Last Minute Black Friday SEO Prep for Ecommerce Stores • Yoast

Black Friday is still three weeks away, so it’s time to make the final adjustments. Here’s what to focus on now, based on two Yoast Black Friday coffee conversations with our own lead SEOs, Carolyn Shelby and Alex Moss. Alex explains: “Black Friday is no longer a day, but a season. Now, if you’re not visible to the AI, you won’t show up in results when shoppers ask for recommendations.”

1. Stop breaking things (seriously)

• No major technical changes. Change platform, payment processor or theme? Wait until January. Focus on optimizing what you have
• The code freeze begins now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. First test changes in a staging environment
• Exception: Installing Yoast SEO or WooCommerce SEO add-ons is a low-risk activity. Do it if necessary

Pro tip: If you must Update plugins, test staging, and avoid updates a week before Black Friday.

2. Fix these problems immediately (or regret it later)

Fraud attacks are increasing

Scammers test stolen credit cards by purchasing cheap items (<$5). Signs that you are being attacked:

• Sudden increase in orders for your lowest priced item
• High failure rates (refused payments)
• VPN/Rotating IP Orders

How to defend yourself:

• Increase your reserve price. Bundle items to increase the total value above $5 (e.g. “Buy 2 stickers, get free shipping”).
• Add friction (carefully):
  • Enable CAPTCHA when checking out
  • Enable Stripe Radar (if using Stripe) or Speed ​​Checks (limits orders per IP).
  • Avoid disabling guest checkout as it will affect conversions
  • Contact your payment processor. Say: “I’m seeing fraudulent test orders. Here’s the pattern, please help me block them.”
  • Block high-risk countries (if you don’t ship there). Use Cloudflare’s WAF (Web Application Firewall) to filter traffic.

Warning: Fulfilling fraudulent orders will cost you product + shipping + time. Verify payments before Shipment.

Language and search targeting

• AI/LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini) cannot “see” hidden text. If it’s behind tabs/toggles/accordions, they’ll miss it. Move important information (FAQs, specs, reviews) into visible text.
• Avoid “clever” product names. Example: A colored dress “Untouched” does not appear when searching for “Ivory dress”.
  • Fix: Add common terms in brackets:
    • Incorrect: “Flawless midi dress”
    • Right: “Flawless (Ivory) Midi Dress”
• Test your products with AI: Ask ChatGPT:
  “Find me (your product) In (color/size/price range).” If it misses your product, your descriptions need to be revised.

Reviews are trust signals (for humans and AI)

• Encourage detailed reviews. Generic “I love it!” won’t help.
  • Ask customers: “How do you use this product? What problem does it solve?”
  • Example: “These hiking shoes fit my wide feet – finally no more blisters!”
• Use brand reviews. If you sell multiple products, you will receive reviews for your product brand (e.g. via G2 or Trustpilot). LLMs draw on these when answering questions like “What is the best brand for X?”
• Tactics of Last Resort: Ask friends/family to leave honest reviews. (No fakes, because Google punishes that.)

Pro Tip: Use Yoast SEO’s FAQ schema for reviews and Q&As. However, please keep the FAQs visible; Avoid hiding them in switches.

3. Optimize for AI and search (quick wins)

Product Pages: Lead with the good stuff

• The first 100 words are the most important. AI/LLMs and users skim, so place important details at the top, like price, shipping information, and bundling options
• Clear and concise language wins over clever marketing.
  • Example:
    • Original: “Experience luxury with our handmade ceramic mug.”
    • Optimized: “14-ounce ceramic mug. Dishwasher safe, retains heat for 2 hours.”
• Add videos. Show the product in use (e.g., flipping through a planner, wearing a dress). Yoast SEO Premium includes video SEO tools. Please use them
• Focus on your “underdog” products. These aren’t your top three bestsellers, but they are the items that rank lower on your sales list. They may not sell as much, but they often have higher profit margins, making them a worthwhile consideration.
• How to optimize them:
  • Use Google Search Console to identify:
    • Products with steady sales and high profitability (promote them in packages or via email).
    • Products that could benefit from topic clustering (group related queries to uncover hidden opportunities).
  • Give them a boost by:
    • Bundle them with bestsellers (e.g. “Buy our best-selling coffee maker and get 20% off these premium beans”).
    • Upselling or cross-selling (e.g. “Customers who bought this also loved it…”).

Use email and social networks to seed the AI

• Send a Black Friday teaser email this week. Contain:
  • Your brand name + product name (helps the AI ​​remember you later)
  • Clear discounts (e.g. “20% off all espresso machines – no code required”)
  • Links to product pages (not just the homepage)
• Why? ChatGPT/Gemini now scans email (when users connect their Gmail). If someone asks, “Where can I buy X?”the AI ​​may suggest your brand because it saw your email
• Social Posts: 80% useful, 20% entertaining. Example:
  • Incorrect: (Image of a pizza with caption: “Ooooh”)
  • Right: “Our Chicago Deep Dish Pizza – now 15% off for Black Friday! (Link) #DeepDishDeals”

Eliminate friction when paying

• Review your checkout flow. Questions:
  • You do need a phone number? (Many users abandon cart here.)
  • Is the shipping information clear in advance? (e.g., “Free shipping on orders over $50”)
  • Can users save their cart for later?
  • Test with dummy orders. Use Shopify/WooCommerce test credit card numbers to simulate purchases

4. Last minute hacks (do these soon)

Task	Why it matters	Sign in Dealer Center > Check for warnings.
Create a Black Friday landing page	Centralizes promotions for AI/users.	Use a PLP (Product Landing Page) with text like: “Gifts under $50 for sports-loving dads”. Link to this from emails/social networks.
Refresh the Google Shopping feed	Now fix errors (missing SKUs, sizes).	Log in to Merchant Center and check for alerts.
Add FAQ schema	Does AI help answer questions like “What is the return policy?”	Use the Yoast SEO FAQ block (visible text only!).
Check inventory	Avoid selling out of bestsellers.	Order again now as delivery delays are expected to increase in November.
Set up a replacement payment processor	Fraud attacks can freeze your account.	Add Stripe (even if it is inactive) to PayPal as a backup.

5. What not to do before Black Friday

Don’t wait until the last minute to launch promotions or make important changes. Big brands launch their Black Friday campaigns every year Beginning of November. If you wait until Thanksgiving week, you’ll miss out on early buyers and the AI ​​”training window.” LLMs prioritize brands mentioned in emails, social media posts or searches before the holiday rush.

Avoid hiding important details behind tabs, accordions, or images. AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini often skip hidden text when browsing product pages, and users tend to overlook shipping costs and return policies too. Never ignore Fake Friday (the Friday before BF), the unofficial kickoff when bargain hunters start browsing. Run a pre-sale or teaser discount to capture this traffic before the competition does.

Avoid overly complicated packages or discounts. A “Buy 5 random items and get a surprise gift” The deal may sound creative, but it confuses buyers and reduces profits. Instead, combine high-margin items with slower sellers (e.g. “Buy a camera, get 50% off a memory card”).

Don’t assume that your payment processor can handle fraud spikes. If you suddenly encounter stolen card tests (watch out for a spike in cheap, failed orders), your account may be suspended or blocked. Set up Stripe Radar or PayPal’s fraud filters Now– and have a backup processor ready.

Finally, you should never neglect mobile checkout testing. If the “Add to Cart” button is hard to tap or forms don’t auto-fill on mobile phones, you’re losing impulse shoppers. Test a slow 3G connection to simulate real-world frustrations.

Your Black Friday success starts now

The countdown is running. Black Friday will be here before you know it. But here’s the good news. You still have time to make a real impact. Whether you’re looking to refine your product descriptions, protect yourself from fraud, or ensure your website is AI-friendly, every little optimization you make now can lead to bigger sales when the buying frenzy hits.

When you feel overwhelmed, remember this. You don’t have to do everything alone. Tools like Yoast SEO Premium and WooCommerce SEO can help you optimize your product pages, structure your content for both AI and search engines, and even add schema markup to ensure your products are more visible to both AI and search engines. It’s like having an SEO expert by your side, guiding you through the chaos so you can focus on what matters. Sell ​​more and have less stress.

So take a deep breath, tackle one task at a time, and trust that you’ve accomplished it. Here’s to your most successful Black Friday yet. Get the offers now. And if you need a little extra help, you know where to find us.