Weather the surge of visitors over Black Friday with a WordPress maintenance service. Over Black Friday weekend there are up to 16 million users searching ‘Black Friday deals’ in the UK in November 2019 according to Google Keyword Planner. If your current hosting set up isn’t prepared for traffic surges you may experience downtime in these precious busy periods, which we all know can be catastrophic for business. With the consumer landscape completely changing this year due to COVID, businesses should expect a busier Black Friday than ever, making it even more important to invest in a WordPress maintenance service to capitalise on the increased traffic.
Here are just a few of the ways a monthly maintenance service can help you make the most of the Black Friday traffic surges:
Increased amount of visitors
An increased amount of visitors, or a ‘surge’ can have detrimental effects on your website if you haven’t prepared your site for those increased visitors. Preparing your website, and making sure the server can cope with the increased visitors, will help you over Black Friday to attract loyal customers, as your site will be fast and secure.
Contact us at Site Care today so we can prepare your WordPress site for the inevitable surge of site visitors with WP Engine’s scalability features, which allow your site to cope with a surge of visitors; we believe this is paramount for your site so it’s part of our AWESEM Essentials Site Care plan.
Increased spend of ad revenue
16 million users searched ‘Black Friday’ in the UK over November 2019, so this really is a key time of year for businesses of all types and sizes. Having an SEO-optimised website that places well in search results will help you reach more potential customers than ever during this busy period. The more customers, the more conversions, and the higher your quality score from increased CTR to your site.
Failing to invest in site maintenance could stand in the way of your business getting the most out of your ad spend, as visitors will avoid a slow-performing site: ultimately giving your ads a low quality score.
With Site Care’s SEO Add-On you can enjoy automated SEO audits and Google position tracking to help turn your ad visitors into long-term customers.
A responsive website that allows multiple devices
On Black Friday 2019 smartphone devices drove 58% of all traffic and facilitated 36% of all sales. Although desktop shared 59% of all online sales as a platform, that 36% coming from smartphones is key and should never be overlooked.
Failing to invest in a user-friendly website could turn away your loyal customers, and fail to attract new ones. Any new potential customers are likely to visit a website where they know they are able to access at any time of the day, anywhere, so ensuring your site is responsive and works consistently across all device types should be a key part of your ongoing site maintenance.
Simple navigation
In the US, online sales over Black Friday accounted for $7.4 billion, up from $6.2 billion the year before. Furthermore, Cyber Monday was responsible for an additional $9.2 billion of online sales in the US alone!
There are so many opportunities over the Black Friday weekend, for both sales and brand awareness, that no site should overlook the importance of having a clean, user-friendly website at this time.
Smooth navigation that’s easy to use is key here. It’s simple: the quicker customers can find what they’re looking for, the quicker they’ll be able to make a purchase or learn more about the service you offer. It’s important here to note the shifting sands of consumerism, as most consumers enter websites with intent; this is either an intent to learn, or purchase.
Site security
Site vulnerability only increases over the Black Friday period. An increase of web activities and consumer spending means this period is a key time for those looking to exploit site vulnerabilities. Don’t forget: just because your site might not fall into the e-commerce category, it doesn’t make it immune to targeted attacks.
It’s so important to make sure your WordPress site is protected against potential threats and regularly updating your WordPress core and plugins is a great way to be one step ahead of those looking to exploit your site.
With AWESEM Site Care’s Essentials package we’ll take care of these updates, leaving you with the peace of mind that your site is up to date and running smoothly over Black Friday and beyond.
Conclusion
Scalability, performance and security are all key parts of ensuring your website stays afloat during periods of heavy traffic. These surges of visitors can have a hugely positive impact on your business – providing you’re ready for them. If you aren’t ready, these busy periods can leave your site more vulnerable to downtime or security exploits.
AWESEM Site Care can take the time and stress out of website maintenance, and prepare your site for those surges. Sign up today to choose your personalised WordPress maintenance package with AWESEM Site Care.
