The Power of Festive Design

With Christmas almost upon us, many websites have updated their websites to help spread the festive cheer. Many popular and notable brands have gone “Christmas crazy” and have brought a whole new festive design to their website to get shoppers in the Christmas mood.

But how exactly does updating your website with a more festive design improve your conversions and sales?

As we’ve covered in the past, the design of a website itself can have a significant influence on visitors and how they feel. Even the little things such as the colours of your website can have a big impact on conversion rates and sales.

Web design in general greatly affects the way people interact with your website and the decisions they are likely to make. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the benefits of having a festive design for your website during Christmas.

Remind People That Christmas is Coming

Most companies and websites actually start planning their Christmas marketing strategies in June and July. Some even take a full year to design and implement their seasonal changes! It might sound a bit early starting in July, but with plenty of work that goes into these festive websites and adverts, it’s important to start early.

It’s also important to remember that there’s no point launching your festive design or advert in December as many people have already finished Christmas shopping by then. Many businesses start rolling out their Christmas decorations and designs in late October to early November and so should you.

Take the luxury department store Harvey Nichols and their flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. Home to many incredible Christmas displays over the years, the decorations go up around the end of October and last until the first few weeks of January.

Think of Harvey Nichols’s shop windows as your website, everyone who visits your website should be reminded that Christmas is just around the corner and that they should get their presents. This in itself acts as a subtle call to action to the visitor. With a festive theme on your website with snowflakes, ribbons, and Christmas trees, visitors will constantly be reminded that Christmas is just around the corner.

Get People in the Christmas Mood

There’s no denying that Christmas time makes people feel more generous. When else would you buy all your friends and family plenty of gifts? After all, it’s only once a year so why not.

By getting visitors in the Christmas spirit of giving, you’re much likely to see an increase in your sales and conversions. Take the online retailer Argos.co.uk for example, currently their website has a festive design which focuses on promoting Christmas deals and offers on kid’s toys.

If you look at the main homepage of the website, you’ll notice that the banners have been changed to include festive snowflakes and a clear call to action. By reminding people what Christmas is all about (sharing and buying lots of gifts for your family) Argos has used the Christmas season to their advantage to improve sales.

Separate Yourself From Competition

Some businesses and websites can’t be bothered to do anything special for Christmas, and that’s a real shame as they are missing out on a lot of conversions. By joining in with the festive fun you really separate yourself from your competitors. In this day and age where the smallest of things can mean the difference between a visitor buying from you or a competitor, putting some effort into your website can do wonders for your sales.

A good festive website can get you lots of media attention and in some cases even make your website go viral. Take the Polish auction website Allegro who recently released a festive Christmas advert for the first time. Within 10 days of launching the advert it went viral and racked up more than 7 million views and generated thousands of new visitors and sales.

Now we know an advert is different from a festive website, but the idea is still the same. Allegro joined in on the festive fun and separated themselves from their competition. If they couldn’t have been bothered to join in, then they would have never seen the benefits. No matter if it’s a website change, new advert, or a festive newsletter, it’s important to join in with the fun.

How Can you Spice Up Your Website?

Now we’re not saying you need to make an entirely new website just for the Christmas period. We’re simply saying that a few tweaks and changes are all that are required to make your website more festive and increase conversions.

The most important thing to do is to include a call to action on your homepage. This works even better if you have a Christmas sale on. Visitors who land on your homepage will most likely have Christmas in their minds and will be looking for top deals or to browse your products. By having a call to action button on the homepage you can get visitors right where you want them, at the checkout!

To make your website most festive in general, it’s a good idea to include festive graphics and pictures that really put people in the Christmas mood. Snowflakes, Christmas trees and Santa’s sprinkled around your website is a good way to spread the Christmas cheer.

Start Planning Your Festive Design for Next Year

If your website needs a festive update, then we’d be glad to help. Whether you want some last-minute touches being done to your website or you want to plan an entire festive Christmas theme for next year, we have the tools and knowledge to make it happen. Here at Purplebox Digital we take pride in making incredibly detailed and functional websites for our clients. Having helped hundreds of businesses create their dream websites, we have plenty of experience. Click below to contact us to see how we can help.