Now’s the time to prepare; don’t miss out on the opportunity to boost revenue and customer engagement on Cyber Monday, which takes place annually the Monday after Thanksgiving. Be prepared with a great website and social media that can handle increased traffic.
And remember, while people may think only retail outlets benefit from Cyber Monday deals, other businesses such as auto repair shops, restaurants and service businesses including hair salons, can also increase business by offering special deals such as gift certificates or coupons for services offered.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Make sure your site is visually appealing and easy to use1.
Review your site to ensure it is visually appealing, fast and easy to use. Check your site to make sure there aren’t any missing images or broken hyperlinks, and consider:
• Ease of use – From a customer’s perspective, look at navigation and search boxes, trying to anticipate not only how easy they are to use but how quickly searches can be conducted. Also create shortcuts or quick links on your main page to direct shoppers to some of your best-selling items2.
• Ease of understanding3 – Review content periodically and make sure you’re putting your products and services in the best light, explaining simply and effectively what you offer.
• Design – Your site should have a consistent look, as colors and fonts should not only be visually appealing to your visitors but should reflect your business.
• Speed – The ability for a page to open quickly ensures a better experience for your customers.
• Support – Make sure someone is available to answer questions for visitors.
Your site should work for mobile devices:4
A variety of devices, including tablets, smartphones and desktop computers, are part of many people’s shopping experiences, so make sure your website and shopping cart are able to work with all devices. This way, customers who switch between devices can continue their shopping wherever they are, which leads to an increase in sales for you.
If you don’t have the time now to create a mobile version of your website, at least make sure the site is optimized for viewing on mobile devices5.
Don’t forget about social media6. Social media sites are an ever-growing way to drive business to your site, so use it wisely. With a variety of tweets, email notices and display advertising, you can let customers know about your business and the specials you’re offering for Cyber Monday. A holiday promotional sale on your Facebook page and Twitter accounts, for example, not only show what specials you’re offering,
but encourage visitors to follow and “like” your business, increasing the chances that they’ll refer others to your website.
Have a knowledgeable employee monitor your social media sites on the days before, during and after Cyber Monday. Monitoring allows your business to interact with customers in real time and lets issues be addressed in a timely manner. You can also find out what people are saying about your business and products7.
Don’t ignore SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is what drives consumers to your site after doing an internet search. There are many ways to do this, but at the very least you should consider8:
· Keywords – Various keywords placed throughout your site can increase SEO, so think of the search terms that someone would use to search for your business. However, make sure you don’t add too many terms or words unrelated to your business, as your site may be flagged as spam.
· Page Titles – The page title is a tag used by search engines to display a page in search results, and tell users what content can be found on your page. Descriptions should be short and related to your business.
· Update Content Regularly – Show off sales, service and new inventory by regularly keeping content fresh.
Make sure your site can handle increased traffic:
Do a page loading test well in advance of Cyber Monday to make sure servers can handle the expected increase in visitors and transactions, and at a fast rate. If you’re not sure how quickly your page loads, search online for a page speed test tool. Don’t forget to also check that your shopping cart is working properly9.
Technical support
Have the phone numbers of all your technical contacts handy, such as the hosting and shopping cart providers10.
Sources:
1, 3, 4, 6, 7. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238339
2, 5, 9, 10. https://www.paypal.com/us/brc/article/selling-on-cyber-monday
8. https://diffusion.digital/top-10-seo-tips-how-to-improve-your-google-ranking/
