Black Friday is coming up, and you want to make sure that your small and medium business makes the most of this sales opportunity.

But you’re not sure where to start. You’ve heard that professional website design is important for South African businesses, but you don’t know how to make your website more effective for Black Friday sales through design and development.

We’re here to help.

In this blog post, we’ll give you tips on how to improve your web design for Black Friday sales. By following our advice, you can ensure that your website is ready to convert browsers into buyers.

Why You Must Have a Well-Designed and User-Friendly Website

The design and user-friendliness of your website significantly impact the success of your Black Friday sales. To take full advantage of the online shopping boom during this time, it is essential to have a website that is optimised for all devices and easy to navigate for all users.

A web design company in Johannesburg can help you create a customised website to increase conversion rates and boost your Black Friday sales.

If you want to maximise your Black Friday sales, make sure your website is up to standard.

But how exactly can you achieve that? Here are some tips to help you get started.

Use Attractive Visuals

It’s no secret that people are visual creatures. We’re drawn to things that look appealing, and this extends to websites we visit and online stores we shop at. If your website is lacking in visual appeal, you could be missing out on a lot of potential Black Friday sales.

Here are some web design tips to make sure your site is looking its best for the big shopping event:

• Use high-quality images: Make sure all the pictures on your website are clear and sharp. Low-quality images will make your site look unprofessional and could turn potential customers away.
• Utilise eye-catching visuals: Use bright colours, attractive fonts, and other visuals to make your website stand out. You want people to remember your site long after leaving it, so make sure it gives a good impression.
• Use engaging videos: Videos are a great way to show off your products or services in a more fun and compelling way. If you don’t have any videos on your site, now is the time to create some! Your digital agency can help you with this.
• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly: With more and more people shopping on their phones and tablets, ensuring your website is optimised for mobile devices is essential. If it’s not, you could be losing out on a lot of potential traffic and sales.

Make Sure Your Web Pages Load Quickly

On Black Fridays, consumers look for great deals and don’t have much patience. You will lose potential customers if your web pages take too long to load. User experience is crucial.

Here are two tips to help you make sure your web pages are loading quickly.

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN is a distributed server system that delivers web content to users based on their geographic location. Using a CDN, you can ensure that your web pages are delivered quickly, no matter where your visitors are.

Optimise Your Images

Images can often be the biggest culprit in slow web page loading times. By optimising your images, you can dramatically improve your website’s performance.

There are a few different ways to optimise your images:

• Resize your images to match the size they will be displayed on your web page. There’s no need to upload a 3000px x 2000px image if it’s only going to be displayed as 300px x 200px.
• Use image compression to reduce the file size of your images without sacrificing quality.
• Consider using a lazy load plugin or script. This ensures that images are only loaded when visible on the screen, further improving page loading times.

Optimise Your Web Page for Search Engines

One way to ensure you get more web traffic and potential customers on Black Friday is by search engine optimisation. This will help you rank higher in search results, making it more likely that people will click through to your site.

There are a few things you can do to optimise your web page for search engines:

• Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions: Ensure that your titles and descriptions contain relevant keywords that people are likely to search for. This will help you show up in more search results.
• Use alt tags: Alt tags are a way to describe images on your web page. Including keywords in your alt tags can make your web page more visible to search engines.
• Create keyword-rich content: In addition to using keywords in your titles and descriptions, you should also use them throughout the content on your web page. This will help search engines understand your page and index it accordingly.

Create a Custom Landing Page for Black Friday Promotions

One of the best ways to increase your Black Friday sales is by getting a website developer to create a custom landing page for your Black Friday promotions. A well-designed landing page can be a powerful tool for driving conversions, especially if it’s optimised for SEO.

Here are some tips for creating a custom landing page that will help you boost Black Friday sales:

• Keep it simple: When it comes to web design, less is often more. You want your landing page to be easy to navigate and understand. That means keeping the design simple and avoiding visual clutter.
• Use compelling images: Images are vital to any landing page and can be particularly effective on Black Friday. Use pictures that are high quality and relevant to your products or services.
• Include a CTA: Your landing page should have a clear call-to-action (CTA) that tells visitors what you want them to do, such as “Shop Now” or “Buy Now.” Make your CTA stand out by using a contrasting colour or an eye-catching button.
• Use FOMO tactics: One of the best ways to drive conversions on Black Friday is to create a sense of urgency. You can use “fear of missing out” (FOMO) tactics, such as countdown timers or stock alerts. This will encourage visitors to take action before it’s too late.

Use Customer Testimonials on Your Website

Customer testimonials will show potential customers that you’re a reputable business with happy clients. They also help build trust and confidence in your products or services.

Make Use of Social Media Platforms To Promote Your Black Friday Deals

Online marketing and social media are essential in discovering your campaigns and the overall shopping experience. Using your social media platforms to promote your Black Friday deals is necessary.

Here are some guidelines for promoting your Black Friday sales on social media:

• Create visuals that demand attention: When people are scrolling through their social media feeds, they are more likely to stop and take notice of an image or video than they are of text. Make sure your visuals are attention-grabbing and relevant to your Black Friday deals.
• Write copy that engages your reader: Along with eye-catching visuals, your copy should be engaging and persuasive. Remember, you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention — make it count!
• Promote early and often: This is where social media management comes to play. Start promoting your Black Friday deals well in advance of the actual day. Don’t be afraid to encourage multiple times — the more people that see your deals, the more likely they will take advantage of them.

Use Countdown Timers

Countdown timers are a great way to create a sense of urgency and encourage people to take advantage of your Black Friday deals. When people see that they have a limited time to act, they are more likely to make a purchase.

Here are some ways you can use countdown timers on your website:

• Add countdown timers to your home page: The first thing people will see when they visit your website is your home page. Make sure you add countdown timers to this page!
• Include countdown timers on your product pages: If you have specific products that are part of your Black Friday deals, include countdown timers on those pages. This will help encourage people to buy before the deal expires.

Use Calls-to-Action (CTAs) Throughout Your Website

Your CTAs are excellent website markers that guide visitors to the next step, whether it is making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a product. When used effectively, CTAs can help increase your conversion rate and boost sales.

Here are some tips for using CTAs on your website to increase Black Friday sales:

• Use clear and concise language: When it comes to CTAs, clarity is vital. Use straightforward language that visitors will understand. Avoid using jargon or marketing lingo.
• Make them visually appealing: Your CTAs should be eye-catching and stand out from the rest of your web page. Use colours, shapes, and sizes that contrast with the rest of your design. Don’t forget about whitespace — make sure your CTAs have plenty of it, so they’re easy to spot.
• Use actionable language: Your CTAs should use words that inspire visitors to take action. Some examples include “Shop Now,” “Sign Up,” and “Download.”

Final Thoughts

Don’t overlook your website design if you’re looking to convert more sales on Black Friday. Make sure your website is user-friendly and visually appealing, and consider hiring an expert on web design in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the very least, make sure your web developer is aware of the necessary changes that need to be made for Black Friday.

Contact us today for a free website audit — we would be happy to help!