How to Prepare Your Website for Increased Holiday Traffic!

The holiday shopping season may seem like it's still months away, but for smart businesses, preparation starts long before customers begin searching for gifts, services, and seasonal promotions. Whether you sell products online or generate leads through your website, the months leading up to the holidays are the perfect time to make sure your website is ready for an increase in traffic.

Waiting until November to update your website often means missing valuable opportunities to rank in search results, improve user experience, and convert more visitors into customers.

Here's how to prepare your website now so it's ready for a successful holiday season.

Why Preparation Matters
The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for many businesses. Consumers begin researching purchases weeks—or even months—before they buy. If your website isn't optimized before that surge begins, you could lose potential customers to competitors who planned ahead.

Preparing early gives you time to:

• Improve search rankings
• Fix website issues
• Update content
• Test new landing pages
• Build trust with visitors

The earlier you start, the more prepared you'll be when traffic begins to increase.

1. Test Your Website Speed
A slow website can cost you both visitors and sales. Research consistently shows that users expect websites to load quickly, and many will leave if pages take too long to appear.

Before the holiday rush:

• Compress large images
• Remove unnecessary plugins
• Enable browser caching
• Minify CSS and JavaScript files
• Test your website on both desktop and mobile devices

A faster website provides a better user experience and can also support your SEO efforts.

2. Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
More customers than ever are browsing and shopping from their smartphones. If your website is difficult to use on mobile devices, visitors may leave before taking action.

Review your site on multiple devices and make sure:

• Text is easy to read
• Buttons are easy to tap
• Images resize properly
• Forms are simple to complete
• Navigation is intuitive

A seamless mobile experience can significantly improve conversions.

3. Update Your Homepage
Your homepage should immediately communicate what visitors need to know. As the holiday season approaches, consider updating it with:

• Seasonal messaging
• Holiday promotions
• Featured products or services
• Current business hours
• Shipping or scheduling information
• Special offers

Even small seasonal updates show customers that your business is active and engaged.

4. Refresh Your Calls-to-Action
Visitors should always know what to do next. Review your website and make sure each page includes a clear call-to-action (CTA).

Examples include:

• Request a Free Quote
• Shop Now
• Schedule Your Consultation
• Contact Our Team
• Get Started Today

Place CTAs throughout your pages—not just at the bottom.

5. Review Your Contact Information
This sounds simple, but outdated contact information is surprisingly common. Verify:

• Phone number
• Email address
• Business hours
• Physical address
• Contact forms
• Social media links

Nothing frustrates potential customers more than trying to reach a business using incorrect information.

6. Update Your SEO Content
Search engines need time to discover and index new content. September is an excellent time to publish:

• Holiday buying guides
• Seasonal blog posts
• Gift ideas
• Fall promotions
• Service reminders
• Frequently asked questions

Fresh content gives your website more opportunities to appear in search results before the busy season begins.

7. Check Every Important Page
Go through your website as if you were a customer. Look for:

• Broken links
• Missing images
• Outdated pricing
• Old promotions
• Grammar or spelling errors
• Slow-loading pages

Small issues can reduce credibility and lead visitors to leave your website.

8. Add Trust-Building Elements
Customers are more likely to do business with companies they trust. Strengthen your website by including:

• Customer testimonials
• Google reviews
• Case studies
• Before-and-after photos
• Certifications
• Awards
• Team photos

Trust is especially important during the holiday season when consumers are comparing multiple businesses.

9. Prepare Landing Pages in Advance
If you're planning holiday promotions, don't wait until the last minute. Create landing pages now for:

• Holiday sales
• Seasonal services
• Special promotions
• Gift certificates
• Limited-time offers

This gives you time to optimize the pages, test them, and allow search engines to index them before peak shopping begins.

10. Review Your Analytics
Before holiday traffic increases, establish a baseline. Look at:

• Most visited pages
• Top traffic sources
• Bounce rates
• Conversion rates
• Popular blog posts
• High-performing keywords

Understanding your current performance makes it easier to measure the success of your holiday marketing efforts.

11. Strengthen Your Internal Linking
Internal links help visitors discover more of your website while also supporting SEO. Link your:

• Blog posts to service pages
• Product pages to buying guides
• FAQs to contact pages
• Seasonal promotions to related services

A strong internal linking strategy improves both user experience and search engine crawlability.

12. Have a Plan for Ongoing Updates
Your website shouldn't remain static throughout the holiday season. Plan updates such as:

• New blog posts
• Featured products
• Customer testimonials
• Holiday announcements
• Seasonal promotions
• Event information

Regular updates keep your website fresh and give visitors a reason to return.

Holiday Website Preparation Checklist
Before the holiday rush arrives, make sure you've:
✅ Tested website speed
✅ Verified mobile responsiveness
✅ Updated your homepage
✅ Refreshed calls-to-action
✅ Checked contact information
✅ Published new SEO content
✅ Fixed broken links and outdated pages
✅ Added customer testimonials
✅ Created holiday landing pages
✅ Reviewed website analytics
✅ Improved internal linking
✅ Planned seasonal website updates

Final Thoughts: The Best Time to Prepare Is Before You Need To
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is waiting until the holidays are already here to improve their website. By preparing in September, you'll have time to optimize your website, improve search visibility, and create a better experience for every visitor.

Remember, your website is often your first impression. Make sure it's fast, informative, easy to navigate, and ready to convert visitors into customers when holiday traffic begins to rise.

The businesses that prepare early are often the ones that enjoy the strongest results during the busiest season of the year.

Ready to Get Your Website Holiday-Ready?
If you want to make sure your website is prepared for increased traffic, stronger SEO performance, and more conversions this holiday season, Janzen Marketing is here to help.

We help small businesses:

• Optimize website performance
• Improve SEO rankings
• Refresh website content
  
• Increase conversions
  
• Develop seasonal marketing strategies
  

👉 Don't wait until the holiday rush is already here. Contact Janzen Marketing today for a  website review and let's make sure your business is ready to attract, engage, and convert more customers this fall and holiday season.

---

Janzen Marketing LLC
www.janzenmarketingllc.com
(785) 212-0945
[email protected]

Follow us on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janzenmarketing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/janzenmarketingllc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janzenmarketing/