Your Website – Gift Business Owners

Your Website
View It With Fresh Eyes

The beginning of the year, when things are quieter, is a good time to take another look at your website and decide if you can do anything to make it better. Your website is an important part of your marketing efforts so should not be neglected.  A little tweaking can make a big difference

It’s a good idea to make a list of what you plan to do this year to improve your site, its traffic and conversions.  When setting priorities, try to distinguish between “urgent” vs. “important” and take into account the estimated time needed to perform each task..

Here is a checklist to remind you of some things to consider:.

  • If you are using a theme to build your online store, make sure that it has been updated to the latest version so that you have the latest features and bug fixes.
  • Review your title tags to make sure that they include the keywords that you wish the page to focus on.  Make sure that the title tags are different on each individual page. Duplicate title tags can affect your SEO.
  • Review your product descriptions. Think about what customer service emails you got over the holidays and what questions were asked. Can you answer these questions up front in the product descriptions?
  • Look at your photographs.  Do you need to retake any of them to make them clearer or show off the details of your products better?
  • If you are using slideshows and/or image banners, think about whether they need changing or refreshing as well.
  • Review your FAQ, Policy and About Us pages to make sure everything is still accurate. It may be worth giving everything a bit of a refresh with some new copy. Also consider what questions you’ve been asked during the holiday season — and be sure to include these answers in your copy.
  • Review and update your social media profile biographies. It’s a good idea to change these up now and then and make sure that they still capture your brand and product offerings.
  • If you’ve been featured on any other websites, the start of a new year is a great time to create a list of them and build a page featuring links to them.
  • It’s also a good time to start following up with holiday shoppers to gather feedback about your products and purchase experience. This also is a great opportunity to request reviews for your products.
  • Use the data and information you learned from the past holiday season to consider adjustments that might need to be made to your products or product line. Perhaps some features or designs need to be tweaked or new items need to be added to meet commonly requested gifts.
  • If you’re concerned about an after-holiday slowdown, start brainstorming promotions or discounts you can offer to drive new sales. Think about any images, graphics or email marketing needs that you anticipate and start lining up resources.
  • This is the time to add new products and designs for the upcoming holidays such as Valentine’s Day. Make a list of the holidays that you will promote during the year and get your designs online several months in advance.  If you are  a VIP member of GiftBasketNetwork.com, send in a picture for each holiday several months in advance as well.
  • Although discounting—which cut into your profit margins– can be one way to drive sales, also keep in mind that there are many ways to promote your products and boost shop traffic without discounting — such as blog posts, social media updates and other content.

Once you’ve made your list and prioritized it, plan to spend a little time each day to make the changes or update the site.  Doing so can make a big difference in your sales this year.

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