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Christmas Shoppers Is Your Site Prepared

Written by: Sarah Chantigian

Article Overview: Although the holidays are several months away, now is the time to make sure your website is prepared. Online shopping tends to start far earlier than the brick and mortar stores in November. Here, you will find helpful information and tips on how to prepare your online store for successful year-end sales.

Christmas Shoppers Is Your Site Prepared

Believe it or not, as I sit here in the 95+ temps writing about (and wishing they were here) the holidays, it is definitely something a website owner should be thinking about as well.

If you own an ecommerce store or offer anything tangible that relies on Christmas shoppers, August and September should be key months to begin if not sooner.

Keep in mind, most online shoppers start in October.. even before "Black Friday" in November. Many online retailers start the season in October hoping to cash in on savvy shoppers looking for a great deal and a way to avoid the malls, grab that toy that will be the hot one of the season, and even get some great shipping rates (many offer free especially this time of year).

What you need to know.

First, assess your website's structure; do you offer a shopping cart? Do you need to? Are there outdated products or prices that need to be corrected? Does the site sell?

Update your email / mailing lists. Make sure your email and mailing lists are up-to-date. Take out duplicates, and perhaps do a 'test' run on an email campaign by offering a web poll, or wish list ideas to your clients now so you can see how good your list and how committed your clients are to your web business.

Review your website statistics. Check the stats of your website on a weekly basis. Who is coming to your site? Where do they leave the most? what is the average time they stay?

How well does your website rank? Organic rankings, pay per click campaigns, etc should all be reviewed and updated at this time. Be ready and prepared to add more pages for organic seo, add/delete or modify pay per click accounts.

All of these important tips will help launch your website business into full season mode. Happy Holidays! :)

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Article Tags: Christmas shoppers, online shoppers, savvy shoppers



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