Black Friday is around the corner. Have you considered how your small business is going to attract extra traffic to your website over this day, or week? Your website may be perfect, but if no one can find it or is aware of it, then you aren’t making the most of your online presence.

The last thing you want is to get your website ready, and then the extra traffic never arrives, or your website can’t handle a few extra users. As CEO of local Web hosting company 1-grid, Thomas Vollrath emphasises that “building a strong online presence takes time and continued effort. You need to build a website that can manage it all, especially during the busy seasons where website traffic can increase significantly.”

With Black Friday almost a week away, now is the perfect time to boost traffic to your e-commerce website. Here are a few simple ways to do so.

Make sure your website can handle an influx in traffic

Unexpected traffic can wreak havoc on your website’s performance, from slow site speed to a complete breakdown of your website. Before you focus on bringing in a host of new users, identify if your website can in fact manage them all.

It is most common for small businesses to have shared Web hosting. This is a basic option that is best suited to low-traffic websites where space is rented on a server and shared with other users. This may have been an ideal solution for you in the early days of your business, but if you’ve been in business for some time and your traffic trends have increased year on year, it might be time to consider a dedicated hosting solution.

If your website slows down during busy periods, you experience moments of downtime or your server is struggling to provide enough space for all your data, it’s time to upgrade to a dedicated server where you rent a sufficient amount of space on a server entirely dedicated to your website.

Invest in search-engine optimisation (SEO)

SEO is a long-term project, but it’s never too late to get started. Getting your website noticed in Google’s search results is one way to attract new users to your website as they start their research for Black Friday deals and specials.

From strategic placement of Black Friday-related keywords in your website content, to setting up your Google My Business profile, local searchers will be able to spot you online far easier and click through to see what you have to offer.

Consider micro-influencer marketing

While it costs a bit upfront, having an influencer mention your brand through their social media has fast become a successful marketing tool. Consumers generally trust first-hand reviews, mentions and product opinions from actual customers, and if you can reach out to an influencer who believes in your brand, you’re on your way to getting more recognition and traffic.

Contact a handful of micro-influencers (a person who has a social media following of 1 000 to 100 000 followers) and see if any would be interested in promoting your deals over this time. Micro-influencers are not only more cost-effective, but also appeal to a more local audience. Add a Black Friday competition to the mix and you’ll get consumers visiting your website and social media pages left, right and centre.

Make use of paid advertising

As this busy season is the time to push your brand, making use of paid advertising comes in handy. By promoting your Black Friday deals on Google search results, social media stories and display ads on third-party websites, you’re getting your product or service a little more time with your audience during their research phase.

While organic marketing is still vital, competing with other brands during busier seasons can become almost impossible without this targeted approach. If you’re not sure where to start, contact a consultant to get the basics up and running for you.

While these are by no means the only ways to increase your website traffic, they are some of the most vital if you haven’t prepared for Black Friday already and need to take action today.