The time has come once again to get ready for the holidays.
Most are already focused on decorating their homes, organizing recipes for decadent meals, and saving items to their Amazon Wish List. However, in the advertising space, we have other ways of preparing for the holidays (though, we still prep endlessly for that Thanksgiving turkey!)
As an advertiser, now is the time to ask yourself – are you truly ready for the holidays in the digital space?
Is your website prepared for the influx of online shopping this year?
Are you going to be found when a customer is searching for that perfect princess cut diamond ring?
If the answers are no, then it’s time to put on your elf shoes and get to work!
Here are five tips you can use to get your website ready for the holidays:
1.) Have a User-Friendly Website
Making sure that you have a user-friendly website is a considerable way to compete online this year.
A user-friendly website means that potential customers can navigate your site with ease. While they are browsing your items and checking out your inventory, it’s crucial to deliver a straightforward experience.
You want to make sure that your images are clicking out to the correct pages, the website pages are providing users all the information needed to make a call to action, and you also want to confirm that everything you are advertising is also replicated on your website.
There is nothing good about a hot lead clicking on an ad for 50% off and landing on a page that has absolutely nothing to do with the promotion. Or, worse, perhaps landing on a 404 page. Immediately, not only have you lost a potential customer, but you also lost the trust factor in delivering a streamlined user experience on your website.
2.) Ensure Your Business Is Easily Accessible Online
Double-check that all form-fills, contact pages, and phone numbers are working accurately across your website. Try doing a test on all contact tactics to confirm that everything is performing seamlessly. You can even make a test purchase to ensure that all sales funnels are set up and working correctly if a consumer purchases an item online. Again, the point is to ensure that your website is set up for success, and delivering an easy purchase/contact experience for all users is necessary.
3.) Start Your Holiday Content ASAP
Don’t wait until the final hour to get started on holiday graphics, website banners, landing pages, and blogs. Start prepping for your promotions and organically incorporate your content into the mix. If you know you are having a holiday sale, make sure you create a checklist for all assets that need to be updated on the website, such as your featured image on the homepage and internal pages across the site. Don’t wait; start now!
4.) Offer Helpful Customer Support
It’s the holidays – people are bound to have questions, especially when they are stressing out about holiday gift purchases. Make sure your customer support is ready to tackle any and all issues. Test out your customer interaction software, your online messenger, and make sure your staff is in the know if someone happens to make a call from the website to ask for more details on items and pricing. Provide a friendly and helpful support system for all users in need.
5.) Confirm Your Digital Strategy Is Good To Go
Now that your website is ready to tackle the holidays, make sure that your digital strategy is in the works. Check all the links on your Google Ads, create inviting content for social media, and confirm all retargeting pixels are placed accurately to bring users back to your website again and again. Now that you have the perfect website, you can use digital marketing to show it off to the world!
The Bottom Line is, people are shopping online now more than ever, and they are starting even earlier this year due to 2020. Now is the time to make sure you are ready to convert website traffic into holiday revenue, and the only way to do so is to make sure your website is set up for success.
Think about it; you wouldn’t invite people over to your house for Thanksgiving dinner if you didn’t have mashed potatoes, stuffing, and, most importantly, THE TURKEY! (again, we are really dedicated to food around here!)
We are looking forward to a successful (and profitable!) 4th quarter!