The Easter bunny is waiting around the corner, as are the search results, ready for the traffic that this sector gets for a handful of weeks every year. In this SectorWatch we take a look at the leading domains and content for the sector, for two user intents. What happens on the high-street is not always what happens in Google search.
Original study with data from Dec 2022. Updated with data from Jan 2024.
SectorWatch is a series of data-led studies that reveal the best online competitors in various business sectors, for different customer types. These examples can be used as blueprints for your own success in search marketing.
Leading domains for easter chocolate
Not only are there bunnies here, but elephants in the room:
Top 3 domains ‘do’ (Latest update Jan 2024)
- cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk
- amazon.co.uk
- etsy.com
Top 3 domains ‘know’ :
- wikipedia.org
- bbcgoodfood.com
- britannica.com
The top 3 results for do include amazon, which will surprise nobody. The ecommerce site also ranks well for ‘know’ queries where searchers may be looking for information rather than a transaction.
In detail: “easter chocolate” search marketing
We’ve curated two lists of keywords for the sector using SISTRIX for Google. One is a list of keywords for which Google prefers direct-buy, ecommerce URLs. The other is a list of keywords for which Google shows more information results. For each set of keywords, Google presents a different type of content in order to satisfy the users search.
The full process and keyword lists are detailed at the bottom of this article but in summary, we take 4 highly targeted, high volume keywords with a ‘do’ intent and 4 highly targeted, high volume keywords with a ‘know’ intent. We then harvest the ranking keywords for the URLs in the SERPS. We call this the Keyword Environment. Before we analyse the keywords list we re-filter the list by intent and sanitise it by hand.
We then analyse selected domains in the list to show you where to look for the blueprint for success. The process is also covered in our competitor analysis academy.
Domain results: Do
In total 103 keywords were used for the evaluation. Data shown here is from Jan 2024
| cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk |
| amazon.co.uk |
| etsy.com |
| hotelchocolat.com |
| lindt.co.uk |
| thorntons.com |
| notonthehighstreet.com |
| bettys.co.uk |
| rococochocolates.com |
| funkyhampers.com |
| johnlewis.com |
| greenandblacks.co.uk |
| chocolatetradingco.com |
| yumbles.com |
| goodhousekeeping.com |
| regencyhampers.com |
| thecocoabeancompany.com |
| venchi.com |
| countryliving.com |
| hampers.com |
Domain results: Know
In total 394 keywords were used for the evaulation
| wikipedia.org |
| bbcgoodfood.com |
| britannica.com |
| history.com |
| english-heritage.org.uk |
| bbc.co.uk |
| goodhousekeeping.com |
| cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk |
| countryliving.com |
| amazon.co.uk |
| janespatisserie.com |
| chocolatetradingco.com |
| tesco.com |
| twinkl.co.uk |
| goodto.com |
| christianity.com |
| hotelchocolat.com |
| smithsonianmag.com |
| time.com |
| bakingwithgranny.co.uk |
Do you want to know which URLs are the most successful in this analysis? In 2023 we introduced a new analysis to our keyword lists tool. Top URLs are shown below. First the top 10 URLs for the DO keywords.
| URL | Top Keyword | Top 10 keywords |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/easter-gifts | easter gifts | 23 |
| https://www.lindt.co.uk/shop/seasonal/easter/easter-eggs | easter eggs | 18 |
| https://www.funkyhampers.com/browse/category/easter/easter.html | easter gifts | 18 |
| https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/gift-ideas/shop-by-occasion/new-chocolate-easter-eggs/easter-egg-delivery.html | easter eggs online | 7 |
| https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/easter_gifts_for_him | easter gift for him | 7 |
| https://www.regencyhampers.com/easter-hampers | easter gifts | 13 |
| https://www.johnlewis.com/easter/c600003104 | easter gifts | 13 |
| https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/gift-ideas/shop-by-occasion/new-chocolate-easter-eggs.html | easter eggs | 8 |
| https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/easter-eggs/ | easter eggs | 13 |
| https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/easter-chocolate | easter chocolate | 6 |
Here are the top URLs for our Easter Chocolate DO keywords.
| URL | Top Keyword | Top 10 keywords |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday | why do we celebrate easter | 45 |
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg | easter eggs | 47 |
| https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols | easter bunny | 57 |
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny | easter bunny | 33 |
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter | why do we celebrate easter | 39 |
| https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/shredded-wheat-nests | easter nests | 21 |
| https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/easter/why-do-we-eat-eggs-at-easter/ | easter eggs | 25 |
| https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/easter-ideas/a31226078/easter-bunny-origins-history/ | easter bunny | 29 |
| https://www.chocolatetradingco.com/magazine/features/history-chocolate-easter-eggs | easter eggs | 35 |
| https://www.countryliving.com/life/a41715/easter-bunny-origins/ | easter bunny | 30 |
Examples – Selected content projects
A clear example and blueprint for success in the ‘do’ category is the Cadbury Gifts ecommerce website, cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk.
The visibility index value for this site, is stable and ready for traffic. Remember, the Visibility Index uses average monthly search volumes over the year which means that an SEO can optimise and see results before any seasonal traffic rises.
Update Jan 2024 – The domain has seen significant growth in 2023.
In the ‘know’ category, a single URL at history.com is a successful example of an extensive informational content project about Easter. It’s interesting to see the current year mentioned in the title, but not in the URL. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter
The growth in the visibility is clear to see and while the absolute visibility index is not huge, the important point is that it’s well positioned against competitors to attract clicks when the seasonal traffic arrives.
Update Jan 2024: The URL lost some visibility in 2023 but remains stable and is slowly gaining again.
Methodology and data: easter chocolate
For this SectorWatch we took relevant and high-volume keywords from the easter chocolate keyword discovery table. The resulting filtered live lists in the Toolbox, are linked below.
The full top 100 of ‘know’ and ‘do’ domains. along with keywords and URLs is also in the shared spreadsheet.
The lists were hand-curated and re-filtered before adding them to the SISTRIX keyword list competitor analysis feature, which assess the SERPs for all keywords in a list and returns the most visible domains.
SectorWatch is a publication from the SISTRIX data journalism team. Related analyses can be found in the TrendWatch newsletter, IndexWatch analysis along with specific case studies in our blog.
