SEO Keyword Strategy for Fashion Ecommerce Websites: It’s All About Trends

Amanda Massello, April 5, 20131 Comments

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In the digital age, it should come as no surprise that search trends follow the rise and fall of fashion (and cultural) trends. Or should it?

Fashionista Marie picks up her favorite magazine, covering the top 10 hot trends for spring. The editors of StyleMag have been planning features for spring since attending New York Fashion Week the previous fall. Marie scopes out a few potential dresses for her friend’s engagement party. She picks up her iPad, and types in a featured dress style, “colorblock dress.”

Rewind. Place search marketer hat on. Revisit. Everything Marie has done was entirely predictable six months ago by the close of fashion week. Google’s own search trend data substantiates this as does an audit of Pinterest results for last spring.

Forecasting (Unscientifically) Via Pinterest Trends

If 2012 is any indication, Pinterest will also start to serve as a secondary (search) forecast of which trends will sell and drive traffic. Take the “color block” trend from spring 2012. While Pinterest doesn't provide result counts, let’s just say the scrolling of results for “color block” devotee boards and pins are endless.

Search Trend Volume Substantiated

Google’s search volumes for 2012 confirm the same popularity for “colorblock dress.” Notice the minor peak in September 2011 when the runway debuted Spring 2012 looks and then the rising interest through June 2012 as apparel lines became widely available for purchase.

Runway and Color Trends - Translated to Consumer Language

Ecommerce organizations are already on top of this – with knowledge passing sales predictions (influenced by the runway) from fashion buyers to merchant and marketing teams focused on feature and promotion planning, but SEO remains the ugly stepsister.

SEOs should follow the same process as buyers and designers. Let’s call this keyword brainstorming. Start with a list of potential product offerings to be offered on the site. For categories, ask what are the next season’s top silhouettes and product types? For products, ask what are the season’s hot colors, materials (eyelet, leather), even prints (floral, leopard)?

In addition to the runway recap, anyone supporting fashion should know the color bible that is Pantone, which produces a fashion color report for every season. Pantone provides a master list of top colors on its website for free. These tend to be the colors splashed all over runways and eventually products sold on eCommerce sites and in stores nationwide. In short, Pantone influences designer and buyer choices that make it to market.

2013’s Pantone Color of the Year is emerald green. As proof of cause and effect, Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool illustrates that monthly searches in the U.S. for “emerald dress” are currently well over 12,000.

For next fashion season, take Pantone’s listed colors and translate them into consumer friendly terms. Marigold equals yellow. Ox blood equals burgundy. Color “modifiers” matter.

These shades drive trends, search volume, conversion, and maybe even sell-through.

How to Find Current Trends

Above and beyond the runway, it’s also possible to find search trend data for a given apparel category, in a more recent time frame. Below is a snapshot of what trends were most searched in women’s apparel in the last 90 days, available for free from Google Trends. With spring on the horizon, top searches include sundresses, maxi dresses, and high waisted shorts.

The same trend investigation in the Outerwear category in the last 90 days tell us that consumers are looking for yellow raincoats as they get ready for April showers.

Cultural Trends Drive Search Volume

It isn't just the runway that influences search trends. The First Ladies on both sides of the Atlantic have proven to set style preferences as well. Again, unsurprisingly, we see this substantiated by search volumes.

In 2011, Kate Middleton wore a navy lace dress on her trip with Prince William to Canada, which has been covered by paparazzi worldwide. Women’s interest in navy dresses has since increased gradually into 2013. Not only in terms of search volume (see below), but also in designers offering their own interpretation of the style, as evidenced by results from Google Shopping.

Ecommerce sites can capitalize on the celebrity fashion news or cultural trends the same way as editors; blogging opened doors for this opportunity years ago.

Scan a magazine rack today and you can’t miss a cover shoot of Lena Dunham, producer of the hit HBO series "Girls". Ecommerce brand Lulus.com recent blog post featured a round up of all the Lulu’s products befitting the Girls’ characters’ styles, therein driving links to a range of products in their catalog to create SEO value. Lulus.com main demographic is also juniors, many of whom fall into the same audience as age group as the cable show.

Tying Trend Data into Your Keyword Strategy

All of these trend sources can be leveraged to develop a seasonal keyword strategy. To establish a foundation of data to work from, start with a review of:

• Editorial coverage of next season’s trends
• Trends terms in Pinterest
• Pantone’s color report

Trend data will need to be matched up with merchandising and marketing plans for the season. Key areas of focus are:

• Catalog product volume by trend
• Plans for features and categorization
• Blog and content development plans

With the right candidates in mind, trends can be translated with keyword brainstorming by product type, material, and color shade. From this master list, keyword targets should be chosen across the catalog and developed into meta data and URL recommendations.

For further trend optimization and reach, the top 10 keywords for the season should be circulated to teams in charge of social, blog, content, along with guidance around cross-linking products and categories from the blog or social properties.

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What Is the True Cost of Hiring a Bad Employee? [INFOGRAPHIC]

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What is the cost of a bad hire? We all know that hiring the wrong employees can cost organizations a huge amount of money, but this infographic presents some startling figures. When it comes down to it, getting the right fit the first time probably matters a little more than you thought it did. Recruiters, your job is just that much more important.

This infographic by Resoomay, a software service that allows recruitment agencies and employers to screen and interview candidates using video interviews, explores the (rather astronomical) cost of making a bad hire.

RELATED: How Employers Use Social Media to Screen Applicants (Infographic).

Source: Resoomay

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Jorgen Sundberg

The original Undercover Recruiter, after 7 years in tech recruiting Jorgen now runs Link Humans, a social media marketing agency in London.

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http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/infographic-what-cost-hiring-wrong-employee/

Coding Is the Must-Have Job Skill of the Future

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Adam Popescu16 hours ago

Fast forward to 2020. What job skill must you have? Coding.

Well, we may be getting ahead of ourselves slightly. It's uncertain that HTML and CSS in their current form will be on the menu of the next decade. But what we do know is, for the foreseeable future, coding is one of the most important and desirable skills there is, no matter how it evolves.

Coding is the new black. And it's getting so hot that there are a slew of startups focusing on teaching coding — to your kids.

For those of us grown up and out of grammar school, there are two schools of thought: specialized education programs or teaching yourself. School can be both expensive and time consuming. While hitting the books at home via online courses is significantly cheaper, it's also draining, as there's no one to copy answers off of.

Like anything daunting, there may be some understandable hesitation about just how to jump in the water. And some basic questions to answer.

Why should you learn how to code? And where do you start?

Asher Hunt, leading mobile designer at customer engagement management company LivePerson (formerly Look.IO), sees at it as a way to control the visual UI/UX (user interface, user experience) of a site.

"Learning HTML and CSS creates a really valuable way for people to efficiently design for the web," explains Hunt. For learning CSS keystrokes, he suggests getting started with syntax and browser animations. "I say this because understanding those languages provides understandings of their limitations, and general capabilities. For every pixel I put down in photoshop, I know exactly how I'm going to code that in HTML and CSS."

SEE ALSO: The Beginner’s Guide to CSS

The value of coding is learning how to use data to drive decisions, says C.J. Windisch, lead engineer and co-founder of location-based app GonnaBe.

"We see it everywhere from statistical analysis in baseball to politics with Barack Obama's data-driven election team," Windisch says. "Understanding data at that scale requires a computer to run numbers, not a calculator. In today's big data world, that means coding."

Windisch suggests geting your feet wet with Treehouse, a startup featuring instructional videos.

Mike Murray, GonnaBe's lead iOS developer, says proficiency in coding allows programmers to be able "to modify the technology they work with, without aid from others," thereby increasing their value to employers, and saving valuable funds.

It's all about big data, agrees Jad Meouchy, CTO at the smartphone survey company Osurv Mobile Research. And mastering that data can be the difference between success and failure in the startup world.

"A new coder better understand what that means and how to handle it," Meouchy explains. "Every company has access to a gold mine of consumer insight in the form of analytics, social networks, activity logs, et cetera.  The challenge in managing that information is developing a process to extract high-value bits and act on them quickly."

Meouchy says the key for beginners is to learn about databases, starting with basic SQL syntax. From there he suggests working "your way up to complex joins, and take a cautious peek at the new anti-SQL movement." He warns that "when solving actual business problems, stick to the fundamentals and avoid trendy, flashpan tech. If you do it right, the skillset you develop should last a decade."

If this is too jargony for you, fear not. Here's a real-life, layman's-terms example of a regretful tech entrepreneur who didn't learn. GonnaBe's CEO and cofounder Hank Leber calls coding the new literacy. It's the battle of "the tech literate vs. the tech illiterate. And 'literacy' won't refer to one's ability to read about new technology or report on it, but creating it."

Leber cites the growing unemployment rate and diminishing prospects for newly-minted college graduates as motivators.

"Not learning to code has been the biggest misstep of my academic and professional life," he says. "Had I learned it when I was in my early twenties, I'd have been 10 times as effective as a leader and businessperson. Hindsight is 20/20, but let this be foresight for young people: If you can stomach it, learn to code. You won't regret it."

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, 7io

TOPICS: BUSINESS, CODING, CSS, DESIGN, HTML, JOBS, PROGRAMMING, STARTUPS, TECH JOBS,WEB DESIGN

Social Search Engine Marketing Throws Search Experts A Lifeline

by Laurie Sullivan, Yesterday, 1:57 PM

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Aside from smartphones and tablets, social search engine optimization has emerged as the next focus for many marketers in enterprises during a time when more C-level execs continue to give attention to search engine optimization (SEO), video offers search and social opportunities, and small and national businesses capitalize on local search, according to a study released Thursday.
Social signals continue to make their way into search results --making social search engine optimization the next major trend in organic listing. Enterprise SEO requires a search across traditional techniques and social media channels. Some 49% of the survey participants said social sharing will have more importance when it comes to improving search rankings in 2013 compared with 2012, followed by 31%, much more importance; and 19%, about the same, according to results of a BrightEdge study, which cites Forrester Research numbers suggesting that search engine optimization will become a $2.2 billion industry by 2016.
To improve SEO ranking with help from social, marketers must understand the exact correlation between social sharing of pages and rank. Identifying this correlation and analyzing the content being shared helps marketers reinforce what’s working and what's not. When asked how important it will be to understand the correlation between social sharing and page rank, 47% of survey participants said more important compared with 33%, much more important; 19%, about the same; and 1%, less important.
Understanding topics will also become "more" important when it comes to social media users and sharing information. The key will be identifying user interests expressed in social media and catching consumers' attention by providing content that targets these interests. Some 45% said it will become more important this year to identify trends, compared with 24%, much more important; 30%, about the same; and 1%, less important.
When asked to name multiple social media channels that marketers will focus on this year, some 86% said Facebook; 68%, Google+; 43% LinkedIn; 41%, Twitter; 29%, Pinterest; and 25%, YouTube.

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Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/198917/social-search-engine-marketing-throws-search-exper.html?edition=59262#ixzz2RZG4qtdw