Take Advantage Of Seasonal Events On YOUR Website

I live in UK, and Mothers Day has been and gone. But soon it will
be Easter, then... These seasonal events provide an opportunity
to get new visitors to your site, and maybe make extra sales. But
you need to take advantage of these opportunities. Here's how.

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When I say take advantage - what you're really doing is providing
content that your visitors are likely to want: you're keeping
your site up-to-date with new content; you're providing your
visitors with more reasons to visit; AND you're providing your
site with another opportunity to make money! (Just thought I'd
clear that up - advantages should work for both you *and* your
site visitors!)

And if you don't live in UK, chances are you're only a few weeks
away from your next seasonal event (thank goodness for card
companies, eh?). Just visit your favourite travel site, or search
the web to find a holiday or calendar site - there are loads of
sites to choose from. Or you could just use this excellent site
- http://www.holidayfestival.com
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1: ADD SEASONAL CONTENT

Add seasonal content that fits in with the rest of your site.
This could mean creating an amusing site survey, that relates to
the seasonal event. Or it could mean writing relevant editorial
about the seasonal event. Or you could just add some seasonal
resources to your website, like images or clip art or electronic
cards.

I run a shopping directory, so for Mother's Day I simply decided
to create a Mothers Day shopping page. (I'm a member of several
affiliate programs and simply researched each and every program
until I found what I considered to be the best and most suitable
sites.)

But you don't have to have a shopping-related site to offer
seasonal gifts for sale. You can find suitable gift items
whatever your site is about, and a suitable affiliate program
allowing you to offer the goods for sale.

For example, you might run a Tom Jones fan site (!). It wouldn't
be too difficult to create a page of links that offered posters,
books, and music of the ageless Welsh pop star, appropriate to
the seasonal event. And if you didn't want to 'sell' on your
site, you could simply reprint the lyrics of his most suitable
song. The content-possibilities are endless, and only limited by
your imagination.

Just offer content that you know your site visitors will enjoy.

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You could also add a seasonal quiz or image or newsfeed or... you
get the idea! You can find suitable free resources at these
sites
- http://www.thefreesite.com
- http://www.findsticky.com
- http://www.bravenet.com
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Here are a few of the better affiliate programs you can join
- http://www.tradedoubler.com
- http://www.dgm2.com
- http://www.cj.com

(You can find a lot more affiliate sites/directories at my
affiliate resource: http://ShopTour.co.uk/webmaster-profit/ .)

2: PROMOTE SEASONAL CONTENT ON SEARCH ENGINES

You need to announce your seasonal content to the search engines.
This could be as simple as submitting new pages to the major
search engines via search submission tools like
- http://www.jimtools.com
- http://www.addme.com

Even better, however, would be to add the content to search
engines or directories that have human-edited content. For
example, Lycos UK - a UK search engine - supplements its search
results with a human-edited directory. This directory includes
content for specific seasonal events, and always welcomes new
additions.
- http://www.uk.lycos.de/dir/Lifestyle/Valentines_Day/
- http://www.uk.lycos.de/dir/Lifestyle/Mothers_Day/

There are many other Lycos categories, all of which allow you to
add your content: just click 'Recommend a website for this
category'
- http://www.uk.lycos.de/dir/Lifestyle

Another human-edited directory is the Open Directory Project
- http://www.dmoz.org

Or you could just check your favourite search engine/directory to
see whether it includes human-edited content.

3: PROMOTE SEASONAL CONTENT ON PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH ENGINES

The beauty of pay-per-click search engines, apart from a
guaranteed position for your keywords, is that new content can be
announced in only a matter of days. So add more keywords to your
various pay-per-click accounts. The cost of your keywords will
increase as the seasonal event approaches, so act quickly to take
advantage of low initial keyword cost, and constantly monitor.

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Pay-per-click search engines are proving to be a very viable
means of income generation for search engines and advertisers
alike. This means that you really need to stay informed, as rapid
developments inevitably take place. To stay informed, I suggest
you visit (and revisit)
- http://www.PayPerClickSearchEngines.com
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4: TELL EVERYONE ABOUT IT

Everyone is busy, busy, busy! This includes your family, friends,
colleagues, and newsletter subscribers. So whilst you have been
toiling away creating great seasonal content, everyone else has
been busy too. So you need to remind them about your site and
about your site's new content.

Remind everyone of the upcoming seasonal event - they might have
forgotten! - and then tell them how your new content can really
benefit them. (Maybe it can save them time and money; maybe it
can give them gift ideas; maybe it can simply provide
entertainment!)

Just remember to:

* tell your family, friends, and colleagues;
* tell your newsletter subscribers;
* tell anyone else you e-mail (in a suitable signature file!)

Remember to tell them what's in it for them; focus on benefits!

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That's it! 4 easy steps that show you how to take advantage of
seasonal events on your website.

Just remember, there's more to seasonal events than Christmas.
AND, seasonal events are repeated every year!! So think hard to
see how your website can take advantage of a seasonal event: it
keeps your website looking fresh, and it may increase sales!

Happy Holidays!

PS Seasonal events can also include award-ceremonies like...
well, like The Oscars. Just add your imagination!