It’s already December, and the holiday season is almost underway. Is your website prepped to reap the benefits of your year-long hard work?
Online, 20 to 40 percent of total annual sales happen between Halloween and Christmas. In 2013, the total sales figures during this time in the United States itself stood at $46.55 billion.
In October 2016, the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted an increase in retail sales up to $655.8 billion in November and December. The NRF further predicted that digital sales would grow to something between 7 and 10%, to a whopping $117 billion.
Are you ready to harness the demand?
You still have time. Buckle up to make the most of what’s left of these two months. Get your website ready to tackle the shopping spree during the holidays.
If you are a coach, entrepreneur, electrician, counselor, writer, or an independent professional in any other field, chances are you are not hard selling products through your website. You may be doing something more topical. You might be dishing out a service, and probably, an important one.
As consumers, we often get stuck at the wrong moment. We might need the services of a plumber just before the guests arrive, or finally make up our minds on hiring a cleaning service at the eleventh-hour.
As an entrepreneur, would you like to grab these opportunities and offer your services?
Customers often become loyal to businesses that stand beside them at moments of crisis. If you are the plumber who helped me save my face at the dire moment, chances are I’ll keep calling you with fresh work for the rest of the following year. Or five.
If you want to grab the opportunities, be prepared.
Are Your Website Functions Working?
Check that all your pages, links, and tabs are working. If a page is supposed to open in a new browser, ensure that it does. Keep your website updated to reflect professionalism.
Is Your Website Optimized for Local Search?
When potential customers are in dire necessity and need support from professionals like you, the first thing they would do is a Google search. They’ll then call the people or companies that top the list. Be there! Your website should be well optimized for local searches, and with the holiday season approaching, optimized for appropriate keywords.
Is Your Website Optimized Worldwide?
If you appear on the first page of the search, you have a good chance of being considered. Use appropriate keywords for search engine optimization – name of your profession, holiday deals, experience in problem-solving, names of other clients, and more. Keep your website fast, functional, updated, and assuring. Your potential customers are deciding whether you’ll be a good fit for the job. Assure that you are.
Are Your Contact Details Updated?
Can the frantic customer reach you immediately? If not, you’re going to lose customers to another business. You have to make it incredibly easy. Always add a phone number that works, one that helps the customer to speak to you or reliable staff. Depending upon how busy your business is, you may consider outsourcing this task to a customer care company.
Is Your Website Ready For the Season?
It’s that magical time of the year when family and friends get together, so you should celebrate. You need a vacation, too! However, when you return from the holiday weeks later, you do want to dive deep into your work, right? For that, you have to prep your website accordingly.
Check that your website reflects your professionalism and exudes your goodwill.
Ensure Your Website is Ready with These 6 Steps:
- Informs that you are away – Specify the dates you will not be available and when you will be back.
- Informs what you can do for your customers and what you can’t – Are you the right person for the job? Avoid splashing false promises. Would you like to recommend a peer or anyone else while you are away?
- Assures that you will get in touch as soon as you are back – Give a date and time by when you will call him back.
- Announces a discount/reward – Tell him that if he chooses to wait until your return, you will reward him with a discount or reward of some kind.
- Wishes them happy holidays – without fail.
- Optimizes for appropriate keywords – Be on the customer’s go to list, holiday or not.
Theme and Graphics
Are they loading fast enough? The rule is – any theme should load in three seconds. Longer, and you risk losing your visitor’s interest.
Keep in mind your customers who shop through their mobiles. Heavy graphics will deter them faster. Is your website mobile-friendly? Check and make amends if required.
Promotion
During the holiday season, online shoppers are looking for deals. Use promotional content and strategies to lure them to your website. Contests for small gifts will draw some potential customers. Use a variety of promotions: free shipping, buy one get one free offers, discount coupons, and cash back offers all work well.
Prop up Your Search Engine Optimization
Adopt a fool proof, SEO strategy focused on holiday shopping and optimize your website for the shoppers out there right now.
Check your Website Functionalities
Test your whole website, especially buttons and tabs that have to do with buy, add to cart, wishlist, and subscribe. Don’t miss significant sales just because one of these are bugged.
Customer Care
It’s rush time. You have too much to handle, and your customers have to hurry. So cut the queue. Consider investing in a live chat feature during busy periods or a friendly customer service to provide fast help for your clients.
Are you Ready to Handle the Rush?
Holiday season means a spike in website traffic. Does your web host allow you to make such essential changes fast?
Check your Server Bandwidth
Ensure that your website has the extra bandwidth to support the sudden rise in visitors. You cannot afford to suffer a downtime now when the season is at its height.
Is your website fast enough? Studies show the amount of sales and page load times are inversely proportional. If at all, ensure that your website is cached to give it time to catch up with high load.
Remove Shopping Cart Bottlenecks
A higher number of customers discard a purchase halfway through the checkout, mostly due to backend bottlenecks. Test and solve any problem your website may have there.
Is Your Website Secure Enough?
A primary concern almost every online shopper has is about the security of the payment gateway. Take every possible measure to protect their interests. Use the latest encryption technology, and show the SSL certificate for your website. Highlight the green padlock that signifies the highest level of security on the browser bar.
Have you checked off all the items on the list above? Then you have worked smart and are ready to tackle the upcoming shopping spree. Preparing your website for the holiday season is the first step towards making your business work during the holidays.
