Come the fourth quarter (Oct. through Dec.) of each year, most publishers tend to see a seasonal boost in traffic and earnings. Holidays—both commercial and cultural—are the driving force of this boost, with Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday all packed into the year’s end. 

The reasoning behind this boost is two-fold. Visitors spend more time online, whether it be internet shopping or simply browsing during some hard-earned time off. Advertisers make a push to promote their products, causing an inventory increase in digital ads. As a result, publishers experience the benefits of heightened traffic and increased ad revenue.

There are several ways to take advantage of this seasonal boost in traffic. Now is not the time to reinvent the wheel—but it is time to ensure that everything is running in peak condition. It’s important for publishers to optimize their ad viewability on their most-viewed pages during this time in order to decrease bounce rates. Don’t forget about mobile users! If you haven’t optimized much for mobile yet, now is the time to do so. Offer new content, and promote both new and popular existing content across your social media networks. Release the new content during historical peak times for your website. Choose smart keywords that could land you additional visitors—a tool such as Google Trends can help you discover popular seasonal topics.

As January rolls around we enter the first quarter again, and publishers can anticipate a drop in traffic through some of Q1, especially in January. Advertiser budgets will be down, having splurged during Q4, and visitor traffic typically hits a slump. During this time, publishers can benefit from implementing major website changes that were put on hold over Q4. Experiment with your ad units, try out improvements you’ve only been considering up until now, and continue turning out quality content to retain visitor interest and engagement.

Throughout Q4, note seasonal patterns on your website and use that information to help you further increase earnings during the next seasonal boost. Understanding and leveraging these opportunities is how publishers best take advantage of season trends.