Optimising your website for Christmas sales is essential. A few simple tweaks to your website are all you need to keep your customers converting long after the holidays are over. So here’s our handy guide on how to optimise your website for Christmas sales.
A festive visual refresh helps convert visitors, not just attract them.
Mobile optimisation has a double effect on holiday sales. Visibility and usability both suffer without it.
Discounts and free offers both work, but need to match your actual customer demographics.
Marketing should not stop the moment Christmas does. The post-holiday period is a real opportunity too.
Switch up the look
Don’t get us wrong – getting traffic to your site is important. But getting those visitors to stick around long enough to become buyers is essential. A festive homepage is just one way to do that. Banners, graphics, fonts, and colours add to that Christmas spirit that gets people buying. And don’t be afraid to use these same graphic design elements in your social media. This helps to build consistency in your brand across different platforms.
DMT’s Take
A seasonal visual refresh does more than look nice, it signals relevance and urgency that a static homepage never will.
Your Action Plan
- Update banners, colours and fonts for the season across both site and social. Consistency reinforces the campaign.
- Keep the core navigation unchanged. Festive styling should not make the site harder to use.
Get mobile
There is no better time than the holidays to get your website optimised for mobile. A website not optimised for mobile has a dual effect. It can 1. Limit your visibility in Google searches 2. Make your website simply too complicated to use for many visitors. Speak to a web developer and make sure that your site remains just as responsive and straightforward to use on a phone as it is on a laptop. Optimising your website for as many devices as possible ensures a merry shopping experience for all.
DMT’s Take
A non-mobile-optimised site during the highest-traffic shopping period of the year is actively costing both visibility and conversions at the worst possible time.
Your Action Plan
- Test your site on mobile before the holiday rush starts, not during it. Fixes take longer once traffic is live.
- Confirm checkout works smoothly on mobile specifically. It is the step most likely to lose a rushed holiday shopper.
Don’t be afraid of a deal
Everybody loves a discount – everybody. It’s the great unifier. And with Christmas just around the corner, a discount or promotion is the perfect way to transform a casual visitor into a serious buyer.
When creating a new promotion it’s important to consider several factors, such as:
Some of the most popular holiday promotions, such as buy-one-get-one-free, 50% off discount codes, and free shipping are particularly effective.
- Your products
- Prices
- Demographics
- The buying behaviour of your existing customer.
DMT’s Take
A generic discount underperforms a promotion built around what your actual customers already buy and expect.
Your Action Plan
- Base your promotion type on existing purchase behaviour, not a guess. Past sales data tells you what will convert.
- Test one clear offer type, like buy-one-get-one or free shipping, rather than running several competing promotions at once.
It’s all in a name (and description)
Getting a visitor to click on a product is one thing. But if you want that visitor to click the all-important buy button, a great product name and description can convince someone to spend their hard-earned money. This should be done with the gift-giver in mind to be the most effective.
DMT’s Take
Christmas shoppers are often buying for someone else, so product copy written with the gift-giver in mind converts better than copy written for the end user.
Your Action Plan
- Rewrite key product names and descriptions with the gift-giver's perspective in mind. It changes what detail matters.
- Highlight gift-relevant details like packaging and delivery timing directly in the description.
All the best things in life are free
People often say that the best things in life are free. Those people also shop. This is why one of the most effective ways to spice up your sales is to offer something for free to your customers. This is especially true in 2021 – a year that has been just a little bit less than easy for many people. Always remember that the value of your free offer is subjective. While the products may only cost you a minuscule fee, the value for your customer can be extensive. Some of the best holiday-themed freebies include holiday or gift cards, ornaments or free gift wrapping.
DMT’s Take
A free offer's cost to you and its perceived value to the customer are two different numbers, and the gap between them is where the marketing value lives.
Your Action Plan
- Choose a low-cost, high-perceived-value freebie like gift wrapping or a small card. The goal is perceived value, not expense.
- Make the free offer visible before checkout, not buried afterward. It should influence the purchase decision.
Get a review or two
Either way you look at it, it’s true – customer reviews are helpful for businesses. They are a great way to gain insight into which products customers love and which they don’t. Imagine one of your products constantly receives negative reviews. In that case, you might want to consider removing it from your site – or at least make some improvements. On the other hand, a great review can turn a site visitor into a shopper.
DMT’s Take
Reviews do double duty at Christmas, they convert hesitant shoppers and tell you which products to feature or fix before the rush.
Your Action Plan
- Feature your best-reviewed products prominently for the holiday period. Social proof reduces purchase hesitation.
- Address consistently negative reviews before the season starts, either by fixing the product issue or removing it from promotion.
Content is King
One incredibly effective way to drive traffic to your website is through content. Holiday-themed content can bring in a horde of new visitors eager to make their Christmas shopping experience just that little bit simpler. So offer tips and advice relating to your field. Not only will visitors find this information valuable, but it will also make you look like an authority in your field. Remember to find ways to subtly promote your own products and services within your content.
Be sure to share your blog posts on other platforms, such as Facebook or email newsletters. Not only will this save time, but it will also significantly improve consistency across all of your media.
And don’t forget to include holiday-related and buyer keywords in your blog posts. This will substantially increase your SEO and increase your chances of getting discovered in Google searches.
DMT’s Take
Holiday-themed content pulls in visitors who are not searching for your brand yet, and positions you as an authority while quietly promoting your own products.
Your Action Plan
- Publish holiday-relevant tips and guides in your niche. It draws in new visitors beyond your existing audience.
- Share every piece of content across social and email. A single post rarely reaches its full potential audience alone.
Keep up the marketing after Christmas
It’s not over when the sleigh bells go quiet. Christmas creates a golden opportunity to turn your holiday shoppers into loyal customers. A post-holiday deal or new year’s sale is a great way to make the most out of your Christmas boom and keep up your sales during lower traffic periods. With a bit of work and some creativity, you can make the most of the Christmas period, setting up your site for some serious spending. Just remember our little gems of advice, and you can make this holiday season the most profitable yet.
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DMT’s Take
The post-Christmas lull is actually an opportunity, not a dead period, since you already have a spike of new customers to convert into repeat ones.
Your Action Plan
- Plan a post-holiday or new year promotion in advance, not as an afterthought. It captures continued spending momentum.
- Follow up with Christmas buyers specifically. They are your warmest post-season audience.
Bilal Alwan
Bilal Alwan is the founder and director of Digital Marketing Tribe, an Adelaide and Sydney based digital marketing agency. He leads DMT’s SEO and AI search work, helping Australian businesses stay visible as search shifts from ten blue links to AI-generated answers.
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