Cyber Monday is slowly approaching. Cyber Monday this year is November 29th and marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season in America.
Cyber Monday has become an unofficial worldwide holiday for online shoppers, with many people doing their Christmas shopping via their laptop or smartphone instead of braving long lines at brick-and-mortar stores.
The question is whether your website will be ready to handle all those orders? If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to make sure your website is fully optimized for mobile devices and that it includes features like free shipping, expedited delivery, same-day delivery, layaway plans, and other conveniences that are important to your customers this time of year.
Make Sure Your Website is Secure
A huge influx of visitors to your site also means you need to lock it down. Cyber Monday is prime time for cybercriminals who are out to steal credit card numbers or sensitive personal information.
There are some simple steps you can take, though, that will make sure your site doesn’t become compromised and won’t lose customers’ trust.
Make sure your website uses SSL encryption. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and it’s a way of encrypting information passed between your website and the person visiting it. It ensures that nothing is intercepted during communication.
An “https” in front of your URL tells customers that they’re entering a secure site, so they won’t be as nervous about providing personal information such as their email address or credit card number.
An SSL certificate is required if you plan on taking orders online, and they’re inexpensive. A green bar in the URL when customers browse your website will let them know it’s secure and increase trust in your company.
Make Sure Your Website is Compatible All With Mobile Devices
Every year, Cyber Monday sees a huge increase in sales and transactions. With this rise comes an increasing number of shoppers searching for products online via their mobile devices. And since more than 50% of all online transactions come from tablets or smartphones, e-commerce site owners should make sure their websites are both secure and easy to navigate on these devices.
If you haven’t already adapted your site to be more mobile-friendly, now might be a good time to start. Not only will this help to secure your ranking on Google, but it’s also likely to increase the number of visitors you receive over the next few weeks.
You can even push forward in time by adding a mobile-friendly comparison table which will not only make browsing an easier option for users on smartphones and tablets but will give you great exposure when more of your competitors put them on their sites.
Optimize the Customer Experience by Updating Images, Descriptions, and Prices of Products on the Site
As a business, you want to make sure your online presence is appealing and effective so you can attract new customers and retain their loyalty. The holiday season is the perfect time to revamp your site with fresh content that makes use of improved graphics, updated product information, and sale prices.
Updating images on your website will help customers see your products in new ways. Make sure your product images are high resolution and well lit; this will allow customers to get a proper look at the product they’re interested in purchasing, as opposed to blurry or unclear shots.
Updating descriptions for each item is also extremely helpful because it provides more information about its use (for example, if an item is used in a certain way or can be customized, etc.). The better the customer understands what each product does, the more confident they will be to purchase it.
Finally, updating your prices with discounts throughout this holiday season shows customers that you are dedicated to providing them with quality items at affordable prices. This will make returning to your site and making future purchases more likely.
By investing in your online presence throughout the holiday season, you will attract new customers and maintain the loyalty of current ones. Optimize the customer experience by updating images, descriptions, and prices of products on your website to generate more traffic and sales during this upcoming time of year!
Double-Check That Shipping Information is Current and Correct on the Site
As Cyber Monday approaches, you’re probably ramping up your online shopping to get in on the deals. However, if you’ve ever given out incorrect shipping information, or if it hasn’t been updated since an order was placed, you could be missing out on a good deal.
A lot of websites offer free shipping after a certain threshold is reached, or if you order more than a certain dollar amount. Other sites offer free shipping with no minimum. When you have an order that qualifies for free shipping, it can really be disappointing to find out the company didn’t get your information correct and they’re billing you for shipping.
Luckily, there are some simple fixes for this type of mistake. All that you have to do is go into your account and update the shipping information with the right address and zip code, or even telephone number for faster delivery. This may seem like a simple mistake, but if it happens enough times, you could be losing customers and sales.
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that you should always double-check the order information before you submit it. Sometimes, online shoppers get excited about their orders, and they may even hit purchase without checking to see if all of their information is correct.
If your shipping address is incorrect in any way, you could potentially miss out on a good Cyber Monday deal; instead, you might waste your time and money going to a random address that isn’t your own. For the best Cyber Monday deals, make sure to double-check your online order information before you hit submit!
Test All Links to Make Sure They are Functioning Properly Before Cyber Monday Rolls Around
A faulty link is not only an inconvenience for the customer, but it can also ruin your SEO authority.
It’s important to make sure that your links are functioning properly before Cyber Monday rolls around.
If you want the best online shopping experience, double-check all of your links for any errors or broken redirects by running limited tests beforehand.
This way, if there is a faulty link somewhere on your site, it will be caught and fixed before it starts negatively impacting SEO rankings in search results.
Your customers deserve nothing less than top-notch service during this busy time of year!
Many times when you test a link on any website, you will receive an error message in your browser.
This error message is often caused by the website trying to redirect you to another incorrect link due to a broken link elsewhere on the site.
To Google, this looks like you are spamming links and can cause major problems for your online store’s rankings in search results.
The best way to avoid this issue is just to do a simple check before Cyber Monday. Test every single link on your website to make sure they are all working properly and redirecting you to where you want to go.
