It may still feel like it\u2019s summer in your region, but the facts are undeniable \u2014 you need to get your website ready for the most significant sales of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Not to mention, there is also the Christmas and Thanksgiving shopping season. It\u2019s never early to plan for the most wonderful time of the year. So, if you have an online shop, go ahead and start thinking about the holiday shopping season already!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ranking in Google is not something you do overnight, and that is why it\u2019s never too early to start. Remember, the end of the year is approaching rapidly. Don\u2019t forget Black Friday (25 November) and Cyber Monday (27 November) are kicking off this year\u2019s holiday shopping season. You can set up a lot of content for all occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
eCommerce sales reached $10.84 billion last year, making it the\u00a0biggest Cyber Monday<\/a>\u00a0shopping day on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can do a lot to prepare your eCommerce store for the holiday shopping blitz, and the sooner you start, the better. Read on to get tips on website speed optimization and find out how to prepare your website for holiday traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As with everything in 2022, the holiday shopping season will be different. The past two years, we\u2019ve seen COVID-19 spread across the planet, and \u2014 while it looks better in many places \u2014 it might still take some time for things to return to \u2018normal.\u2019 As such, it\u2019s hard to predict what will happen exactly, making it hard to plan for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft shared some insights on what they expect customers to focus on during Black Friday 2022:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The volume of shoppers purchasing online this year will be high. There are plenty of opportunities for businesses to gain new customers and audiences during this vital time. By ensuring that you\u2019re highlighting the right messages at the right time in the right places, you\u2019ll be ahead of the pack when shoppers are ready to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While shops are open in most places, most of your audience will be content with shopping online. Last year, online shopping reached new heights \u2014 and that trend isn\u2019t slowing down any time soon. So, prepare for a holiday shopping season that\u2019ll be an online event for many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, there\u2019s a big chance that most retailers will continue to offer the best deals online. There\u2019s a perfect reason for this; shops want to prevent vast gatherings of people hunting for that one exclusive deal. Of course, in-store or curbside pick-up will prove popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you don\u2019t need people to come to your store on a specific day, why not extend the online deals for a few days? Don\u2019t be surprised when the holiday shopping season starts well before Black Friday and continues for weeks. This makes sense because if you want to get those people to your stores, spreading these over a more extended period would be good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If anything, remember that shoppers will do most of their shopping online or prepare for that. In any case, it isn\u2019t getting any easier!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bear in mind that it takes a while for content to rank. So, take that into account. A safe amount of time that\u2019s often suggested is 45 days. Of course, you can always start preparing earlier, but to keep up with the competition, try to get your content in gear at least 45 days ahead. Dive into the data you amassed during previous Black Friday events and see if you can come up with improvements to make. Once you\u2019re on track, your schedule could look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Page speed refers to how fast the content of your website loads up and how quickly users can see and interact with the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Page speed optimization is essential for a good user experience and crucial for e-commerce sales. When the website traffic is increased, a poorly optimized website will slow down, and just a handful of customers will have the patience to stick with you when there are so many other eCommerce websites to explore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The correlation between website performance and conversion rate (the rate at which users complete a desired action) is measurable. The quicker a page loads, the more likely it is for a visitor to perform an action, e.g., click on a product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, you want your website to load in a blink of an eye, which means you have half a second. Anything longer than 2 seconds will end up in lost sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 40% of consumers will wait only three seconds before abandoning a site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Website speed is something you can test and fix yourself. The first step for your website\u2019s performance optimization is a speed test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When optimizing your website for the holidays, a website speed test is one of the most important things you can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To check how your store\u2019s website performs and where you need improvements, use optimization tools such as Google\u2019s Page Speed Tool<\/a> or WebPageTest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These scores are important because Google considers page speed when ranking them. Here are a few examples of general things you can do to improve your stats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another big part of page load optimization is checking your website for updates to ensure an optimal user experience on all devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we must consider what category or particular landing pages make sense for the upcoming holidays. You can always set up pages like \u2018Best gifts for fathers\/girls\/teens,\u2019 \u2018Newest deals for your 6\/10\/12-year-old\u2019, and \u2018Best mom\/friend\/grandparents discounts.\u2019 You can even think along the lines of \u2018Top 10 gifts for outdoor\/skiing\/parasailing enthusiasts\u2019 and \u2018Top 3 deals for stay-at-home moms\/dads\/etcetera.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure these gift landing\u2013 or category pages, the page title, and the meta description fit the upcoming holiday season. You can reuse these gift pages for Valentine\u2019s Day and your summer sale. Find (old) content that fits the holidays, rewrite titles and meta descriptions to match the upcoming season, and chances are you won\u2019t have to do that much work to update them. Be sure to write proper product descriptions and improve the product images. Learn how to write great product descriptions using our product-specific analysis in WooCommerce SEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To increase the chances of your gift pages ranking, boost their internal linking structure. You can also link the previous all-year holiday season pages, such as specific Christmas landing pages (\u2018Top 7\/10\/25 gifts for under the Christmas Tree\u2019), to boost these when the time has come. That could be around the 45-day mark, but we wouldn\u2019t mind stretching that to 60 days. There has to be enough time for Google and other search engines to follow your links and find your specific holiday season landing pages in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media like Twitter and Pinterest \u2014 though this is technically a visual search engine \u2014 can play a massive role in the success of your (online) holiday sale. Take Pinterest, for instance. Raise your hand if you or your spouse has a Pinterest wish list. Many people have that. If you get the right products on people\u2019s wish lists, that can positively impact your sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you\u2019re at it, don\u2019t forget to share your holiday season gifts pages on Facebook and Instagram as well. In the previous section, we\u2019ve mentioned the top 10 lists. We all know these still work pretty well on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, we\u2019d recommend setting up holiday gift guides and sharing these. Create an excellent overview of all kinds of gifts for many people. ELLE has a page like that, and so do more companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last but not least, don\u2019t forget your email marketing! For many companies, newsletters provide a steady stream of income. Be sure to plan a good campaign for your newsletters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The holiday season is an excellent time to pitch new products. Start writing content about these products now if you know of potential best-sellers for the upcoming holiday season. Think about how tech sites write about concept iPhones, features that Apple might add, and things like that. The more you write about new products upfront, the more likely the sales pages for these products will rank when it matters. It would be best to link all pages you made in advance to that one main page you\u2019ll set up when the product is released and available to buy. Treat that page like cornerstone content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at your sales trends from the year before (or if you just launched your store, analyze recent sales) to predict which products will be prevalent during the holiday season. Stock up on your inventory or contact a third-party service to source your products. This will give you a clear picture of your product stock levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With print-on-demand drop shippers like Printful, you don\u2019t have to worry about inventory or shipping\u2014we got that covered! As a Printful customer, you get regular updates about items going out of stock or being discontinued and suggestions for product alternatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re planning on introducing an update to your website, such as a website layout change, do it now (preferably before late October), or postpone it until after the holidays. Any significant changes to your store during the period of increased traffic can cause unexpected technical problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optimizing your website for mobile users is a big part of preparing your website for a large number of visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mobile commerce (or mCommerce) is growing, and mobile sales are projected to reach\u00a0$3.56 trillion in the US by the end of 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020, mobile holiday sales reached\u00a0$3.6 billion<\/a>, making up 40% of online spending on Black Friday, and\u00a037% of digital sales on Cyber Monday<\/a>\u00a0were made on mobile devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means only one thing for online store owners\u2014adjusting to customer shopping habits to sell more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t
Holiday Shopping is Still Different in 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Online is Where It\u2019s At<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Start Preparing in Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Importance of Website Speed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Assess your Website Speed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Set up Holiday Season Gift Pages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Promote on Social Media and in Your Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Introduce New Products<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stock up on Inventory and Launch the Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Give a Warm Welcome to Mobile Shoppers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n