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Is Your Site Ready For The Holidays?

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Sure they fall at the same time every year, but the holidays always seem to sneak up on us. For a business, that can be problematic. If you sell primarily to consumers, raising your profile during the holidays could greatly impact your annual sales. Even if you are primarily a B2B vendor, staying in customers’ minds during this time of year is important. Your first weapon to combat the holiday haze is your website. It is typically the first stop for many customers to find out more about you, your products, and your offers. Below are some ways to ensure an increase in website traffic for the holidays.

Is Your Site Ready For The Holidays?

Google Shopping Feeds

Google is the world’s largest search engine and the cornerstone of many business’ marketing plans. You can make their reach work for you by using a trio of services that will put your product images front and center during relevant searches. You will need your shopping feed, Google Merchant’s Center, and your Google Adwords account working in tandem to take advantage of the added exposure of these feeds.

Holiday-Specific SEO

Effective search engine optimization is a marathon, not a sprint; but you can optimize some pages on your site specifically for the holidays. Consider adding a few landing pages specific to your holiday offerings and make sure the SEO on these pages is targeted to holiday shoppers. Also, spend some time clicking around your site to test for things like load time, image quality, and calls-to-action. You don’t want a consumer to have any reason to leave before making a purchase, so be on the lookout for areas that might hinder a conversion. Slow load time is often the key culprit to consumers clicking out of the site, ultimately resulting in less valuable website traffic.

Pay-Per-Click Holiday Campaigns

Similar to shopping feeds, PPC campaigns can put your products in front of consumers who are searching for specific keywords. This gives you a direct line to consumers who are ostensibly looking for your product. Remarketing campaigns are also highly effective during the holidays. Customers who have previously visited your site, but haven’t purchased, will see ads for your products while they’re clicking around the Internet. It’s a good way to stay top of mind.

Make Social Work For You

Lastly, don’t forget about your social media feeds. These channels can pump up your promotional efforts with interesting content and clever community building campaigns. Just make sure that your site is ready to handle the traffic from a social media push.

No matter what tactics you use, the holidays can be a huge opportunity for you and your business, and they can generate website traffic you don’t normally see throughout the year. If you have any questions regarding how to make your site holiday-ready, please contact us at Energyhill today. Happy Holidays!

Do You Need a Shopping Cart? Probably.

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Website Shopping Cart

You may be asking yourself, “Should I have a shopping cart on my site?” If that question comes to mind, it probably means your answer should be a resounding, “YES!”

People are using their smart phones and tablets to purchase products more than they are visiting traditional brick and mortar establishments. Your website isn’t just a place for you to market your products; it should be your eCommerce hub where people can connect with your brand, find your latest products and purchase them on-the-spot. In order to stay competitive, businesses must provide their customers with the ability to order products online, while they’re in the shopping mindset.

What Customers Want

  • The Convenience. Online ordering allows your clients to shop anytime, anywhere.
  • Better Prices. Your customers wants to save money. Online shopping allows consumers to price shop more effectively.
  • No Crowds. Avoiding lines, traffic, and stress makes everyone happy.
  • Discreet Ordering. Ecommerce provides your consumers to order what they want privately and comfortably.

Shopping carts are not a menial undertaking. Your customers are likely to abandon their shopping cart and not complete their transaction if they have any trouble with your program. Simply put, this is an area of business where the extra investment is worth the cost.

What Your Shopping Cart Should Offer

  • Save Feature. Sometimes consumers want to add an item, look around, and come back later to complete the transaction. Allow it.
  • Order Adjustment. Customers should have the freedom to make adjustments – different sizes, colors, and products – easy and conveniently.
  • Secure Purchase. Your business should ensure the customer feels confident in your ability to secure their information.

The Benefits of a Shopping Cart

Yes, your customers will love it, but the benefits of a shopping cart don’t end with happy customers.

  • Save Time. Allowing your customer to order as they choose gives your employees the opportunity to work more effective hours.
  • Save Money. Ecommerce may allow you or your employees to work from home, reduce expenses, and avoid unnecessary inventory.
  • Encourage Sales. Happy customers purchase more, and more often.
  • Customer Insight. Online ordering allows you to get to know your customer better, and help you make better decisions on future products and services.
  • Expanded Marketing. You can reach a lot more customers on the internet than you can in a mall.
  • Measured Results. Tracking orders allows you to immediately see how sales are doing, where you need to improve, and what direction your business is heading.
  • Business Sustainability. Ecommerce is the way of the future.

Acquiring a shopping cart feature for your website can help move your product more efficiently, lower unnecessary inventory, and most importantly, makes your customers happy.