7 Ways Bloggers Can Prepare for the Holidays

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, if you are a blogger. There are opportunities abound and the next few months have the possibility of bringing in page views and revenue.

But how can bloggers maximize this time of year? There are many things that bloggers can do now that will help prepare them for the holiday season.

7 Ways Bloggers Can Prepare for the Holidays

Check your old content

A great way for bloggers to start preparing for the holidays is by going through their old content. Go through any holiday related content that you have and make sure it is evergreen. Check affiliate links to make sure they work. Check the SEO on posts and update as necessary. Update posts with improved images or updated information. Think about ways you can connect new content to your old content.

Get Pinning

Everyone is on Pinterest this time of year searching for Halloween ideas, teacher gifts, Thanksgiving recipes and holiday ideas. So repin old content and make sure that your descriptions are rich and informative. Pins with more text actually do better than pins with less text. Pinterest is also another place where you should be updating images as needed.

Plan Your Gift Guides

Every one is preparing their holiday shopping lists and bloggers should be preparing their holiday gift guides. Many holiday shoppers start shopping before the holiday season begins. I started shopping awhile ago and I started planning my gift guide out in the middle of the summer. Also rather than doing a general gift guide think about gift guides that you can do for different niches.

Affiliate Sales

After you’ve thought about your gift guides, think about what affiliate programs you can use to go along with them. If you are new to affiliate marketing, Amazon Associates is a great place to start. Also make sure to check out Share-A-Sale and Commission Junction. Another way to find out if a brand has an affiliate program is to go to their site and go to the bottom of the page and there should be a link to their affiliate program.

Use the Calendar for Inspiration

This time of year our lives are packed with events, I know in my family we don’t have a free weekend between here and New Years. So look at what you have going on and see what you can write about. Cookie swap coming up, maybe you have a great recipe you can share? Shopping for teacher gifts, put a post together about ideas for teacher gifts. Planning a Trunk or Treat, share your tips and tricks. This time of year so many people are doing the same activities and are looking for new inspiration.

Think Outside the Box

Think about what everyone else is doing and then spin it. What fresh way can you look at Thanksgiving dinner? Do you have traditions that doesn’t involve an Elf? Does your family do something in a way that no one else you know does? Often during the holiday you see a lot of repetitive blog posts, “10 best recipes for stuffing” or “50 stocking stuffer ideas”, take what everyone is doing and think about how you can stand out and say something different. Blogging is not about all of us posting the same post simply because its national pumpkin day, it’s about using your voice and your brand to say something unique.

Create a Content Calendar

I will be the first to admit that I’m bad at this. I’m not good at deciding a topic in advance and then waiting 3 weeks to write about it. When I want to write, I want to write it now. But I know that during this time of year I need organization and focus if I want to accomplish my goals. So I’m working on setting up a content calendar to get me through the next few months. If you are not sure where to start with your content calendar or are worried you don’t have enough ideas to fill your calendar try a simple brainstorming activity. Having a focused content calendar is a great way for bloggers to prepare for the holidays.

How are you getting your blog ready for the holidays? Have any tips I’ve missed?