December is a huge month for sites that sell products. It’s also a huge month for sites that review products. Ad revenues go up in December for these sites – Adsense clicks are through the roof on most keywords related to anything that is commonly purchased for Christmas.
I’ve had a few people email me lately asking if there is a reason why their traffic would be slightly down during the last week or two. They obviously were hoping that their traffic would go up during this season. The explanation is very simple. If you have a site that people would use to get ready for Christmas (shopping, product reviews, consumer stuff) your traffic is probably up. If you have any other type of site, your traffic is going to be down at least somewhat, unless you have been able to do something very extraordinary.
To further illustrate, I grabbed a chart from Alexa that shows the reach for Court’s Internet Marketing School, eMomsathome.com, and 45n5.com for the last six months:
To provide further evidence, here is a graph of the same time period showing Shoemoney, John Chow, and Problogger:
There’s no doubt that all six of these sites have dipped during the last two weeks. For those of you that emailed me worried about your slumping traffic – this isn’t anything to worry about. It’s going to happen every December to these types of sites. Product sites are going to get some of their traffic. We’re all still doing just fine and after the season we’ll come back stronger than ever.
seo bristol
edit
Hi Court
I hope you’re well and the web is being kind to you.
You have an uncanny gift for delivering answers just before I go to Google to ask the question!
Thank you.
Court
edit
Hey Gideon! I am quite well, thank you.
When stuff happens, I try to figure out why. Usually there’s a reason. I figure that we’re all in the same boat and many factors will affect us all in the same way.
Steven Snell
edit
My traffic has dropped a little too.
Sly from Slyvisions.com
edit
I have been thinking… what if you can give out free stuff for the holidays in your blog? I’m not just talking to Courtney but to everyone else too. If you can give away something for the holiday season as a contest, your traffic might actually go up.
I’m already in the process of brainstorming what I will do for my own blog. Last month, I gave away an easy $7 to the top commenter for 1 week. Another contest should make everyone happy.
CutieGadget
edit
Yupe, I agree. If your website is product oriented, the revenue will go higher. It’s also good to combine with another Affiliate program, because you won’t get this really high commission in other month!
jeni
edit
Hmmm I never thought of that! I’ve noticed my traffic/Google ads/affiliate sales have gone up a lot the past few weeks, and it took me a while to realize it was because of the holidays! I do some product reviews, etc. It didn’t dawn on me until a few days ago to start doing more product review/shopping posts. Next year I’ll definitely plan ahead better!
betshopboy
edit
I’m not as worried about traffic slumping as losing my blogging mojo.
No mojo = no content = no traffic
No matter which time of the year it is. I really need to rediscover my blogging mojo, FAST!!
jblu
edit
Thanks for the heads up on what to expect this month. I haven’t really thought about it, but I’ll start planning ahead to adjust to the season.
Doron K
edit
Hello! I have created a poll to find out “The Best Website to Learn Money Making on the Internetâ€. You have qualified for the poll. Go to http://www.doronkutash.com to vote. Make sure your viewers vote as well. Can’t wait to see who comes out on top!
dan
edit
thanks for the info. i’m kinda new to this area of the web (seo/ranking) and i’m looking to know more.
Angie
edit
And, if you are looking at Alexa you have to keep in mind that it is just measuring traffic coming through the toolbars — which not everyone is using.
Mobile guy
edit
I think software stores could get their traffic too.
julia
edit
interesting!
me i use free mp3 download that boost my traffic
free download (with a warning!)
Ryan Bunting
edit
Awesome work Court, definitely would be important for any PayPerPost-ers out there who want to get a bit of a traffic boost by putting some product reviews up! Nice work!
Clickindia
edit
So should these sites must include something related to the sort that those sites have which attract traffic during a particular season.???
Matthew Griffin
edit
I had never though of this issue. Very insightful. I guess we all need to start blogging about Wiis and Elmo dolls.
simon
edit
yeap, mine had dropped for last two weeks too, i am glad its a trend and not just me…
ScamFreeMoneyMaker
edit
thanks for this info courtney.
it really have me understand something about internet traffic for season marketing. christmas and new year is on the way so internet marketer need to understand how to market during big holiday season. the better we know how traffic is affected during this period the better we can do our own marketing strategies.
Susan Suarez
edit
Nice to hear! I’ve noticed on a few sites a similar dip in traffic that aren’t Christmas related.
julia
edit
as of now my traffic returns 3 folds because of free mp3 i added every weekend
Aryan Niyukti
edit
How about having more regional & seasonal content on the website?
Aryan
Max the Micro Niche Finder
edit
Hiya, i have seen your site when searching a few weeks ago and i really love the design! I just bought a new 3 character domain (cost me a packet) for a niche review blog, and i was wondering if your design is a free or paid one? I’m new to Wordpress and about to set it up, and i would really like to get something with a similar look to yours. Any ideas where i could download or buy something similar? Thanks for your help!
jeopardy game
edit
Hello to all
I can’t understand how to add your site in my rss reader. Help me, please.
Texas Adjuster License
edit
I found your post while searching Google. Very relevant especially as this is not an issue which a lot of people are conversant with.
prasad
edit
good article like it
http://www.tendertiger.com
ebook
edit
Hello!) Written not bad, but the theme is not revealed until the end! Does not have the heart of the matter. Subscribe to RSS, I’ll follow the theme. Thank you.