As the holiday season approaches, many website owners panic about how well their sites will be able to handle the influx of traffic and visitors. Recently, holiday shopping has shifted almost entirely online, so website traffic can spike dramatically during this time.
While it’s impossible to predict precisely how much traffic your site will receive, you can take steps to ensure that it can handle the influx easily.
Make Sure Your Business Information Is Correct
Ensuring that your website reflects the correct information is essential if you own or manage a brick-and-mortar business. Double-check your address, phone number, business hours, and any holiday closures or hour changes.
After all, there is nothing more frustrating for a customer than trying to find your store only to realize that the information on your website or other online aggregators is outdated. Inaccurate business information is always detrimental and can be disastrous during the holiday season.
Have Lead Generation Forms In Place
If you’re looking to increase your customer base during the holidays (or any other time, for that matter), make sure your lead generation forms are in place and easy to find.
Types of lead generation forms could include Email newsletter signups, contact forms, text or push notification opt-ins, demographic surveys, or other data collection forms.
Not only should these forms be easy to find, but they should also be mobile-friendly so potential customers can fill them out no matter where they are. The advantages of collecting leads are numerous, so make sure you’re prepared to take advantage of this holiday season.
Use A CDN To Quickly Load Media Files
One of the most significant factors in website speed is the time it takes to load media and images. If your site has several large images, it can take quite a while to load – especially if the hosted server is several “hops” away from the visitor’s computer.
A content delivery network (CDN) is a system of distributed servers that deliver content to website visitors based on their location. Using a CDN, you can ensure visitors access website content quickly, regardless of visitor location or your hosted server.
Update With New Content
Keeping your site updated with new content is essential to showcase everything your business or organization has to offer potential new clients or customers. Promoting products on your website and providing as much detail about the product as possible – including photos, videos, and descriptions – can help convince visitors to purchase.
These product pages are likely to be some of the most popular on your site during the holiday season, so it’s essential to ensure they’re up-to-date and informative.
Offer Secure eCommerce
The only thing better than selling items at your store is augmenting your in-person sales with online sales. After the pandemic, people changed their shopping habits, shifting more online.
Ensure your website is set up for secure eCommerce to take advantage of this holiday season. And remember to secure your site with an SSL certificate (look for the HTTPS in the URL) and a reputable payment processor like PayPal or Stripe.
By following these helpful tips, you can be sure that your website is prepared to handle the holiday rush. Preparation goes a long way towards ensuring a successful holiday season, from updating your business information to offering secure eCommerce.
Add Functionality That Streamlines Operations
The holiday season can be hectic for service-based businesses such as salons, spas, and restaurants. To streamline operations and ensure a smooth experience for employees and customers, consider adding features to your website that make booking appointments or reservations easy.
Adding website functionality can take some of the strain off your employees, who are likely already stretched thin during the holiday season. It can also help improve the customer experience, making it more likely that they will patronize your business again in the future.
Some features you might want to consider adding include:
Online booking – Allow customers to book appointments or reservations online 24/7. Online booking can be beneficial for businesses that are open late, have extended hours during the holidays, or want to streamline this part of their business operations.
Automatic Reminders – Send automated email or text reminders to customers about their upcoming appointments. Sending automatic reminders helps reduce no-shows and late cancellations, which can be costly for businesses.
Have A Website Support Team Available
For business owners who believe in delegating tasks to other people or teams, this holiday season is not the time to stop that habit. Instead, it’s the best time to tap into this strategy.
Maintaining a fast-loading, functional website is a full-time job and then some. And if your website starts to experience technical difficulties or an influx of traffic, you may need help to handle these issues.
A website support team to assist with website maintenance during the holiday season can smooth out rough patches by resolving technical issues and ensuring your website remains accessible to visitors.
Put Processes In Place To Streamline Operations
From placing orders to processing returns, the holiday season is a hectic time for businesses – and your website needs to be able to handle the increased traffic and activity.
Ensuring that all processes – from order placement to returns – are streamlined and efficient while providing a positive experience for your visitors. If your website is challenging to navigate or customers have difficulty checking out, this could cost your business sales.
Final Thoughts
Don’t miss out on this holiday season! By following these tips, you can rest assured that your site will be able to handle the increased traffic and activity without difficulty.
Our team at Interactive Palette is here to help ready your website for the holiday season. We provide web design and development services, including eCommerce development, website support services, website maintenance, and more. Contact us today to ask how we can help you prepare for the holiday rush.
