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Christmas

“Jingle bells, Jingle bells…”

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Christmas WebdesignWE love Christmas here at Locally! Any excuse to wear a dodgy looking jumper and extra sparkle for a day. A bright hiatus in an otherwise grey month, we dream of snow and crisp blue skies.

As we bask in the driest September since 1960, you may have noticed that there are the odd reference here and there to Christmas. Yet to take hold, we all know that by the time the clocks change, the retail industry will be in full Christmas swing.

Just take a look at your personal Facebook or other social media site and will see the odd Christmas graphic creeping in, telling you that you have less than ‘x number of Saturday’s’ before the arrival of the festive period. But, before we get there and you once again wear the jumper you will never wear again, let us think about all the things you have to do… and add one more to your list;

Calling all of our online, local businesses who have products and services to sell: check your website.

BUT, before you go plunging ahead with the following suggestions for a spruce up of your website before the Christmas rush, we need to mention a pro and a con of this…

  • PRO: the money you make during the Christmas rush will be a large % of your overall turnover
  • CON: don’t make rash decisions. Think carefully before you opt to change anything…

That said, we need to talk about your website… its content and the small little tweaks you could make in time for the Christmas rush. But, you won’t have a Christmas rush if you website is a bit squiffy so here goes;

It makes perfect sense to me!

But does it to everyone else?! One sure fire way of getting some honest (brutal) feedback is to get a friend or relative to be a critical shopper. How is it really to find what a customer wants or needs? Is the checkout process clunky?

Real life example – we have seen a local cattery and kennel who give cats and dogs a great holiday while the folks are away and yet their website and marketing material has a picture of rabbits on it. Do they take rabbits for holidays? No. So why have rabbits on your website…? We suspect to fill a space.

In other words, is your website easy to use and easy to buy from?

Does your website ‘say’ what is needs to?

Rather than just looking at your content, look at the overall image that is conveyed by your website and bear in mind your target audience. If you attempting to appeal to parents, does it look like a trusted website? Are the goods and products on offer, offered in a way that says ‘buy me with confidence’?

A longer term project, but what about your descriptions and photos? Good quality or due for a change.

NEVER underestimate the appeal factor your website must have…

Overboard design

This could be a whole separate post in itself but if you design needs tweaking then you need to get someone with a fabulous design eye to take a look. The festive season is not an excuse to go overboard with dancing snowmen and an abundance of snowflakes, flashing away when someone lands on your page.

You have 3 seconds from the moment someone lands on your website to make the right impression… or they simply go away!

‘Buy NOW’/ ‘Click here’/ ‘Add to basket’/Buy 2, get the 3rd free…

What do the four above phrases have in common? They are all calls to action and, even though we know that consumers are not dunces, psychologically they need permission, guidance, direct instructions – call it want you want – to buy your product or services. You may have a lovely description about how your locally made produce is the best, but are you telling them to ‘buy it now before stock run out’?

If not, why not?!

What’s that smell…?

It could be your stale content. Sorry. There is no other way to say it but your content can ‘go off’ after a while. Not only does Google like to see fresh, bountiful content but so do consumers. If they visit a few times and keep seeing the same thing, they’ll start asking if there is anyone at the other end… keep the rolling news bit going, get the blogs happening, update the welcome etc.

A short term solution that could add some sparkle but this is no excuse to blunder on in and change everything.

Be realistic about what you can achieve and do smaller portions of you website well, rather than a whole quick change that is not right.

Smartphone compatibility

Figures vary, but 75% of consumers may, at frequent intervals use their mobile to do their shopping online and so if your website is not fit for this, you may be losing a valuable number of potential customers.

Bits don’t work…

… and finally, if you do nothing else this side of Christmas, you simply must check that all the bits and bobs work, like your social media buttons. Not only do broken bits and bobs send a negative message to your potential customer, it also means that they are missing out on the more social aspects of your company or brand – if they can’t like you Facebook page or follow you on Twitter, then you are missing out on a growing audience.

The pre-Christmas summary is this:

  • Get someone to take an objective look at how easy it to find products and buy through your website

  • Chivvy up the content but rather than going wholesale, pick the parts that could be improved

  • Keep blogging and adding content

  • Check ALL the important bits and bobs work – and keep doing that

  • You have 3 seconds to make the right impression…

Could your social media presence mean more sales in 2015…

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…and how your SEO plan will look like to harness your audience

Now that the summer sun and heat (!) have started to cool, the Christmas countdown has started and, dear reader, you will be pleased to know we are around 100 days away from the festive season where we are all jolly, ruddy cheeked and over-stuffed.

However, as we gear up to the time of year that the majority of our online retail businesses make their money, we take a sneaky peek in to what 2015 could offer us…

… and it seems that the next ‘big thing’ will be the growth in sales from social media. In fact, back in 2012, experts and industry commentators were predicting that by 2015, social media was going to burst in terms of increased revenue and, that the shopping experience would improve immensely over time.

It seems that someone, somewhere has been doing some number crunching too – predictions are that by the end of next year, almost half of the sales will be generated by social media and that, for online, local businesses, could be worth thousands and thousands of pounds.

And which social media platform could hold the balance…?

Facebook.

Love it or hate it, the social media platform’s power seem to keep growing and the numbers of consumers it is referring to businesses is set to increase. Thus far, statistics suggest that it send around 25% of referral traffic to businesses and so if you are not on Facebook, or perhaps do not harness it as much as you could, the tail end of 2014, just before the Christmas rush, could be the right time.

It seems that having a fan base on Facebook for your brand will pay dividends – 80% of your Facebook followers are likely to buy from you through your offers compared to 41% who are not your followers – the moral of this story? Start growing your fan base and offer them some great offers and discounts!

Recommendations are just as important too, so ask people to like and share as again, 70% of your followers will apparently do this, compared to ‘strangers’.

You also need to keep an eye on your competitors and check out how well you are performing on social media compared to them…

  • Around ⅓ of online, small and local businesses have a Facebook page or presence
  • Being on social media of this kind can also decrease marketing costs meaning your sales revenue takes less of a hit with expenses
  • The reach of Facebook and many other social media platforms is huge BUT, don’t forget that it is not just there to sell at all costs! Don’t forget to have a mix of offers, discounts and interesting links and ideas.

Not the only social media platform…

But, Facebook is not the ‘be all and end all’ of online selling and sharing platforms, and whilst predictions are that its power and focus will grow in 2015, it is important to keep an eye on other predictions that could affect your local, online business;

  • The ‘humble’ mobile is no longer ‘humble’ –Smartphones are everywhere and predictions are that during 2015, 50% of web traffic will be through consumers using their phones. Is your website mobile friendly? If not, you need to tap into this lucrative opportunity.
  • Be social! – Just as we have talked about social signals before and how some people refute that Google takes any notice of this social signals, it seems at odds with the prediction that 2015 will see social media grow increasingly dominant in the world of search engine optimisation. Take a look at your social media presence – is it working?
  • Email marketing is here to stay – But, if you think that a Facebook page and the odd Tweet will be enough, you’d be wrong! But, any email marketing you do will need to be more consumer focused, as well as personalised and targeted. This is simply because as web users, we are being increasingly bombarded with information and data.
  • Real-time – We are impatient, no more so than when it comes to buying something or asking for help; predictions are that response from companies to consumers will increasingly become in real time in 2015 – none of this “we aim to respond in 5 working days…” lark!
  • Content in context – We have been saying for some time now that your content needs to be of quality, with any keywords or phrases well placed within the article or post – and we have been proved right! 2015 promises to be the year that if your keyword sticks out like a sore thumb, you’ll be bounced back past page 10 in the search engine pages! You really do need to be using words and phrases in a way that is semantically correct – in other words, written and used in the right way.

Don’t get left behind in 2015…

  • Search engine optimisation will be essential
  • If your website is lumpy, complex to use and just s-l-o-w, then Google will take no notice of it
  • Quality content that is fresh!

Don’t wait until 2015!

However, there are still 100 days to Christmas and so this is what you need to do:

ü  Take a look NOW at your website and see what small maintenance ‘jobs’ can be done to refine it

ü  Spruce up the content now

ü  Look longer term: sort out the site for mobile

ü  Use your social media platforms to good effect

ü  Look longer term – get that online strategy written!