to being incredibly detailed and informative, their product descriptions include the keywords they’re targeting and are highly engaging pieces of copy that not only describe the product but describe how it fits into the customer’s life.

For example, it’s common knowledge that consumers are chasing steep discounts on normally full-price products during ​Black Friday and Cyber Monday​. By contrast, Small Business Saturday is focused on supporting local retailers, where consumers are often willing to spend more.

Targeting different consumer priorities in this way enables your business to better capitalize on seasonal opportunities.

Promote new seasonal product lines

Seasonal promotions are also commonly leveraged to drive sales for new or “in season”products. These types of offers don’t usually come in the form of seasonal discounts; instead,brands use a “first look” or “first to know” type of promotion to market and sell new seasonal items.

Clearing last season’s inventory

You can also use seasonal sales as an opportunity to clear out last season’s merchandise. By having a discount on these slow-movers or using them as freebies or gifts, you could drive sales while making room for fresh and in-season merch in the process.

Engage customers over the short- and long-term

Seasonal holidays and events provoke a range of emotions — excitement, joy, celebration, and yes, sometimes stress and anxiety. As a retailer, empathizing with your customer is the key to attracting shoppers in a very crowded marketplace.

Discounting techniques, especially when paired with compelling seasonal messaging, allows your brand to better resonate with the mood of your customer base.

It’s also important to note that these discounts can drive sales and engagement long after the season is over. Seasonal discounts can reel shoppers in, but they also pave the way for continuous engagement over the long term

When implemented correctly, discounts can drive future purchases. ​Research by Optimove found that the likelihood of developing brand loyalty and getting subsequent orders from newly acquired customers “is significantly higher when the discount claimed on the first offer is between 5% and 20%.”

How to implement seasonal discounts

Now that we’ve covered the basics of seasonal discounts, let’s look at the best practices to implement when running these promotions.

Know what holidays,seasons, and periodic events are best suited to your business

Fact: ​not all holidays are alike.​ While some occur on a fixed day each year (such as Fourth of July, Halloween, or Labor Day), others revolve around annual seasonal events (such as the back-to-school season where student discounts are eagerly sought after).

As a business, it’s important to know which holidays are worth tailoring seasonal discounts for and which are not.

For example, Valentine’s Day is easily going to be one of your biggest sales opportunities if you’re a florist or jeweler — but not so much for a sporting goods store. Similarly, anyone selling confectionery is going to do well during Easter or Halloween, but their sales may be relatively slower during Cyber Monday.

You should also be mindful of public events in the realm of sports (Olympics, World Cup),politics (elections), or pop culture (blockbuster movies, entertainer tours). These events can influence your sales and discounting strategy.

For instance, if you’re a casual apparel retailer and sell team shirts, you could run a seasonal promotion or discount on those select items.

To effectively keep track of all relevant holidays and events, be sure to create a seasonal discount calendar based on your industry.

Think about which seasonal discounts are appropriate

While discounts help to drive interest in your offerings, they can reap lackluster results if you don’t have the right products on sale or don’t come up with a relevant (e.g., seasonal) hook.

For example, store wide percentage discounts are easy to implement and result in high conversions, but they may not have as big of an impact as seasonal offers. Why? Because they aren’t targeted at consumers’ seasonal purchasing decisions.

It’s for this reason that we see deals on grills or outdoor furniture in stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot in the lead-up to Memorial Day. This holiday is seen as the start of summer, and so is a great time to prime consumers for summer retail spending — especially when there are personal finance options available.

By selecting seasonal items that are likely to perform well, you can boost your revenue without devaluing the rest of your offerings.

Pro tip:​ Use off peak times to test which discounts work the best. Do your customers prefer percentage discounts or free shipping? The best way to find out is to test these offers during slower periods, then implement the winning offers when peak season rolls along.

For best results, use a promotions analytics solution to get the right data. Thrive, for instance,offers capabilities that enable you to test and analyze your discounts and offers to determine the best ones.