Top 3 Conversion Killers: Marketing Hacks to Improve Holiday Sales

With 2021 coming to a close, business owners across the nation are more eager than ever to make those sales. With so many shoppers having switched to online sales since the pandemic, it’s no surprise to hear that most major brand saw a 23% increase in profits last holiday season, and all that good fortune took place specifically because those businesses made a point to make their online platforms as user-friendly as possible.

Small business owners on the other hand, were not so lucky.

If your conversion rates simply weren’t where you wanted them to be in 2020, then this is the article for you. No matter how much you’ve prepared for this brand new holiday season, there’s a good chance you could be making some critical mistakes. Mistakes that could sabotage those profits before you’ve even started.

So let’s get right to it.

Table of Contents

• Top 3 Conversion Killers and How to Handle Them
• 1. Slow Loading Web Pages
• 2. Simple Fonts and Catchy Headlines
• 3. Failing the “Mobile Friendly” Check
• It’s All About Accessibility

Top 3 Conversion Killers and How to Handle Them

What with somany small business owners struggling to recoup after last year’s losses, we understand the temptation to go all out this holiday season.There’s nothing quite like that good old fashioned holiday rush, and as hungry entrepreneurs, we understand the appeal of walking into this Winter season with open arms. We also know how hard it can be for families to keep up with the stress and excitement that comes with the month of December. It’s a unique time of year that can feel as magically nostalgic as it is vexatious.

Much like Christmas music at the end of the workday.

If you haven’t already done everything possible to ensure the success of your online stores this season, please keep reading. We wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity to guarantee the longterm survival of your business – and all that starts when we tackle those conversion killers.

1. Slow Loading Web Pages

It’s no secret to anyone that slow-loading web pages are digital suicide. Almost every online shopper who looks at your website will be doing so on their cell phone, and no one is going to have the patience to wait more than a few seconds for a product they only just showed passing interest in. And while it’s true that many people have iPhones and high-end androids, the fact is thata good majority of online shoppers… don’t.

If you want to compete with the likes of Walmart and Amazon, it is absolutely crucial that you optimize your content to improve those loading speeds. If you don’t, you stand to lose out on countless potential sales, which is not something any of us want to do as our economy continues to heal.

Save yourself the holiday headache. Increase those loading speeds by cleaning up your website. You can do this when you convert large images into smaller files, streamline the landing page, and eventually clean up the code as well. Once you’ve taken these steps to improve the loading speed, you’ll see a spike in your page analytics practically overnight. That much, we can assure you without question.

2. Simple Fonts and Catchy Headlines

Once your page finishes loading, the next problem will become apparent very quickly. Most people don’t really think about impactful our choice of font can be, but it sets the tone faster than almost anything else on your website. A good majority of web designers recommend a minimalist approach, often sticking with common, easy to read fonts and full paragraph formats that don’t force your readers to dart all over the page in search of information. And while this is generally a good idea, it’s not just a simpler approach that with save you.

No matter what you choose, the last thing you want to do is confuse your viewers. This begin with the font, but quickly segues into headline, titles, taglines, and we haven’t even gotten to the web copy and product descriptions yet! And if you’re struggling to find the right words to explain who you are and what you have to offer, we recommend that you begin with the following questions:

• Is your web copy difficult to read?
• Are there lengths of paragraphs you find yourself skimming over?
• Do your headlines have too many buzzwords and attention-grabbing gimmicks?
• Do you find yourself exaggerating the details of your products?

If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions: CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY. You want every one of your pages to leave your customer feeling utterly positive about their experience. You want them to leaving knowing who you are, what you want, and precisely what it is they they will LOVE about your work.

It’s not that catchy headlines and pretty imagery aren’t a good idea. Far from it! But if we find ourselves focusing on the design more than the message, that’s where you will find the biggest problem. Don’t sabotage yourself. Keep it short and sweet. Use bullet points when you need to, keep those font choices to a minimum, and stop scaring off your customers with messy landing pages that could very clearly use a clean up.

So what’s next?

3. Failing the “Mobile-Friendly” Check

We already covered just how incredible it is to see so many millions of people on line at any given time, but is your business ready to accommodate that? As critical as it is in ensure we raise those loading speeds, it’s funny just how many people tend to forget about mobile-friendly designs.

Now, making sure that your brand remains user-friendly requires far more than 5G loading speeds.The fastest way to address this would be to make your website’s landing page as responsive as possible. No need for fancy graphics that only really work well on the desktop version anyway.

When it comes to profitable mobile designs, simplicity and legibility are KEY. It’s not enough to simply make a smaller version of your desktop anymore. This may work for some larger and well-established brands, but it could just as easily scare off customers who feel “confused,” can’t read, or simply can’t find what they’re looking for.

If you want to pass the “mobile-friendly” check, it’s time to keep things simple. This might mean redesigning an entirely new website to accommodate mobile device transitions, but that’s okay. The important part is making sure your customer can easily shop with your, read your product descriptions, and more.

It’s All About Accessibility

Once you’ve invested in a quality digital marketing campaign, the clock is ticking. It makes no sense to post ads on Google when your website won’t load fast enough to keep your customer’s attention. And as digital marketers, we want to do everything in our power to ensure that your community recognizes you.

It’s our job to boost the signal. To seek out new customers and keep your regulars rooting for you for as long as possible. And in order to do that successfully, we need to make sure that you don’t end up losing their business due to something as woefully common as a slow landing page.

So please, clean up your mess. Do whatever you can to optimize your content and speed up those loading speeds. Remember, every aesthetic design is fueled by psychology. We’re communicating with our customers everyday with the way we write, the way we design our content, and the way we manage our online business on their behalf.

When we put enough care and attention into our web presences and online shops, we’re not just helping ourselves. We’re also telling the customer “you’re safe here,” “we’ve got you.” That feeling alone is enough to earn the respect of your customers, and we invite you to test this theory whenever you wish.