Black Friday SEO: Tips to 10X Sales During BFCM 2024

Black Friday and Cyber Monday season is the one time of the year when marketers go insane. As a marketer myself, I know the stress of optimizing landing pages, link building, running ads, and establishing partnership deals, among other stuff.

But over the years, I’ve learned that the best way to generate the most sales from the holiday season is to start early with solid preparation.

Focusing on the best on-page and off-page SEO techniques and ensuring your eCommerce store or website is prepared to handle Black Friday traffic will help you rank higher, resulting in skyrocketing conversions.

In this blog, we’ll share with you the best Black Friday SEO strategies to help you start the holiday season with a bang.

Let’s get started…

Black Friday SEO Marketing Tips for Ecommerce Stores

SEO is a combination of on-page and off-page activities. If you neglect either one of these aspects, your online store will not appear on the search results.

Let’s begin with discussing some on-page SEO strategies you can leverage to benefit most from the BFCM season.

Black Friday On-Page SEO Tips

When talking about effective on-page SEO, you need to take care of both technical and traditional on-page optimizations. Let’s first check out some technical on-page SEO optimizations you can start performing right now.

Technical On-Page

1. Run a Quick Technical Audit & Fix Website Issues

To make sure your website runs smoothly during Black Friday, you must fix any website-related issues that you may have left unaddressed.

A good place to start is to check your site’s performance issues. Google’s PageSpeed Insights can help you identify performance issues in your website’s code. Another great tool to check load speeds is “WebPage Test.”

To check if your website is working properly on mobile devices, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool. If you find any issues, you must fix them ASAP.

Aside from speed-related issues, you must also fix broken links or duplicate content. For this, you can use Screaming Frog. You can also use Google Search Console’s Index Coverage report to ensure your pages are being indexed correctly by search engines.

With the basics audited, you can begin fixing issues and optimizing your site for the holiday season sales.

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2. Review Your Technical SEO Fundamentals

First, ensure that you have your technical aspects sorted out. This includes having a proper URL structure, implementing 301 redirects for all pages that have been moved to new URLs, adding temporary 302 redirects for pages under development, and including a customized 404 error message. In short, just review the technical SEO fundamentals of your ecommerce store.

3. Resolve 404 Error Pages

Ensure that you have a properly designed custom 404 error page in place. Below is an example of one of our custom 404 pages.

A 404 error indicates that a requested page cannot be found, which can create a dead-end for users and bots alike. When search engine bots encounter a 404 page, they may assume that nothing exists beyond it, negatively impacting your site’s SEO.

However, with a custom 404 page, you can direct your visitors to another page. This can improve user experience and minimize bounce rates.

For an eCommerce store, for example, if some product page throws a 404 error due to a broken link, deleted page, or incorrect URL, a custom 404 error page can help them get back to the main product page where they can browse other products instead of just seeing a dead page with an error message.

4. Place 301 Redirects on Broken Links and Lost Landing Pages

Another effective Black Friday SEO strategy that’s often overlooked is adding 301 redirects when changing page URLs.

Large eCommerce stores frequently update the slugs of their product pages. For instance, if you’ve moved content from an old URL to a new one, a 301 redirect will ensure search engines understand the page has been permanently relocated.

For example: We have redirected our previous content link to a new one:

• Old: https://www.cloudways.com/blog/ecommerce-optimization/
• New: https://www.cloudways.com/blog/ecommerce-optimization-guide/

This way, when search engines crawl the old URL, they can pass the ranking signals to the new one without impacting your SEO. Without this redirect, bots will encounter a 404 error, which could lead to the page being removed from the index over time.

5. Optimize Servers to Handle High Visitor Traffic

Ask yourself, how ready is your online store to take on the Black Friday web traffic spike?

To manage the traffic head-on, you need a reliable cloud hosting service that offers auto-scaling features like Cloudways Autonomous.

The main reason most ecommerce stores crash during the Black Friday sales period is because they are unable to handle an unprecedented surge of web traffic on their online store.

But with Cloudways Autonomous, powered by Kubernetes, your server can automatically scale up or down resources, preventing any hiccups.
Tips To Speed-up Your WordPress Website

6. Optimize Page Speed for Fast Load Times

Ecommerce stores that have optimized pages for speed get more importance from search engines. Not only do they rank them faster, but the users also love it. Google’s Core Web Vitals and SEO go hand in hand.

To improve your eCommerce store’s speed, you can implement advanced caching on both your server and platform hosting your store—for example, installing caching plugins like Breeze or W3 Total Cache in WordPress.

You can also use CSS and JavaScript minification to reduce file sizes for faster page loads. For even better performance, integrate a CDN like Cloudflare to distribute content globally and reduce server load. Cloudways offers built-in caching and Cloudflare integration to handle high traffic seamlessly.

Make sure to conduct thorough e-commerce testing afterward to check for an improvement in speeds.

7. Conduct In-Depth Holiday Keyword Research for Black Friday

Researching keywords for Black Friday is brutal. There’s just so much competition. You cannot simply pick high-volume general ‘Black Friday’ sale keywords with intense competition and expect to rank fast.

Also, targeting transactional keywords like “buy Adidas running shoes” may put you in direct competition with Google’s Shopping Carousel.

So what can you do?

Focus on long-tail keywords with lower competition. For example, while transactional keywords have high competition, keywords with product research intent (e.g., “best running shoes for Black Friday”) tend to have lower competition but still attract substantial search traffic.

A good SEO strategy would be to target informational keywords such as “Christmas gift ideas” and combine them with product-specific terms like “running shoes,” reaching users both in the research phase and closer to purchase intent.

8. Implement Structured Data for Better Search Visibility

Product Structured Data or Product Schema Markup provides additional information about your products so that search engines can display them in detail in Google-rich results. It is a code you add to your website’s backend, and with it, you can, for example, display product ratings, shipping, refund information, and more on SERPs.

So, when you add Black Friday campaign-specific products to your eCommerce store, you should optimize them with structured data. Displaying more information about your products, like “Free shipping” and “Easy returns,” in the SERPs can help you attract more customers.

9. Audit and Optimize Your Product Listings

It’s pretty obvious that you won’t be selling products all year round by marketing them as Black Friday specials. When the time arrives, you’d either optimize your product listings or add new products to sell during the campaign.

So, before the campaign starts, audit your listings and make sure they’re optimized with Black Friday SEO keywords. Make sure pricing is up to date, along with product information and images.

10. Optimize URLs – Keyword Focused

I don’t understand why online businesses don’t adapt keyword-based URLs. Brian Dean of Backlinko has published a complete guide on on-page SEO in which he mentions that adding a keyword in the URL increases its chances of ranking higher on SERPs.

Hence, if your landing page is about Black Friday deals, you should create the URL like this:

Example: yourstore.com/black-friday-deals-running-shoes

These are some of the necessary on-page SEO changes you can do on your website to make it more compliant with search engines. That said, it’s now time to discuss some equally important nontechnical on-page SEO tactics.

Traditional (Non-technical) On-Page SEO for Black Friday

These changes are not complex, and you can make them yourself. It can help your online store reflect greatly on SERPs. Here’s how you can go about non-technical on-page SEO.

1. Insert Visible Calls-to-Action

Insert Call to Actions (CTAs) on each product page, landing page, blog post, and even press release. Your online visitors must know what your business is all about and how they can conveniently buy from you.

Take a look at an example of one of our landing pages. We have highlighted the features our customers will get if they sign up for Cloudways. We also made sure to use CTAs that are clearly visible and not obstructed.

You can add CTAs like “Buy Now,” “Try Free,” and “Learn More.” To create a sense of urgency, you can use a CTA like “Buy Before Offer Expires.” Don’t forget to A/B different versions of CTAs to find a version that converts.

2. Introduce Limited-Time Products

Another great way to increase sales during BFCM is to offer limited-time products or deals. Say for example, you sell shoes—how about offering a limited edition version of it?

People love exclusivity, and if you can market your limited-time products or offers, you can greatly benefit in terms of sales.

A great way to market limited-time products or offers during BFCM is to feature them alongside your regular products, either through a featured sidebar or with banners on your homepage. This can help draw attention to exclusive deals, resulting in more conversions.

3. Create Dedicated Holiday Gift Pages

The holiday season is all about giving, so it makes sense to create dedicated category pages that can be reused for different campaigns. For example, if you have an eCommerce store that sells shoes, you can create pages like “Best Shoes to Gift” or “Top Sneakers for Teens.”

Make sure the page titles and meta descriptions reflect the Black Friday theme to attract potential buyers.

To increase the likelihood of new pages appearing in search results, internal link them from existing pages that have been ranked for a while. For instance, if you have a page on “Best Running Shoes,” you can link to your new “Best Shoes to Gift” page. This approach will help customers find the perfect gifts while improving your site’s SEO.

Once Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over, you can repurpose existing content for Christmas by rewriting titles and descriptions to fit the new theme.

The screenshot below shows how one of our blog’s trending products to sell has been interlinked with several different articles on our website.

4. Optimize Meta Tags and Descriptions with Targeted “Black Friday” Keywords

This tip is very simple. Optimize your dedicated Black Friday landing page and other relevant pages. The best way to do this is by adding Black Friday-targeted keywords in your meta-title, description, and tags.

Check out how BestBuy has optimized its meta tags with Black Friday keywords.

5. Ensure Design Friendliness

The design of your online store must be user-friendly. Make sure your website is easy to navigate, with clear categories and visible CTAs. Use eye-catching visuals to keep your customers hooked, all the while focusing on bringing them one step closer to checkout.

If you are not a web designer or you don’t have one on your team, you can always outsource one. But it is not something you should ignore.

Amazon, in my opinion, has a simple but very functional design. You can clearly see different product categories, and they do a great job of displaying featured products.

6. Update Your sitemap

Once your Black Friday landing page is live, make sure to update your sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. This notifies search engines about the new content, helping them index it faster and improve its visibility in search results.

7. Ensure Mobile Optimization

Nowadays, a slow site can cost you visitors. Think with Google says 58% of smartphone users prioritize businesses with mobile-friendly websites.

But what if your WordPress site isn’t optimized? Studies show that a whopping 90% of visitors bounce from mobile sites, taking over 5 seconds to load. Mobile responsiveness affects image quality and ultimately, the customer experience.

That’s why your website must be mobile-responsive and fast at the same time. All your content must fit and look perfect on any type of screen, especially the gallery pages.

Several factors can impact your site’s mobile performance like:

• Unoptimized images and animations
• No mobile caching
• Too many plugins

To check and see if your site is mobile optimized, you can test it through various tools like:

• Google Lighthouse
• Google Mobile-Friendly Test
• GTmetrix

To mobile optimize your site, you can implement strategies such as mobile caching, image optimization, and lazy loading. You can also use a CDN, minimize render-blocking resources, and enable Google AMP for faster mobile loading times.

8. Create Gift Guides and Videos

Today, most ecommerce stores offer gift guides for the holiday season. Customers browse these stores, but often have no idea what to buy. Gift guides can help them choose or narrow down their options.

For example, Walmart offers gift guides each year, even featuring a dedicated landing page for them. You can also do the same on your site.

Source: Walmart website

You can also use social media platforms like TikTok or YouTube to create short-form videos around gifting ideas. Nowadays, people with short attention spans tend to love videos like that. No wonder TikTok has a platform where people can buy and sell stuff called TikTok Shop.

9. Use ALT Text and Keywords in Images to Sell Products

An image is the first thing a customer sees before deciding whether to buy a product. Take Apple, for example, and its visuals. The moment you land on its landing pages, Apple makes you focus more on the product images rather than features written in text.

Images act as social proof. You can increase the reach of images by optimizing them for search. To do so, simply add alt text with keywords like “Black Friday” and other similar phrases.

10. Highlight User Reviews Front and Center

Customer reviews can make or break an ecommerce store. They are an integral part of the ecommerce business. Potential customers generally shop online when they find out that someone they know is satisfied with the product. That is only possible when some genuine customers have endorsed the brand by providing a positive review.

So, if your products have good reviews, don’t be shy—showcase them on your landing pages.

11. Use Deal Popups

Deal popups are an important part of the ecommerce conversion rate optimization strategy. They often lead to increased average page time and decreased bounce rate. Add exit popups to your e-commerce store that provide deals that users can’t deny.

Source: OptiMonk

12. Write a Black Friday Sale Announcement Blog

Promoting a landing page can help improve its rankings in SERPs, and one way to do this is through announcement blogs. Once you have your Black Friday page ready, announce it on multiple news websites, letting people know about your unbeatable deals and discounts for Black Friday.

Partnering with PR sites or deal-specific sites and negotiating a link back to your store can make it easier for online shoppers to reach you. This will not only pass link juice to your website but also signal to Google that your content is link-worthy.

Here’s an example of our recent product release announcement post about the Web Application Firewall.

Black Friday Off-Page Techniques

Consider off-page SEO activities as co-marketing and promotional activities that you do to ensure people are aware of your brand. Let’s look at the best practices for ranking your online store in SERPs before the BIG DAY.

1. Build Links to Your Black Friday Sale

Link building is super important if you want your pages to rank high fast on Google. One of the best ways to build links to your ecommerce store is through guest posting. You can also participate in forum discussions, write blog comments, and use social bookmarking to acquire links. Be sure to negotiate for do-follow backlinks, as search engine crawlers prioritize them over no-follow links.

You can also build relevant links for Black Friday by:

• Display advertisements on websites through CTAs, Popups, Banner Ads, and more
• Forum Posting
• Blog commenting
• Creating a BFCM round-up post with the hottest deals
• Answering industry-related questions on platforms like Quora and Reddit
• Partnering with Instagram and YouTube influencers for promotions

These are just some of the best ways to build links online.

2. Partner With Coupon Submission Sites and Forums

People are always searching for ways to get more discounts on products. During the holiday season, they search for the best deals available online. This is an opportunity for you to encourage visitors to make a purchase by offering them Black Friday coupons.

As a store owner, you can submit your e-commerce store coupons on multiple coupon websites on Black Friday, including Groupon, Retail Me Not, Coupon Great, and others. Coupon sites get a lot of traffic, and when they see your offer listed, they’ll be compelled to make a purchase—if the offer is good.

3. Promote Your Black Friday Deals on Q&A Websites

Another actionable tactic to increase the visibility of your offer is to promote it through question-and-answer websites. Many active Q&A websites exist, such as Reddit, Quora, Stack Overflow, Yahoo Answers, etc.

Most of these have dedicated threads or topics for Black Friday alone. You can search for them and provide valuable answers to the questions with a signature or an announcement about your offer. Those who like your offer will visit your ecommerce store after seeing it.

4 Market Your Black Friday Deal on Social Media

There is no proven answer that social media hype improves rankings in search engines, but Google’s algorithm does consider the traffic flow to a website while ranking it on search engine result pages.

For example, many digital marketers have observed that if a website gets a lot of organic traffic from social media, it will start to rise in search engine rankings.

You can create a hype about your offers on social media by:

• Starting a giveaway or sweepstakes. The more users participate in the giveaway, the more users win.
• Creating hype by producing ads with a strong social message. These ads get more shares, and eventually, people will start shopping from your ecommerce store.
• Launching a challenge. The winners can get exciting prizes and rewards.

5. Link Exchange

Networking with other bloggers is another great way to improve rankings. Networking not only increases opportunities but also creates a win-win situation for both parties.

Here are a few points you must ensure before exchanging links with other bloggers.

• Check if the site is relevant to your niche
• It should not be a direct competitor of your business and should not be targeting the same keywords that you are targeting
• It should have a DA of at least 30
• It should have an Alexa rank of less than 500,000

Now, search for blog posts that have relevant content like the one published on your website. Request the publisher/author to link to your website, as you have similar but more comprehensive information available. In return, you will link back to their website.

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Black Friday Keyword Competition & Trend in 2024

As I mentioned earlier, the competition during the Black Friday sales season gets fierce. Plus, the SERP landscape becomes highly volatile, with websites frequently changing positions.

To give you an idea of just how tough it can be to rank on relevant Black Friday keywords, let’s do some quick keyword research on Semrsuh. When I searched for “Black Friday,” I found keywords with a total volume of over 16 million and an average keyword difficulty of 33%.

Even an outdated keyword like Black Friday 2023 still manages to pull in an average monthly traffic of 550,000, which is insane. So… it’s pretty obvious that ranking on such keywords is nearly impossible if you’re just starting your Black Friday SEO campaign.

But…if you tone down the competition and go for long-tail keywords with lower competition and pair your target keywords with them, you might have a chance to rank and pull in decent traffic to your site.

For example, when I applied the keyword difficulty filter to “Easy” and set the intent to “Transactional,” I found keywords with an average monthly search volume of over 12,000 and an average keyword difficulty of around 26. This makes these keywords much easier to rank for.

Okay, so you now know what kind of keywords you should be picking in order to rank quickly before Black Friday—but when are you going to start your campaign?

You still have 40 or so days (at the time of writing) till Black Friday to create your campaign. You must start as early as possible if wanna rank.

If we look at Google Trends, we can see that the trend for the keyword “Black Friday 2024” started to rise in September 2024. This gives you an idea of how early people search for Black Friday deals and sales. I can’t stress this enough: start early.

If we take a look at the SERPs, we can see that many websites have already added deals for Black Friday, even though there are like 40 days still left. This just goes to show that no matter the exact date, when customer start searching for black friday deals, you need to be in front of them with your offer.

Ready to Rank Before Black Friday?

After reading this article, you should be. I tried to cover a detailed guide that highlights different ways to rank your website in SERPs before Black Friday. Just follow the Black Friday SEO checklist and remember to offer some eye-popping deals on your store to improve conversions during the holiday season.

And remember to repurpose what you build this year. What I mean by this is that once Black Friday is over, you can use the same landing page for Cyber Monday. And for Black Friday 2025, you can again repurpose the same landing page.

Let us know if you have something to add to the article or if you have a question that needs more explanation.