At this very moment you are probably thinking: ‘Hey, my business isn’t seasonal, so how on earth can this help me?’  Well before you mentally switch off, wait a moment because even if you don’t sell Christmas accessories or bikinis for a living, there is a lot you can learn from the basics of seasonal link building.

Capitalising on Seasonal Patterns

Capitalising on subtle shifts in seasonal interest is a no-brainer. Major holidays and fluctuations in the weather make a huge difference to people’s shopping habits. Say for example you sell outdoor sports gear. If there is a cold spell, you might do a good business in thermal garments, but if the thermometer is topping the high eighties, you could see a spike in sales of sailing gear or surfboards.

Unfortunately, seasonal link building is not an overnight strategy. It often takes time to show results, which means you have to be on the ball months in advance. But if you follow these simple tips, you can make seasonal link building work for your business.

Know Your Customer Base

Many businesses market their products to a global audience, which means it is doubly important to know exactly which part of the world your customers live in—after all, there is little point in trying to market swimwear when it’s winter in their home country. Take note of when major holidays are in different parts of the world and drill down into customer demographics.

Keep Abreast of Current News

Set up news alerts so you always know what’s going on in your niche. This will help you create content for blogs that is up to the minute and more likely to be shared by others (which helps to create links back to your site). Another way of gleaning seasonal inspiration is to check out Google Trends or Twitter feeds for people in your niche.

Create Great Content

Hopefully you are now full of inspiration and can’t wait to create great seasonally relevant content. The trick here is to create seasonal content well before time, so to make sure you stay on top of things, devise a content calendar to give you a few timely reminders. After all, there is little point in writing about Valentine’s Day the day before because you will almost certainly miss out on a boatload of traffic.

Work on Your Internal Links

Link building takes time to generate results, which is another good reason to stay ahead of the game by creating seasonal content well in advance. Once you have created new content for your blog or website, build links to it from the home page. If you leave it until the last minute, content buried several pages deep may not be indexed in time for it to have an effect.

The important thing about seasonal link building is that you have to use your brain. There is little point in trying to post a guest blog about what to buy your Valentine, in May. But in general, be prepared and do try and plan ahead for those thrilling seasonal upswings.