Blog

Do you remember hearing your mother say: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Guess what? She was right. With all the information available about healthy eating, we all know that fresh food is the ticket to a longer healthier life.  You might be wondering, what does this have to do with e-commerce? My answer: everything!

When was the last time you read through your entire site? I bet it was back in the infant stage, when everything was exciting and new. As your business grew, you may have felt sure that your site was near perfection. How long ago was that 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? No matter how long ago it was, this holiday season is the perfect time to freshen up. Ditch the old and outdated and bring in the fresh and exciting.

Much like biting into a crisp apple wakes up your taste buds and makes you feel alive, freshening up your site for the holidays excites your customers and reawakens your business! Make a plan and use this checklist to get you moving!

1. First and foremost, get in there and clean things up. Thoroughly look at all pages, from homepage to check-out, to make sure everything is current and relevant. Get rid of products you no longer carry and promotions that no longer exist.

2. The holiday season is the perfect time to highlight feature products. Even better, highlight the launch of a new product. Use the time now to build up anticipation and then do not disappoint.

3. Survey your current customers – ask them what they want. Knowing their expectations can offer insight and give you some new material for content to add. Ask for input about the page as well. Customers love to be part of something, so why not make them part of your effort to freshen up your site.

4. Rotate and update your promotions. Shake things up a bit and get traffic moving throughout your site.

5. Color outside the lines. We are not saying to change your logo or brand, but there is nothing wrong with playing with the holiday colors: red, green, blue, silver, and gold. Traditional brick and mortar establishments decorate for the holidays, so why not decorate your site?

6. Research your competition and beat them at their own game. Know what your competitors are doing and get in the game.

7. Get social! Verse yourself in current trends and get blogging, tweeting, sharing, etc. This is a great time to make your appearance on social media. Weekly fresh content shows shoppers you are in the loop!

8. Try adding some new features such as newsfeeds, newsletters, or new customer specials to help attract some fresh traffic.

9. Make sure all items you are promoting are in stock and ready for shipping. No one wants to deal with the hassles out of stock products or shipping issues bring.

10. Put your CTA (call-to-action) where people will see it. Don’t just hide it in your content…get it out there where people can see it and use it too!

Freshening up your site for the holidays can give your shoppers an exciting shopping experience while building loyalty and trust. It ensures that your content doesn’t become leaden and inactive. A fresh site will keep you moving forward in front of your competition, while helping to drive your profits up.

Your site’s fresh, but what about your promotions? Check out Step 5 in this holiday marketing series, Promotions That Work. Or, move on to the last section, all about keeping it simple for the holidays.