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6 Ways PreparingYourWebsite

fortheHolidaysisJustLikePlanningaParty

2015

BroughtToYouByTheAppGuys

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Table of Contents Introduction03

SendingOutInvitations04

GettingYourHouseinOrder08

LayingOuttheAppetizers13

TheThree-CourseDinner15

MakingYourVisitorsFeelWelcome16

HiringaPartyPlanner18

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Introduction

Right aroundHalloween there’s an interesting thing that happens inmallsandonmainstreetsacrossAmerica.Somehowoddlyintermixedwiththepumpkin,witchandspiderdecorationsthatadorneverystoreyouwalk passed, you’ll begin to see a smattering ofwhat looks likeChristmaslightsandsignsthatread“HolidaySale:20%Off.”

Yes, itmay still be the biggest shopping day of the, but the truth isnobodywaitsforBlackFridayanymore.Andthere’sareasonforthat.

The holiday season is easily the busiest time of year, and businessowners(justlikeyou)needtodoeverythingtheycantostayaheadoftheholidayrushandbeattheircompetitiontothepunch.Thismeansloadinguponinventory,staffingup,stayingopenlate,andhammeringoutaneffectivesalesandmarketingstrategy.It’sthislastpartthatcanbethetrickiestandmostcritical.Afterall,ifnobodyknowsaboutyourstore, products / services, and promotions, all the rest of this workcouldbefornaught.

Possibly themost critical tool you have in yourmarketing arsenal isyour business’ website. It is the central location for your businessonlineandoftenthe firstplacepotentialcustomerswill interactwithyou.Thismeansyouneed tomakesureyourwebsite is in top-notchshapefortheholidays—andhereishowtodoit.

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Sending Out Invitations HowandWhentoTellYourCustomersAboutPromotionsCommunicationiskeyduringtheseasonofselling,andthereare a variety ofmeans at your disposal for reaching out toyour customers. Youmay be familiar with some, but thereare many you may not be aware of, yet. One suchcommunicationtoolispushnotifications.Pushnotifications have longbeen laudedby apppublishersasoneofthebestwaystocommunicatewithpeople(DoyouhaveanappforESPN?Pushnotificationsarethosemessagesyou get on your phone that let you know the Red Sox arewinning). However, Google recently enabled them for thewebviaitsbrowser,Chrome.Forapersontoreceivepushnotifications,alltheyneedtodoisopt-inonyourwebsiteandthenhaveChromerunningontheircomputerorphone.Youcanthensendshortmessages— it’sbestnot towrite theentiretyofWarandPeace in apush notification — to your customers to let them knowaboutanyspecialholidaypromotionsyou’rerunning.

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It’simportanttonotethatyou’llwanttoenablethisfeatureonyoursiteasfarinfrontoftheholidayseasonaspossible.Much likewithanemailornewsletter list, themorepeopleyou have subscribe to your push notifications the better. Alarge following iskeytoboostingyuletideengagement.Andwhenusedproperly,pushnotificationscangetawholelotofengagement.AstudybyPushCrewyieldedsomeastonishingresultswhenitcametopushnotifications:“Theopt-inandclickratesareamazing!Some…haveseenanopt-in rateof 40% (10X the rate atwhich an averageemaillistbuilds,and20XtherateatwhichanaverageTwitter listpopulates)andaclickrateof20%.”Tip:Pushnotificationsmakeagreattoolforcommunicatingwithyourcustomers,butyoucanoverdoit.Becarefulnotto send out toomany in a short amount of time, or yourcustomersmaystarttoignoreyourmessages.And speaking of emailmarketing strategy, this is should beanother vital part of your marketing during the holidays.Thoughnot as new and revolutionary as push notifications,emailmarketing isaneffectivetoolforreachingouttoyourcustomers to highlight special offers and let them knowaboutwhat’sgoingonwithyourbusiness.Oneofthebestpartsofemailmarketingisthat,unlikewithpushnotifications,characterandwordcountsare lessofanissue. Once again, you don’t want yourmessage to be toolong,but you can communicatea lotmore ideasanddirectyourcustomerstoalotmoreplacesonyourwebsite.

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Here are a few big things you should keep in mind whenpreparingholidayemailblaststoyourcustomers:

• Subject Lines — Try to keep your subject line shortand interesting. Your email is no good if yourcustomers don’t open it, and a long, boring subjectlinewillgetaone-waytriptothetrashfolder.

• Body—Relevanceisthemost importantthinginthe

bodytextofyouremail.Extra informationis justthat— extra. It isn’t needed and your reader’s attentionspanisprettyshort.Sotrytokeepitbrief,whilealsomaintaining a personal and friendly tone. People likethatkindofthing.

• CTAs—CTAstandsforcall-to-action.Thisisthething

youwantyourreadertodo.Oftentimesyouseethesein the form of a button or link at the bottom of anemail. Though you can give someone an offline CTA(e.g.VisitOurStoreToday!), it’sabetter ideatogivethem something todo right in that veryminute (e.g.See Our Holiday Specials). Sending people to yourwebsite, blog or a landing page goes a long waytowardsboostingcustomerengagement.

Bothpushnotificationsandemailmarketingarelargelyone-waycommunicationtools.Yourcustomershavesigneduptoreceivesmessages fromyou,butthere isn’t reallyawayforthem to reachbackout This iswhy it’s andblog, especiallyaround the holidays. Everyone is getting online to sharepictures of family get-togethers and connect withfar-flungfriendsacrosstheworld.Soitkindofgoeswithoutsaying that Facebook is a place you want to be.

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Nobodyissayingyouneedtobecommentingonthephotosofpeoplewhohavelikedyourbusiness’page,butyoushouldbepostingregularlytoremindpeopleyou’rearound.Inadditiontoplaintextstatusupdates, it’salsoagoodideatopostcontentthatpeoplewillwanttoshare.Infographics,interestingarticlesorvideosfromaroundtheweb,andlinksto your blog are all good ideas, but probably the mostvaluableisyourblog.Why? First, a blog is great for SEO. Google loves originalcontent and a blog provides you with the opportunity towriteasmuchas youneed,whilealsoworking in thoseall-valuable keywords. Second, it’s very good way to start aconversation with your customers about relevant holidaytopics.Forexample, ifyourunabarandrestaurant,agoodblog topic would be “5 Christmas Drinks You Need to TryBefore New Year’s.” Not only is this likely to get sharedaroundonsocialmedia,butthere’sagoodchanceyou’llbeabletospeakdirectlywithyourcustomersviathecomments.

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Getting Your House in Order TheBasicsofaGood-Looking,FunctionalWebsiteOnce you’ve figured out your strategy for reaching out toyourcustomers,thenextstepistogetyourwebsiteinorder.Evenifyouthinkyourwebsiteisingreatshape,itneverhurtsto go back and do a little spot-checking. And the mostobvious area to start with is the is your overall websitedesign.When looking at your site’s design, it’s a good idea toremembertherule,“lessismore.”It’seasytooverloadyourvisitorswithinformation,imagesandflashyanimations.Allofthese used in the correct way are fantastic. They bring lifeandpersonalitytoyoursite,butyouneedtomakesurethevisitorcanfindwhatthey’relookingfor.

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Hereareafewthingstokeepinmind:

• Use Flat Design — Flat design has a lot to do withcolor.Simpleandprominentprimarycolors,laidoutinanuncomplicatedway,willgiveyoursiteasleeklookthatwon’toverwhelmyourvisitors.

• ProminentCTA—Trytokeepyourcall-to-actionhigh

enoughonyoursitethatwhenanybodygetsthere, itwillbeoneof the first things they’ll see.Onceagain,thisisthenumberoneactionyouwantyourvisitorstotake.Whetherthat’stocallyourbusiness,stopbythestore, reserve a table or place an order, don’tmakeyourpotentialcustomerssearchforit.

• Header and Navigation — Often overlooked, your

header and navigation are a very important part ofyour site. Keeping with the idea that simple is best,structureyournavigationsothatyourmostprominentpages are visible right away, and all other pages arestructured underneath them. This secondarynavigation is called the “sub-navigation.” The rest ofyour header should maintain some very basicinformation (think your phone number or business’address)andpossiblyasmalllogo.

• Footer—Yourfooterisalotlikeyourheader,except

atthebottomofthepageandyoucanputsomemoreinformation inthere. It’sokaytogoa littlemoretextheavywith this part, but itwould beunwise to startloadingitupwithimages.

Afteryou’vedecidedyourhappywithyoursite’s layout, it’stimetopickyourimagesandwriteyourtext.

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Themostimportantthingtorememberaboutimagesistheyneedtoberelevanttoyourbusiness.Areyouanaccountant?Ifso,agiant imageofthesunrisingovertheGrandCanyonmaynotbeforyou.Insteadselectaniceimageofyourself,orevenbetteranimageofyouinteractingwithclients.Thiswillgiveapositivefeelingtotheviewerandimmediatelyhelptobuildtrust.Remember,apictureisworthathousandwords,sotakeyourtimewhenchoosingwhatimageswillrepresentyour business to the world. However, it’s important toremember that turningyoursite intoapurepicturebook isprobablynotthebestwaytogo.Atsomepoint,you’regoingtoneedtosprinklesomeactualtextintheretoo.If you’renervous aboutwriting text for yourwebsite, don’tbe. You don’t have to be a playwright, you just need toensure that you can communicate clearly, warmly andeffectively.Saywhatyouneedto—nomore,noless.For example, if you owned an air conditioning repaircompanyinAustin,Texas,youmayrightatagline(generallythemain text that goes over your site’s header image) foryouwebsitethatsays:“KeepingAustinCoolSince1985.”This tagline is short, memorable, speaks to what yourbusinessdoesandbuildstrustwiththeaudience—allofthethingsyoustrivetoaccomplishwithyourwriting.And after you’ve written everything you think your siteneeds, feel free to ask someone else to review your text.Everybodyneedsaneditor.

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At this point in the process, you may love how your sitelooks...on a desktop. But what about how it works on asmartphoneortablet?Inanagewhenpeoplearecompletelyinseparablefromtheirmobiledevices,ensuring they receiveagoodexperiencenomatter what they’re using to view your site is critical. Tobecomemobile-friendly,youessentiallyhavetwooptions.• CreateaMobile-OnlyWebsite— Ifyouhaveanexisting

desktop website, you can quickly and easily create itsmobilecounterpart.ThesesitesgenerallyhaveaURLthatreads “m.examplesite.com,” and are basically just yournormalwebsitereformattedforthesmallscreen.• CreateaResponsiveWebsite—Aresponsivewebsite

isonesitethatworksperfectlyondesktop,tabletandmobile. Itwill automatically reformat itself todeliveranoptimalvisitorexperience,nomatterwhatkindofdevice your site visitor is using. This is now thepreferred choice of most web designers and smallbusinessowners, as it future-proofs yourwebsite forwhateverkindofdeviceswillhitthemarketdowntheroad.

Besides visitor experience, there are a variety of otherreasonswhyyouwouldwanttobemobile-friendly.

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First, it lowers thebouncerate,whichmakesperfect sense.Your bounce rate is the percentage of peoplewho land onyoursiteand immediatelyabandon it. Ifavisitorclicksonalinkandistakentoasitewheretheyhavetopinchandzoomto find what they’re looking for, they’re probably going tomove on very quickly.Mobile visitors have notoriously lowpatiencefornon-optimizedwebsites.Second,itimprovesconversionandengagement.Big,thumb-friendlybuttons thatallowyourvisitor tocall yourbusinessorgetdirections toyourstore in justoneclickareessentialfordrivingcustomeraction.Third, Google wants you to be mobile-friendly, and if youaren’t there could be consequences. Recently the searchengine giant declared that mobile-friendliness is now aranking factor. This means if you aren’t up to Google’smobile-friendly standards,youcould loseyourcovetedspotintheirsmartphonesearchresults.It’simportanttonotethatboth mobile-only and responsive websites, will workperfectly in this post-Mobilegeddonworld and keep you inGoogle’sgoodgraces.

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Laying Out the Appetizers

PlacingYourMostPopularProductsonYourSite Thespaceonthehomepageofyourwebsiteisnotlimitless.Thereisafiniteamountofrealestatethatyoucanleverage.Like all real estate, thismakes it valuable, and tomaximizeholiday sales you’ll want to use it to display your flagshipoffer.Ifyouhaveaspecialproductorservicethatgoesalongwiththeholidayseason,thisistheperfectthingtohighlight.Ifyoudon’thaveaspecificyuletide-relatedproduct,simplyusethisspacetoshowoffyourmostpopularoffer.Tip:Useyourflagshipoffering asyourheaderimagewithacoupleofquickbullets,andalinktolearnmoreaboutitonanotherpage.

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If you can’t think of a lead product to promote, the top ofyourhomepagecan,andshould,beusedtoadvertisespecialholiday deals, particularly leading up to and during BlackFriday weekend. It’s important to carefully plan out anyspecialsyou’regoingtobeprovidingduringtheholidays farinadvance.Thereareavarietyoflayoutsforyoutoplaywithand it’sagood ideatotakesometimetofindadesignthatworksforyoursite.Youcanalsousewebsitepersonalizationtools, inSite,toscheduleyourholidaydealstoautomaticallyappearthroughouttheseason,butwe’llgetintothatmoreinaminute.

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The Three-Course Dinner

UsingeCommercetoMaketheMostSales Ifyou’vebeenrunningatraditionalbrick-and-mortarbusiness,youmaywant to consider expanding intoeCommerce. Itmayseem surprising, but a growing number of small businessesconsider the ability to sell online important to their business.According to recent research, nearly one in five SMBs believeeCommerceisanimportantpartofdrivingsales.ThereareavarietyofoptionswhenitcomestoeCommerce.Abasic ten-product store is available; however, you can createeither a 100-product or 1,000-product store. These are highlyvaluable,astheyalsoincludecertainadvancedfeatures,suchasadditionalshippingoptionsanddiscountcoupons.ItisimportanttokeepinmindthansettingupaneCommercestoreactuallyhasbigimplicationsforyourday-to-dayofflineoperations.Youwillneedtofigureoutshipping,maintainingyourinventoryandmayevenneedtolookintosettingupnewpaymentoptions.

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Making Your Visitors Feel Welcome CreatingPersonalizedWebsiteExperiences Adorning a home or store with a cornucopia aroundThanksgivingorsometinselforChristmas,isatime-honoredtradition. But what about your digital storefront? Doesn’tthatdeservetobemadealittlemorefestivetoo?Well,inSiteistheperfecttoolformakingthathappen.Thereareavarietyofspecialeffectsthatyoucaneasilyaddto yourwebsite in just a few clicks, likeDecember snoworfireworks for New Year’s. Simply schedule them to displaywhenyouwanttoaddalittlebitofextrasurpriseanddelightto your visitors’ website experience. But there’s more toinSitethanjustaddingsomefestiveflare.Website personalization tools, are fast becoming amarketer’sbestfriend.Bychangingthecontentofyourwebsitebasedontriggerssuchastime,visitorlocation,numberofpreviousvisits,andmore,youcancreateahyper-relevantexperienceforsitevisitors.

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It should come as no surprise that the more relevant andpersonalized an experience, the more likely a visitor is tobecomeacustomer.Everybodylovesapersonaltouch.Here are a few key stats you should know about websitepersonalization:

• Businessesthatleveragepersonalizedcontentontheirwebsite average a 19 percent increase in sales(Econsultancy2013)

• Personalized CTAs resulted in a 42 percent higher

conversionratethangenericCTAs(HubSpot2013)

• 94percent of in-housemarketers agree thatwebsitepersonalizationiscriticaltocurrentandfuturesuccess(Econsultancy2013)

inSiteisanincrediblyflexibletool,soreallytheonlylimitonwhatyoucandowiththevarioustriggersandactionsisyourownimagination.Would awelcome video for first-time visitorswith a happyholidays message help you connect with customers? Whatabout scheduling different promotions to run on the sitethroughout Black Friday Weekend? If you want to run aspecialcampaignfortheholidays,youcanusetheCampaignURL trigger todisplay contentonyourwebsite thatdirectlyreflectswhatyou’retryingtopromote.No matter what you come up with, inSite makes anoutstanding way to promote special offers and deliver anunparalleledwebsiteexperience.

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Hiring a Party Planner

GettingProfessionalHelpforYourWebsite Sinceyouonlyhavea setamountof time togeteverythingreadyfortheholidayrush,orofthinkyoucouldbenefitfromsomeprofessionalguidance,youmaywanttoconsiderhiringa bit of help. This can be for building actualwebsites fromscratch, implementing advanced features, or running avariety of advertising campaigns.Nomatterwhat youneedhelpwith,hiringanothersetofhandsenablesyoutospendmoretimedoingwhat ismost importanttoyou:gearingupyour brick-and-mortar business to make the most of theholidayrush.

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