Black Friday used to mean shoppers shoving each other out of the way to get a discounted TV…
Ugh! Who needs that? I prefer my Black Fridays cyber! Get it done online in your own slipper socks with a mug of tea in hand. Bliss!
This period is often make or break for many e-commerce businesses, though, so it’s vital that your website doesn’t hold you back…
After all, there’s SO much competition out there and people will just go elsewhere if your website takes an age to open or you don’t offer their preferred form of payment.
What to do to prepare…
- Check your server can cope with extra traffic on Black Friday and Cyber Monday – Your hosting company will be able to tell you if they have the bandwidth on your server to ensure there won’t be any crashes or downtime if traffic increases. There’s nothing more frustrating than driving lots of customers to your website to fall at the last hurdle.
- Optimise open speeds – Make sure your potential Black Friday and Cyber Monday customers aren’t put off by slow loading speeds. Here’s a recent blog of mine that will help you: Why slow loading website are losing you clients – Web Wisdom
- Check your cart payment methods – Are you missing key payment methods and does your cart function well? Test your payment page out to see if there are any unexpected problems. People who abandon online carts may well never come back to the site, and you’ve left money in the table.
- Think about online marketing – Create attractive landing pages for key deals and offers and highlight your top-selling products in them. Maximise the SEO of the page by using good keywords and phrases to help them get seen on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Don’t forget that you can use YouTube and Pinterest to drive traffic to them. These are both very effective search engines too.
- Personalise their shopping using their browsing and purchase history – For example, upsell related products or suggest relevant seasonal trend items. If you’re not yet using remarketing tools like the Facebook pixel to help you, talk to a digital marketing specialist about what’s right for your business.
- Make sure your site’s search function is working well – People may land on your website for a certain item this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but in the run-up to Christmas people tend to be looking for several things at once. A user-friendly search function will keep them on your website longer, and off your competitors’ sites.
- Ensure your website’s mobile and tablet performance is worthy of Santa’s North Pole team – Most people now shop on mobile devices so ensure your site looks inviting and easy to use, and that it operates smoothly on all devices.
Need to get your website ready for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the festive traffic?
I have a website audit call that will give you the answers you need and a clear plan for how to fix any problems. Take a look: Site Audit – Web Wisdom