Iron Your Cape: It’s Time To Be A Holiday Hero - Web Hosting Provider Explains

Iron your cape, gas up the Batmobile and drink plenty of espresso because it’s time to launch into hero mode. The final holiday shopping days are here and there’s a lot at stake for shoppers and sellers. The last minute cyber shoppers are counting on you and your web hosting provider to snatch them from the jaws of Grinchdom.

Athough Black Friday, Cyber Monday and everything since have bode well for online holiday sales this year, there are still millions of people who, for whatever reason, have put off shopping for their online gifts. According to a recent article in CNET.news.com, shoppers are actually procrastinating more than ever, casting their gift-giving fates to the winds of the U.S. Post Office and shipping companies.

Talk to your web host to make sure your site is ready for the heavy traffic that experts are predicting between now and the end of the year. This is not the time for slow downloads, links that aren’t working properly or inaccurate pricing or product descriptions. Downtime is unthinkable. It just can’t happen. Talk to your web host to make sure it doesn’t. 

If your website is working properly and efficiently, this is the easiest time of year to turn browsers into buyers.

Web Hosting Provider Offers Tips:

• Registration is a turn-off for people with no time to waste. Shoppers know that they have to provide their contact information anyway and they are in no mood to fill out a separate form. You’ll see more purchases and less shopping cart abandonment if you get rid of the register step or at least make it optional.  

• Show some empathy. Put a human touch on your site by offering gift suggestions for last minute online shoppers.  

• The “Add To Cart” button should be easy to find and easy to use.  It’s also important to make the ‘Checkout” button distinct and visible. (These are the most important buttons on your site!)

• Provide reassurance to your customers that your site is secure and their privacy is protected. They need to feel safe with you. Let them know that you will not share their email addresses with other companies and that there private information is safe and secure in your hands. Make sure your security/privacy policy is well communicated on your site.

• Make the checkout process as quick and simple as possible. Last minute shoppers don’t have a minute to waste. If your checkout process is long and complicated they will quickly click to a more user-friendly site. The fewer the steps, the easier it is for shoppers to complete a purchase. Work with your web host to develop a streamlined checkout process.

Another idea is to make your products easy to find.  Revise your meta descriptions for the holidays,” said P. J. Fusco, author of Holiday Shopping: Wrap It Up. “Are you promoting a holiday sale or specific items on your site? Make sure to polish your meta descriptions so that shoppers can easily find the keywords they are looking for. Last minute holiday shoppers will be attracted to descriptions that speak to them, so remember to mention seasonal phrases to encourage them to click to your site.”

And when shoppers get to your site, make sure you help them understand how smart they are for saving money on gas, parking fees and eating out while at the local mall (not to mention the sanity-saving aspects of shopping from home). Ken Cesar of Nielson Online maintains that whether customers do their online shopping early or late in the season, the biggest appeal is convenience. “In the long run, convenience keeps people coming back to the internet during the holiday season. It’s available whenever customers are ready to shop, offers a wide selection and eliminates the need to fight the crowds at the mall.”

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