Seasonal Topics For Your December Editorial Calendar

Holiday shopping is in full swing and while online purchases continue to thrive, streets are packed again with more people visiting stores IRL than last year. Another thing thriving this month are CPMs, historically the highest in November and December. In case you need a refresher, “CPM” is short for cost per mille (1,000) impressions, and measures the revenue of a single ad unit. High CPMs, matched with high-volume search activity make now the perfect time for publisher content. Remain focused on updating top performers from last year, and publishing new content on the following trends that are relevant for your website.

Here is a collective list of December top-performing topics, pulled from traffic data across our total network (including our owned and operated properties like SheKnows.com and StyleCaster.com), as well as published data from Google Trends and Pinterest Insights. Now is the time to bulk up your editorial calendar, covering all the seasonal topics you know your readers will love.

1. Entertainment

• Classic Christmas movies
• Holiday rom-coms
• Classic Christmas TV moments
• Family Christmas movies
• Cool Christmas/holiday music
• Christmas music
• Lifetime Christmas movies
• Christmas Day movie releases

2. Holiday Sales

• Bath & Body Works candles
• Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday
• Gift guides
• Sephora holiday sale
• Anthropology sales
• Amazon sales
• Best toy sales
• Zara sales

3. Beauty & Fashion

• Holiday fashion trends
  • Dresses for holiday parties
  • Holiday outfits for men
• Winter skin care routine
• Holiday nail art designs
• Wool jackets for men
• Winter boots for men/women
• Red holiday heels
• Holiday jumpsuits
• Winter date night outfits
• Puffy winter coats
• Winter wedding dresses
• Chic winter skirts
• DIY ugly sweaters
• Matching family pajamas
• Adult onesies
• Holiday party outfits
• Winter booties
• Sequin dresses
• Easy holiday updos

4. Food & Recipes

• Cinnamon rolls
• Instant pot pot roast
• Potato soup
• Creamy mashed potatoes
• Homemade frosting
• Bacon appetizers
• Slow cooker holiday appetizers
• Slow cooker holiday desserts
• Peppermint
• Ginger
• Christmas rum cake
• Prime rib
• Mac and cheese recipes
• Chicken tortilla soup
• Hot chocolate/hot apple cider recipes
• Pie recipes – apple, chocolate, pecan, pumpkin
• Baileys drink recipes
• Eggnog
• Smoked salmon recipes
• How to cook duck breasts
• Squash (roasted, spaghetti, butternut)
• Candied orange peel
• DIY caramel sauce
• Hanukkah food traditions
• Christmas/holiday dinner recipes
• Vegan/vegetarian side dishes
• Bourbon whiskey meatballs
• Tamale recipes
• Air fryer recipes

5. Lifestyle 

• Best holiday quotes
• How to keep your dog/pets protected over the holidays
• Best holiday cards
• Holiday vacation destinations
• Christmas mad libs
• Family Christmas photo ideas
• Holiday party games
• White elephant gift ideas
• Ways to volunteer

6. Home & Decor 

• Holiday decor ideas
• Tree decorating tips
• Preparing for house guests
• Wrapping paper
• DIY ornaments
• Wreaths
• Outdoor lights & Christmas displays
• Eco-friendly Christmas lights
• Snow globes
• DIY tree toppers
• Minimalist home decor trends

7. Health & Wellness 

• How to stay well in winter
• How to beat the winter blues
• Suicide prevention / How to care for people experiencing sadness
• Natural ways to stay healthy in the winter
• Winter wellness stations
• Winter wellness getaways
• Wellness rituals for winter

8. Parenting 

• Toy for kids (by age group or gender is a common way users search)
• Eco-friendly clothes, toys
• Experiential gifts
• Gifts for teachers
• Christmas/holiday dresses
• DIY gifts for kids to make
• Warm clothes for kids
• Holiday coloring pages
• Volunteer opportunities for kids
• Teaching kids gratitude
• Elf on the Shelf ideas
• Christmas/holiday crafts
• Christmas/holiday printables
• Hanukkah facts/gifts/celebration
• Homemade gift ideas

And one last tip: Don’t forget to look at your top performers from last November and December. Instead of publishing a brand new piece of content on the same angle, update last year’s instead. Make sure to improve it for the user with fresh images, new links, new products, fresh content, and then update the date to this year.

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