For retailers, this is the busiest time of the year. Christmas is only around the corner. But before then we have the ever-popular Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Dreaded for some, but for most it’s an opportunity to get some real bargains. With there now being a level playing field between online and offline sales channels during this period, online stores have a window of opportunity to dramatically increase sales.

And to help prepare your business for this quite frankly, mental day of shopping, I have put together 5 tips on getting the most from your website. Specifically, your product pages.

Be SEO ready

First things first, you need to be on consumers radar. Well before the sales even start. 24% of people are reported looking for deals online a month before and 51% more than two weeks in advance. Don’t underestimate the prep people will go through to get a bargain before Christmas.

Argos are already announcing Black Friday on their site. And although they have no products on sale, this landing page is ranking high as they’ve filled it to the brim with the Black Friday keyword. Giving consumers a history, tips and involving the community is a very clever way of creating an early buzz.

It’s worth researching the sought-after holiday buys around this period. This will ensure your site ranks well in Google when people start searching for items on the wish list. Using a mix of short and long tail keywords will help.

You also need to optimise your data feed, such as page URL, page and image titles and meta descriptions using relevant and popular hashtags. But only use them if they make sense.

If you need some pointers on identifying keywords relevant to your business and sector, than this article we wrote will definitely help you.

Optimise your product images

Images are so important when convincing a person to commit and purchase. If you are going to promote a certain product in the sales, make sure that the image used reflects the one they are directed to. If the product looks even slightly different, it can feel like click bait.

Having as many angles and colours of the product as necessary will help consumers make their decision. Adding a zoom, a 360 degree or even a ‘try them on’ option like Ray Ban have done, will encourage sales. And as mentioned before, don’t forget your keywords. Make sure that every image includes alt tags so your page can rank higher.

Create some urgency

Hurry! You need to create a sense of urgency when promoting your products and offers. It is a sale after all, and a competitive one at that. Using a few key buzzwords like Hurry / Don’t lose out / Be quick / Only 1 day left, will help push consumers in the right direction.

There are also other ways you can communicate some urgency on your product pages. Whenever I’m on ASOS and I see the foreboding message ‘Low in stock’ appear on a product I’ve clicked on, I start to panic. And 99.9% of the time I’m putting that item straight in the basket and heading to the checkout. By providing this kind of messaging, or including the amount of stock that is left, will likely have the same effect on other consumers. Especially the panicky type, like me.

Having a countdown timer for when the sale starts and how long is left, have also been a tactic used by online stores.

Make prices attractive

This is the biggy and most important element to consider. The more attractive the discount, the more likely you are to drive conversions. If you’re not able to offer huge discounts and savings like your competitors, then don’t worry. There are other ways you can highlight your product pages so they are more attractive.

Our clients at Clubhouse Golf have made their sales product pages clear and concise to their customers. They have included the RRP below the sale price, and highlighted the percentage saved. This ‘before’ and ‘after’ technique is a great way of showing consumers how much they could save in your sale.

Be Mobile ready

Can’t stress this one enough. More and more people are turning to smartphones to research products, deals and reviews before making a purchase. The Amazon app is a prime example of how consumers are shopping online.

If your site can’t be navigated easily on a mobile, then you will ultimately lose out on sales. And you don’t want to do that on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the biggest sales event of the year. Make sure your mobile site is clear, easy to read and easy to navigate. Also, makes sure page load speed is quick. For consumers on the go, the load time is vital. Do this and you will decrease your bounce rate.

Which leads me onto my last point…

Don’t forget to TEST TEST TEST

The consumer has very little patience when it comes to slow product pages, especially on mobiles.

To make sure there are no glitches on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, test your product pages in advance. Schedule some time a few days before and see if your site can handle a surge of traffic. If not, you’ll have to be quick to fix the problem, otherwise you risk losing out on potential sales.

There’s some more useful advice on being prepared for the Black Friday rush in this recent article we wrote.

If you need help getting your website prepared for Black Friday, then contact us sooner rather than later.