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10 Ways To Prepare Your Web Site For the Holidays
September 18, 2007

The Christmas season means not only big business for your brick-and-mortar store, but your web site as well.  To ignore it means you're ignoring the hordes of customers (like me, who would rather drops thousands online than face the crowds and parking nightmares in a store).  How do you prepare your site for the holiday rush?

1. Take a moment to shop your site yourself.  That's right, try to buy something.  Or, search for a question that you get asked all the time.  Is your site easy to navigate and does the experience make sense to your grandmother?  If it doesn't, tweak it NOW because my grandma is online shopping, and has been for the last six years.
2. Security is tight.  Discuss your security policy upfront so you defuse their fears right away.  Make sure your padlock appears in the lower left corner and disclose that you do not sell their names without their permission (you don't, right?)
3. Offer them options for ordering:  online, phone, fax and in person. 
4. Establish cut-off dates for ordering before Christmas day.  If you offer Christmas Eve service - guaranteed - promote that proudly.
5. Offer specials and discounts on every page.  People don't always enter through your homepage and you want to alert them to your specials regardless of how they got there.
6. Set up wish list capabilities.  This way, people can direct others to your site to order their gifts.
7. Allow for purchasing and using gift certificates.
8. Ensure you have confirmation emails that work and answer all their questions.
9. Improve your product descriptions. It's been proven that people buy based on good, sound product descriptions. Make sure yours don't prompt more questions than answers.
10. Decorate your site for the holidays.  Be festive, but not tacky.  Twinkling lights are festive.  Having them all over your site is tacky.

Posted by Suze Bragg on September 18, 2007 | Comments (0)