Ready to create a gift guide for your blog, YouTube channel or a newsletter? Then I’m ready to help!
The post below is something I sent to the partners for some of the companies that hired me as their affiliate manager to help them grow their traffic and make money. Instead of keeping the strategies private for our partners, I wanted to share them with you because everyone can benefit.
But before we jump in I’d like to note that gift guides are not just for the holidays. People search year round for gift ideas and this type of content is the perfect way to get that traffic.
Below you will learn how to create high quality gift guides, discover themes you can use (with their current estimated monthly search volumes), and talking points for how to pick the right modifiers for SEO.
I’ve also included some bonus tips like in the “Christmas Gifts for Wife” where I share good examples of how modifiers can make a difference in both traffic and conversions and “Yoga Gifts” where I share a big hint as to how to find better themes for your gift guides.
The post has three sections:
Gift Guide Marketing Tips and Strategies
There’s a ton of competition out there so you need to stand out. Here are some marketing tips to keep in mind while creating your gift guide.
Please remember I share some of the best gift guide marketing tips in the theme sections below, so make sure you reach through each.
- Use an odd number in your title tag. Odd numbers normally stand out better than even numbers.
- If everyone showing up in Google already uses a 7, 11 or 15, try 33 or something larger. The goal is to look unique and attract attention.
- Change the wording for your H1 tag so that it is for a blog reader and not a search engine searcher. Title tags and H1 tags serve different purposes.
- Title tags show up in search engines and are designed to get someone to click to your website.
- H1 tags are visible on the page itself and should be written to get the user to engage with the content below it.
- Set the list to be reverse order (ascending). This entices your reader to scroll to find the number 1 gift because it may be assumed that number 1 will be the best.
- Look at the top ten results in Google for the gift guide theme you are writing about. Next write down the adjectives and numbers being used in title tags and meta descriptions. Now come up with a better adjective and wording mix that is not being used and incorporate these words into your title tag, open graph, rich pins and meta descriptions.
- Open your guide with unique copy about the benefits to the end user (not just about why you like the gifts). This lets the visitor know they have found a place that lists the gift ideas they are looking for.
- Bonus tip – Remember, the gift guide is to help them find a gift for someone else, not about you and why you want or like something. The opening is about their needs, the product descriptions are for the person they are buying a gift for!
- Define why you are the authority on this subject matter in the opening of your guide. This helps build trust with your visitor. Talk about your experience in a situation, any degrees or certifications you have, and other accolades.
- The Big One!!! In your copy, talk about how the recipient will enjoy the gift that your reader will purchase. Don’t focus why you personally like the gift. The goal is to get the person to shop for someone else. By helping your reader picture the moment the person receiving the gift opens it, you have pre-sold why the gifts you recommend are the right choice.
Gift Guide SEO Tips
But marketing alone isn’t enough. You need to get people to your gift guide. SEO and social media optimizations are perfect for this. Here are some ways to optimize your gift guides to get more traffic!
- Use proper header tags (H1, H2, H3) for sections and subsections. Header tags tell search engines and users what each section is specifically about.
- Use UL and OL tags to define that this is a list for the search engines.
- Make sure all the items on the guide are set in LI tags.
- Use proper schema on the page when necessary.
- Add a “best of section” to the top of larger lists that has two links. This helps users quickly locate your top gift recommendations.
- Make one link your affiliate link so the person can shop and the other an anchor link to read more about the gift idea.
- Find topics with at least 1,000 estimated monthly searches for the topic. This helps make sure there are people searching for gift ideas in your niche. If there aren’t people searching then you have to build the audience for it which is much harder to do.
- Use a proper advertising disclosure at the top of your guide and also use proper attributes like “sponsored” and “nofollow” on your links when needed.
- Write a unique description for every product included in your gift guide. Do not copy and paste from the store’s website or from another website.
- Create a featured image that is properly named for SEO and has a clear message about the gifts “The 25 best motorcycle gifts for Grandmas in 2020”.
- Make sure to use proper meta data for the social networks and intent.
- Facebook has people being entertained and blocks clickbait so creating something engaging that is worth interrupting their fun.
- Facebook images are also landscape rectangles or squares so make sure to consider this and upload something unique.
- Pinterest images are vertical and people are specifically looking for ideas and lists. You’ll want to choose titles and wording that is relevant to these queries vs. being interruptive like on Facebook and use Pinterests ad platform to find high search volumes.
- Facebook has people being entertained and blocks clickbait so creating something engaging that is worth interrupting their fun.
- Big Bonus Tip – SEO modifiers for gift guides are not just prices, people and occasions. Think about international delivery and shipping speeds. This is a perfect opportunity for you to stand out and get a conversion.
- i.e. 25 Birthday Gifts for 5 Year Olds that Ship Free & Overnight.
Now that you have some gift guide marketing tips, lets jump into some example themes with their estimated keyword search volumes. [Read more…] about How to Create a Gift Guide With SEO, Marketing & Monetization Tips.
