Black Friday & Cyber Monday Keyword strategies
There are many different things you must do to prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For example, do you have good inventory and more products coming in on time? Do you have more staff, or are you expanding your operations?
- getting ready for the rush of shoppers
- creating email campaigns for the holiday season
- updating your social posts
There’s no point in launching your marketing campaign before optimizing it for search engines. You should spend a little time writing your keyword strategy, and then voilà – you’re ready to launch your holiday campaign!
SEO can be tricky, especially if you’re new to it. But don’t let that keep you from taking advantage of the surge in online buying during this busy holiday season. Instead, let’s use this time to bring more awareness to your brand and products.
Click below to find out the most valuable Black Friday Cyber Monday SEO keywords (there are more than 150). Then learn how to use these keywords in your blog content to boost your website ranking in relevant queries, drive more traffic to your site, and increase your revenue this holiday!
Shopping patterns during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
In 2020, 59% of consumers shopped online rather than in-store due to the outbreak of covid-19. In 2021, there were 900 million more online shoppers than in 2020.
Traditionally, shoppers start researching their Black Friday Cyber Monday deals in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving weekend. Before then, shoppers are more likely to search for generic terms (like smartphone discounts, toy offers, clothing deals). However, as the start of the holiday season draws near, shoppers search for more specific deals and products (like the biggest iPhone discounts, best Hot Wheels offers, and cheap ASOS deals).
Getting noticed by consumers during Black Friday and Cyber Monday will take time. To get your name out there, you should start preparing early.
Keyword research for holiday seasons
The first step to setting up the right content for your business is to figure out what your business is fulfilling. If you’re unsure about exactly what those needs are, we recommend doing some holiday keyword research; it’s what we do here at HubSpot, and it’s more cost-effective than paying for pricey SEO tools to help with keyword research. Our blog, A Keyword Strategy for Blog SEO, walks you through the steps of doing keyword research.
- Black Friday keywords
- Cyber Monday keywords
- Printful product keywords
- Buzz keywords
Each keyword table comes with useful metrics that’ll help you predict their potential value and competitiveness. Here’s a quick guide on what each metric means:
- Search volume is a rough estimate of the number of monthly searches for a keyword. The higher the search volume, the more people Google it. We used US and global search volume data suggested by Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.
- Difficulty score, on a scale from 0 to 100, shows how difficult it is to compete for a ranking spot in the search results. The lower the score, the easier it is to rank for the keyword.
- SERP features are other types of info blocks that appear on search engine results pages (SERPs), which may draw traffic away from your organic links.
Pro tip: Focus your efforts on keywords that balance high search volume and small competition.
High-value Black Friday keywords
This year; Black Friday falls on November 25th, which means you’ve got less than three months to get the attention of holiday shoppers.
Every year, online retailers start promoting their Black Friday deals earlier than the previous year, so you should do the same. It’s a strategic move that lets shoppers find deals and plan their purchases once the big shopping day comes around.
This year, businesses will start their Black Friday Cyber Monday craze as early as the beginning of November. This leaves you one thing to do: hurry up.
Keyword | Search Volume (Global) | Search Volume (USA) | Difficulty Score | SERP Features |
black friday sales | 136,000 | 52,000 | 92 | Site links, Related questions, Knowledge panel |
black friday 2022 | 83,000 | 5,300 | 38 | Related questions, Site links |
best black friday deals | 54,000 | 33,000 | 86 | Site links, Related questions |
black friday ads | 45,000 | 42,000 | 78 | Site links |
black friday angebote | 30,000 | 150 | 86 | Site links |
black friday specials | 26,000 | 2,900 | 86 | Site links |
cyber monday deals black friday | 19,000 | 17,000 | 67 | Site links, Related questions |
black friday deals canada | 14,000 | 150 | 39 | Site links, Image pack |
cyber monday black friday deals | 13,000 | 1,800 | 57 | Related questions, Site links, Adwords bottom |
black friday cyber monday deals | 9,700 | 7,600 | 64 | Site links, Related questions |
black friday shopping | 9,600 | 5,600 | 91 | Site links, Related questions, Knowledge panel |
best black friday sales | 6,400 | 3,200 | 83 | Site links |
the black friday | 6,300 | 5,200 | 87 | Site links, Related questions, Knowledge panel |
best black friday tv deals | 6,200 | 5,000 | 52 | Top stories, Thumbnails, Related questions, Videos |
black friday ad | 5,700 | 4,400 | 82 | Site links |
black friday deals uk | 5,600 | 100 | 67 | Sitelinks |
online black friday deals | 4,100 | 3,200 | 90 | Related questions, Site links |
best black friday | 4,000 | 2,500 | 84 | Site links |
black friday online deals | 3,600 | 2,500 | 91 | Sitelinks, Related questions |
black friday online | 3,500 | 1,300 | 90 |
These are the 20 most popular keywords.
Ultimate Cyber Monday keywords
After the Black Friday shopping craze, it’s time for Cyber Monday. Last year, Cyber reached a new record of $12.12 billion in sales.
If you want to boost your sales this holiday season, mark November 28th on your marketing calendar and start optimizing your website for valuable Cyber Monday keywords right away.
Keyword | Search Volume (Global) | Search Volume (USA) | Difficulty Score | SERP Features |
cyber monday | 475,000 | 74,000 | 82 | Related questions, Site links, Knowledge panel |
cyber monday deals | 283,000 | 248,000 | 79 | Site links |
best cyber monday deals | 27,000 | 25,000 | 72 | Related questions, Site links |
cyber monday deals black friday | 19,000 | 17,000 | 67 | Sitel inks, Related questions |
when is cyber monday | 18,000 | 13,000 | 71 | Related questions, Site links |
cyber monday 2022 | 15,500 | 80 | 17 | Related questions, Site links |
cyber monday sales | 14,000 | 9,700 | 78 | Site links, Related questions |
what is cyber monday | 12,000 | 6,800 | 37 | Site links, Related questions, Knowledge panel |
cyber monday black friday deals | 13,000 | 7,800 | 57 | Related questions, Site links, Adwords bottom |
cyber monday tv deals | 12,000 | 11,000 | 48 | Related questions, Top stories, Videos |
cyber monday amazon | 10,000 | 2,300 | 53 | Related questions |
black friday cyber monday deals | 9,700 | 7,600 | 64 | Site links, Related questions |
cyber monday laptop deals | 6,900 | 5,700 | 44 | Adwords top, Related questions, Top stories, Videos |
cyber monday argentina | 7,000 | 50 | 26 | Site links |
cyber monday sale | 3,500 | 1,000 | 76 | Related questions, Site links |
black friday cyber monday | 3,000 | 600 | 69 | Featured snippet, Thumbnails, Related questions, Site links |
cyber monday monitor deals | 1,500 | 1,000 | 33 | Adwords top |
cyber monday chile | 1,900 | 60 | 40 | Site links |
cyber monday computer deals | 1,200 | 900 | 36 | Adwords top, Site links |
black friday deals cyber monday | 600 | 100 | 57 | Site links, Top stories, Videos |
Popular Printful product-related keywords
Apparel and accessories is one of the top-selling product categories during Cyber Week. If your store offers any of these product categories, you need to make them search-friendly.
Here are the most important keywords your products should be ranking for this holiday season:
Keyword | Search Volume (Global) | Search Volume (USA) | Difficulty Score | SERP Features |
black friday clothing deals | 5,000 | 2,600 | 45 | Related questions |
black friday clothes | 3,100 | 1,100 | 43 | Adwords top, Related questions |
black friday deals clothes | 2,500 | 1,300 | 48 | Related questions |
black friday clothing sales | 2,100 | 900 | 43 | Related questions |
black friday mens clothes | 2,000 | 700 | 30 | Adwords top, Adwords bottom, Shopping results, Thumbnails |
black friday womens clothes | 1,600 | 700 | 15 | Shopping results, Thumbnails, Adwords bottom |
black friday poster | 1,500 | 200 | 0 | Shopping results, Thumbnails, Image pack, Site links, Top stories |
black friday clothes sale | 1,400 | 300 | 48 | Related questions, Adwords bottom |
clothing black friday deals | 1,400 | 600 | 45 | Related questions |
cyber monday clothing deals | 1,200 | 900 | 42 | Adwords top, Related questions, Adwords bottom |
black friday clothes deals | 1,100 | 500 | 48 | Related questions, Adwords bottom, Shopping results, Thumbnails |
black friday shirts | 1,000 | 500 | 4 | Image pack |
best clothing black friday deals | 900 | 700 | 48 | Related questions |
clothes black friday | 900 | 350 | 46 | Related questions, Image pack |
black friday dresses | 800 | 100 | 41 | Shopping results, Thumbnails, Site links |
best black friday clothing deals | 800 | 600 | 49 | Related questions |
cyber monday clothing sales | 700 | 600 | 43 | Related questions |
baby clothes black friday | 600 | 200 | 22 | Site links |
black friday deals clothing | 450 | 250 | 42 | Related questions |
cyber monday clothing | 400 | 200 | 53 | Adwords top, Adwords bottom |
The most searched buzz phrases
While you want Google to favor your website content, at the end of the day, it’s humans who will buy your products. This set of keywords will give you an idea of which buzzwords or phrases (even if they sound a little cheesy) you should focus on to drive shoppers’ attention to your store:
Keyword | Search Volume (Global) | Search Volume (USA) | Difficulty Score | SERP Features |
best black friday deals | 54,000 | 33,000 | 86 | Site links, Related questions |
best cyber monday deals | 27,000 | 25,000 | 72 | Related questions, Site links |
black friday offers | 8,200 | 800 | 92 | Site links |
best black friday sales | 6,400 | 3,200 | 83 | Site links |
best black friday | 4,000 | 2,500 | 84 | Site links |
black friday offer | 3,000 | 200 | 90 | Site links, Related questions, Image pack |
top black friday deals | 2,900 | 1,400 | 83 | Site links |
best online black friday deals | 2,000 | 1,200 | 90 | Site links, Related questions |
best cyber monday sales | 1,900 | 1,500 | 70 | Related questions |
the best black friday deals | 1,800 | 400 | 85 | Adwords top, Site links, Related questions |
biggest black friday deals | 1,500 | 800 | 83 | Site links |
top cyber monday deals | 1,200 | 1,000 | 74 | |
black friday doorbusters | 1,100 | 900 | 88 | Site links, Top stories, Videos |
best cyber monday | 1,000 | 800 | 69 | Sitelinks, Top stories, Videos |
best black friday offers | 900 | 100 | 88 | Site links |
best black friday clothing deals | 800 | 600 | 49 | Related questions |
best cyber deals | 700 | 600 | 74 | Site links |
biggest black friday sales | 600 | 150 | 84 | Site links |
best online black friday | 300 | 100 | 88 | Adwords top, Site links, Top stories, Videos |
biggest deals cyber monday | 250 | 200 | 76 | Top stories, Videos |
How to use Black Friday Cyber Monday keywords
So you know you need to optimize your store for search engines, and you have the most important holiday keywords on hand. What next? Here are the most important SEO elements where your keywords should go.
Page titles (title tags)
Your store’s page titles appear as links in search engine results pages (SERPs), web browser tabs, and social media post thumbnails.
When writing your page titles, make sure to include the most valuable keywords. Ideally, place the keywords at the beginning of the title to help you rank higher. It’s important to make each page title unique—Google doesn’t like repetitive content and may mark it as spam. Also, try to stay within 60 characters to avoid your page title being cut off, as you can see in the example above.
Pro tip: Use tools like Google SERP Simulator to preview how your page titles will look in search results once published.
Main headings
The main heading appears in the body text of your website. Add a couple of Black Friday Cyber Monday buzzwords to your main heading to make your website rank on search results.
Just like page titles, you want your main headings to be unique—don’t repeat the same heading over and over again on different pages. The main headings should also be optimized for the most valuable Black Friday Cyber Monday SEO keywords related to the page topic.
Alt image tag and image file names
Since Google bots can’t see the images, they use alt image tags and file names to understand the content. An alt tag is a short and simple description of the image. Alt image tags are also used by screen readers for the visually impaired. So it’s crucial that whatever info you include in the alt tag is true to the image itself.
For example, a good alt tag for the image below would be: photo of a woman wearing a baseball cap. And a good file name for it would be: denim-baseball-cap.jpg
Pro tip: Make your alt tags and file names slightly different to have more keyword ops.
URLs
Keep your URLs short, simple, and include a focus keyword or phrase, as it helps search engines recognize what the page is about. If you’re planning to create a new landing page to promote your Black Friday Cyber Monday deals, choosing a URL that contains a valuable keyword is a must.
Anchor texts
Google uses hyperlinks to understand the relevance and value of pages on your site. Links can be:
- internal—you linking to your own pages
- external—someone else linking your pages on their website.
Think of each link, internal or external, as a vote—the more you have, the better. And while the link (or vote) itself is important, anchor text is what helps Google figure out what the vote is for.
An anchor text is part of the content where the link is added (or anchored) to. So, in a way, it hints at what content you’ll find in the link.
Link your holiday-related pages in product categories, blogs, or other landing pages. Then use a keyword-optimized anchor text to direct customers to your Black Friday Cyber Monday offer page.
Pro tip: Google values in-content links way more than footer and sidebar links.
Long tail keywords
Some markets are more competitive than others. And if you happen to be competing with companies that have a large marketing budget and dominate search results already, ranking for generic keywords like “t-shirt” or “sports bra” will be difficult.
Your best bet is optimizing pages for long tail keywords. Here’s how a long tail keyword works:
Since long tail keywords are more detailed, they get less search traffic but usually have a higher conversion rate and are easier to rank for.
So, let’s say you’re selling yoga leggings. Instead of targeting the yoga leggings keyword, try leopard print yoga leggings, or any other cool detail about your product.
Start optimizing your content for BFCM
Optimizing your content for higher rankings in search results is important all year round, but it’s crucial during busy shopping seasons like Black Friday Cyber Monday. Use this guide to identify the most valuable keywords and start optimizing your website with them in mind today.
What’s your experience with using holiday SEO to get the most out of the Black Friday Cyber Monday season? Share your wisdom in the comments below!
