SEO Can Make Your Online Store a Powerhouse for the Holidays - Being Prepared for Increased Traffic...And Orders
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“The summer months are when small business owners need to be most aware of the opportunities of SEO and the effects it has on your web site’s traffic. It is the optimal time to prepare yourself and your employees for the upcoming 4th quarter,” says Nick. Nick learned this firsthand when traffic to his website increased by 300% after Sweatnspice.com began ranking well in the top search engines for his targeted keywords. He was less than prepared to handle this for the 2004 Christmas season. However, he compensated by providing excellent customer relationship management.
Nick explained that, “Last year, as a first year small business owner, I was not as prepared as I should have been. The week before Thanksgiving the floodgates opened and orders started pouring in until the first week of January. I kept the holiday season going past December by offering shipping discounts to repeat customers and free giveaways each week. However, as a new website, we were not ranked within the first 10 listings of any of the major search engines for our primary keyword terms. Most of the orders were coming in through PPC avenues or word of mouth.”
With this in mind, it is crucial for a new online store to be prepared for the potential increase in orders over the holiday season. Understand that ranking well in search engines can translate into many more holiday orders in the coming months. Responding to online orders quickly and appropriately ensures repeat business and word of mouth and it also makes your investment in your SEO infrastructure that much more worthwhile. Since launching his online store last year, Nick fully expects to do four times the amount of sales that he did last year.
“This year, as August approaches, Sweatnspice.com is gearing up for a Christmas season that is projected to do 4X the sales we did last year. We are now ranking well in all the major search engines for our primary keyword terms and our traffic has increased 300% since last summer. This year, our sales in June alone topped our sales for all the summer months of 2004 combined.”
Next: Some Tangible Advice from an SEO Expert >>
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