October is when things start to move fast.
Holiday traffic ramps up. Q4 goals get real. And the margin for last-minute fixes gets smaller by the day. This month isn’t about adding more content, it’s about making sure what you already have is ready, optimized, and protected before the busiest season of the year begins.
Here’s how smart bloggers use October to prepare for a smoother, more effective Q4.
1. Audit and Prepare Your Seasonal Content
Before you think about creating anything new, look back.
October is the time to review last year’s holiday and seasonal posts to make sure they’re updated, optimized, and ready to capture traffic again. Focus on content tied to:
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- New Year’s
- Any other recurring seasonal topics in your niche
Check for outdated information, broken links, or missed opportunities to strengthen CTAs and internal links.
How Clariti helps: Use Labels to tag all seasonal content by holiday, then filter your dashboard to see everything in one place. Review traffic trends from last year to prioritize which posts are most worth refreshing first.
2. Fix Technical SEO Issues Before the Busy Season
Small technical issues can quietly undermine your best content, especially during high-traffic months.
October is the ideal time to address things like:
- Broken links
- Missing alt text
- Other lingering technical SEO issues
Catching these now helps prevent traffic losses when demand is highest.
How Clariti helps: Use Clariti’s filters to surface posts with broken links or missing alt text. Create a Project like Technical SEO Cleanup and check off fixes as you go without digging through hundreds of posts manually.
3. Prioritize Updates for November and December
Q4 moves quickly, so decisions made now save time later.
Instead of guessing what to work on during the holidays, use October to identify which existing posts should be refreshed, optimized, or promoted in November and December.
Start by asking:
- Which posts already perform well?
- Which ones align with seasonal search intent?
- Where will updates have the biggest impact?
How Clariti helps: Sort posts by traffic performance to identify top performers, then use Projects to organize your update schedule and track progress across the season.
4. Identify Underperforming Content Worth Fixing
Not every post needs saving, but some are worth revisiting.
October is a good time to find posts that have dropped in traffic over the last few months and decide whether they should be updated, redirected, or retired before year-end.
How Clariti helps: Sort posts by the biggest traffic drops over the last 3–6 months. Dive into each post’s data to see where traffic declined and make informed decisions based on real trends, not assumptions.
5. Monitor Your Top Traffic Drivers
Your highest-performing content deserves extra attention during Q4.
A sudden drop, broken link, or untracked change can have an outsized impact during peak traffic months, so October is the time to put safeguards in place.
How Clariti helps: Create a Project for your top 20–50 posts and use Clariti’s real-time data syncing to monitor performance. Add Notes and Annotations to track changes so you can measure what’s working and catch issues early.
6. Strengthen Internal Linking and Metadata
Finally, use October to reinforce your site’s foundation.
Strong internal linking and optimized metadata help search engines understand your content and help readers move more easily through your site.
Focus on:
- Adding strategic internal links between related posts
- Reviewing page titles and meta descriptions
- Improving header structure where needed
How Clariti helps: Use Super Search to quickly locate posts by topic, then track internal linking and metadata updates inside Projects. Apply Labels to flag posts that still need attention so nothing falls through the cracks.
October isn’t about doing everything. It’s about making sure the right things are in place before Q4 hits full speed.
By auditing seasonal content, fixing technical issues, prioritizing updates, and strengthening your site’s foundation, you set yourself up for a calmer, more effective end to the year.
As Q4 accelerates, November is about staying organized, protecting traffic, and planning just far enough ahead.
This post is part of our Fall Planning Series for bloggers, focused on refining your content and priorities as you head into the final stretch of the year.
Ready to refine your content and stay focused through the rest of the year? Explore Clariti’s plans for organizing content, priorities, and next steps.
About the Author
Jen is the Associate General Manager at Clariti with a soft spot for great tech and good snacks. She has a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction (which is a fancy way of saying she’s really into how people and tech get along). When she’s not working, you can usually find her hanging out with her family or baking something she’ll insist is “just a little treat.”
