10 tips for preparing your website for the holiday season, as told by participants of our #BHChat: (Thread )

The key to a great nav experience? "Avoiding jargon- online shopping should feel as simple. Our trick: clear and as helpful as a good brick and mortar experience!" - @thewpbuffs (1/10)

When it comes to your navigation bar, " KISS (keep is simple, stupid). Make it as easy as possible for users to find products and quickly identify what kinds of promotions you're offering. It's all about conversions." - @katobkato (2/10)

Your website holiday tune-up checklist should include: " - Fresh holiday content
- Holidays special coupons
- Proper website security
- Increase page speed
- Bit of tweaks in website designing (holidays special)
- Update / Restock your inventory" - @hiralthaker12 (3/10)

To secure your website this holiday season: "If you haven't already, make sure to get SSL for your site. You want to ensure that your transactions are encrypted and not exposed to possible hackers." - @blondishnet (4/10)

Also on your security checklist should be: "#1 - Take regular back ups

#2 - Block suspicious ip addresses and login attempts

#3 - Use services like - cloudflare for enhanced security

#4 - Add email filters to avoid fake sign ups" - @seocharge_ (5/10)

Advice for improving UX? "Go through the entire experience yourself! Start with the link you post on an external site (like social media or in an email) and put yourself in the mindset of your target audience as you walk through. How could it improve?" - @GiveWP (6/10)

Also important to UX? CS. "Make it easy to connect with a human being to ask questions, whether that’s someone replying quickly to a form submission, or even better, a chat feature where your visitors can talk to someone in real time." - @michelleames (7/10)

How should you prepare for any influx of traffic you'll see during the holidays? "Make sure to optimize your site for speed and performance, and to help save resources, in case you do have an influx of site visitors." - @blondishnet (8/10)

The most important thing you should do before the holidays to prepare your website is "create a full strategy for testing, promotions, shipping, scheduling - everything required from buyers hitting your site to completed purchases" - @GrowMap (9/10)

"Hope for the best and plan for the worst. Have proactive action plans and processes in place." - @katobkato (10/10)