Five ways to prepare your website for the festive period

The Winter months are always buzzing with activity for businesses, thanks to all the seasonal promotions like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, and the January sales. And of course, we can't forget about the much-needed closure period over Christmas.

Now is the perfect time to start thinking about sprucing up your website with all this exciting and time-sensitive information. After all, your website is usually the first place new clients or customers go to learn more about your products and services. So, it's crucial to keep your content up-to-date and make sure any promotions or new info are crystal clear to visitors.

To help you get started, I've put together a list of five ways you can prepare your website for the festive season.

1 - Turn on your announcement banner and let everyone know when you'll be open or closed for Christmas

The announcement banner is positioned at the top of your website, above the menu navigation. It offers the flexibility to be activated or deactivated as needed, and can also be made into a clickable link. This feature is super effective in showcasing time-sensitive details, such as holiday opening hours, as well as highlighting new products, blog posts, sales, and other noteworthy updates.

To activate your announcement banner, click 'Marketing’ on the left-hand menu panel, then ‘Marketing Tools’. Choose the Announcement Bar option and follow the prompts to activate.

2 - Utilize the promotional pop-up feature to effectively showcase any ongoing sales or promotions that your business is currently offering

We all know that pop-ups on websites can be a bit annoying, but guess what? If they're actually useful and interesting to your audience, they can be a fantastic way to catch their attention and help them navigate through your website quickly to find the good stuff! Pop-ups are absolutely perfect for promoting a sale, a cool new product, or even a freebie that you're offering (usually in exchange for signing up to your mailing list). So, don't be afraid to use pop-ups wisely and make your website experience even better for your visitors!

To activate the Promotional Pop-up feature, click 'Marketing’ on the left-hand menu panel, then ‘Marketing Tools’. Choose the Promotional Pop-up option and follow the prompts to activate.

3 - Use a scrolling marquee block to draw attention to key information

• Promote an offer or product (Sale Now On | New Product Alert | Last Chance To Buy)

• Display availability (Diary Now Open For 2024 | Last day for dispatching products | Christmas Opening Hours)

• Link the text and use it as a CTA (“Sign Up Now” | “Book You Spot Here” | “View Our Winter Installs Here”)

Check out this blog post for more info on how to add a scrolling marquee block to your website.

4 - Update your website images to reflect the change in season

Images are super important for your business and they can really grab people's attention. It's a good idea to update your images to match the current season. For instance, if you're a wedding photographer, why not put up some pictures of beautiful Autumn or Winter weddings you've done on your homepage? And if you're a florist, let's show off your festive arrangements and decorations. People make decisions based on what they see, so you want to make sure your images are relevant and really stand out.

5 - Use the Summary block to display seasonal or discounted products on your home page

Are you currently offering any seasonal products or holiday discounts in your shop? If so, it's a great idea to add a summary block on your home page so visitors can easily access them as soon as they land on your website. This will not only make it more convenient for your customers, but it can also encourage more sales!

Good news - you can now shift your attention to other aspects of your business, while your website works its magic for you! Just a friendly reminder to pop back in the New Year and turn off any features that you no longer require. Also, be sure to take a look at this blog post for some awesome website updates to implement in the new year : )

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