Guest post by TemplateMonster   

Without a doubt, November brings a lot of things to cheer you up. Among them, there is Black Friday. Well, can you name at least one person who doesn’t like this sales season? This is a long-awaited time when you can finally buy the desired items without overrunning the budget. What’s more, when Black Friday is over, there’s Cyber Monday to continue shopping. It’s an extremely hop time both for customers and shops’ owners, which means you definitely should stand out from the crowd. To say more, November is the time when everyone starts their Christmas preparations. Obviously, there are always competitors and it doesn’t matter which business niche we are talking about. 

That’s why I recommend you to start working on your blog right now!

How can you do it?

As the name of the post says, today I prepared some helpful tips for you. Actually, it’s easy to prepare your blog, eCommerce site or business page for Christmas holidays. The only thing you need is to know which web design trends and features are in vogue today. And, obviously, you should also know all the today’s must-haves. Well, that’s what we are going to talk about!

Before we get started, I should mention that this fall TemplateMonster has a marvelous Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. It lasts for 10 days! The sale starts November, 22 and ends November, 29. With it, you can get any product with 50% discount! There are lots of Christmas themes, bundles, and illustrations, so don’t miss the boat!

Finally, let’s see how you can prepare your blog for Christmas holidays.



#1 Holiday-friendly content

Details 

To begin with, I want you to make your blog holiday-friendly. What does it mean? Well, to make a long story short, add some holiday-themed content to the online project. Needless to say, Christmas web design elements are everywhere, so it can literally be anything. Here are a couple of tips for you. 


  1. Let’s start with your menu! Add new sections related to Christmas season. In case you have shop functions, add such sections as “Christmas Gifts”. Even if you are not a seller, you can share there your personal recommendations.
  2. On the other hand, this Christmas, your blog requires a new topic. It should be something related to the winter holidays. You can write a couple of inspiring Christmas stories, share your memories with readers, show old pics, etc.
  3. Plus, don’t forget about food because tasty food is what everyone likes! Thus, add some “Holiday Recipes” or “Places To Go” section.

Keep in mind that all these posts should be easy to find. Locate them on the main page of your blog and start looking for the eye-catching visuals. Don’t forget that you should start planning your blogging schedule about 3-4 weeks before Christmas season.



#2 Find the very Christmas theme

Details 

Once you are done with Christmas content, it’s time to look for a stylish website theme. In case you already have one, just move to the next point. And if you only thinking of building a top-notch blog… Well, the before-holidays month is the best time to do it. So why I recommend you to look for a winter template and why these ready-made products are so popular in 2018?

First things first, a modern theme allows a user to get their site just out of the box. It’s a fast and creator-friendly process that doesn’t require special skills. You won’t need to touch a single line of code! However, the designs of such products are professional and flexible. Moreover, you can change any detail. For example, working withcustom WordPress themes, you get all premium plugins and must-have features.

Back to the holiday season, you can look for a beautiful Christmas theme. The thing is that all these items already contain Christmas web design elements in their pack. It’s comfortable and saves your time. So, which features you should look for when preparing the blog for Christmas days? Let’s name them!



#3 Counters

Details

To make a long story short, counters have always been among the most popular web design trends. Today, I’m going to tell you about the most useful counter - Countdown Timer. It shows how much time viewers have until the start or the beginning of something. Needless to say, Countdown Timer is a wonderful feature to be used for sale purposes but you have more options! For example: 

  • you can use counter to show how much time you have until Christmas or New Year,
  • you can highlight the moment you publish a Christmas post,
  • you can also create a sale or a giveaway for your regular audience.

Plus, you can always share with the audience some statistics, news, and personal conclusion using the next UI elements:

  • graphics,
  • infographics,
  • progress bars,
  • testimonials,
  • charts,
  • pie diagrams, and much more!

#4 Design Christmas CTA buttons

Another thing which is always in trend is CTA buttons. Call-to-action buttons are the small web design elements that make a visitor perform the needed action. So, I recommend you to prepare them for Christmas as well. Just choose a colorful background. As you may know, there are 3 main features any CTA button requires. They are: 

  • the properly chosen color scheme,
  • responsive design,
  • and a short text, which clearly explains what you want a visitor to do.

Seeing that, I recommend you to connect CTA texts with Christmas holidays. For example, it could be something like “Get My Christmas Gift” or “See More Christmas Designs”. Needless to say, it depends on the content you post. Secondly, let’s pay attention to the colors you use for CTA buttons. They should harmonize with the rest of your blog. Plus, I recommend you to use Christmas colors. According to the statistics, the most popular colors for CTA buttons are still green and orange. However, you can use gold and red shades because it’s Christmas season!



#5 Unique illustrations 

To create a stunning Christmas design, you surely need some unique pics, vectors, and illustrations. There are lots of resources to use. You can visit such free stock pages as:

Still, in case you want something truly unique, I recommend you to take a closer look at Christmas packs. As an example, I choose this cozy Christmas Eve watercolor set.



#6 Animations 

Although the digital progress never stands still, animations are still popular. Undeniably, they were improved as well. It means that in 2018 you have more options to choose from. Whatever you are going to write about, pick a couple of magical animations to prepare your blog for the Christmas holidays.


  1. Firstly, remember about Parallax effect. It’s an old but working web design trend, which creates a deep and charming background.
  2. Secondly, think of Particle backgrounds. This feature won’t overload your blog. This is a fresh web design trend that adds motion to the visual elements.
  3. Thirdly, don’t forget about Progressions. These elements appear when a visitor waits for a page to load. There’s no secret that Christmas days is a busy time, so you definitely need it.

In addition, you can use animations to bring life to your blog. As always, there are many Christmas sets to choose from. 



#7 Icons 

Details

Now, take time to think of the icons you use. IMHO, minimalist design is always just what the doctor ordered. Still, you should use something eye-pleasing when it’s Christmas. That’s why I recommend you to add a couple of holiday icons to the blog’s look. Modern web space provides limitless designs, so everyone can find something up to his or her taste. 



#8 Prepare your social media 

Although I’m here to help you with blog design, don’t forget about your social media! Today, it became a huge part of our everyday routine. That’s why you should work on it! Social media is the thing that connects your blog with its audience. Besides, it brings you unique visitors and social traffic. Are you going to have Christmas sale, giveaway or any other cool things for the readers? I’m sure you do! For these simple reasons, let’s improve the way your social media accounts look. You can search for a cute bundle for social media like this Christmas Instagram template. Make sure it includes:

  • images,
  • text styles,
  • and .psd files.

And, needless to say, all these images should be responsive. As well as your blog and all its parts! No matter which device your reader prefers to use, your blog should always look classy. The same thing is with your sm pages.



#9 Newsletter 

I know it looks like a usual option any website comes with. Sill, your popup window should also be Christmas-friendly. Just add a strikingly-colored image to it! By the way, don’t forget to work on your letter. Write a Christmas-related text and add a couple of holiday pics to your usual newsletter.



#10 Navigation 


Now, it’s time to talk about the technical part of your blog. What’s the most important part of any website? Yep, it’s navigation! Actually, it does not matter how stylish your blog is. People don’t like the one with a poorly created navigation. Keep in mind that you have to help a reader find the needed page ASAP. And it’s especially important now because, as I already said, Christmas is a busy time for everyone.

As an example, I choose this sweet Christmas theme from PrestaShop. Run the live demo to see the perfect navigation! 

 

Here are the features your blog needs to be visitor-friendly.

  1. Start with your content. Sort it into categories and subcategories if needed. Create a separate section for each category in the menu of your blog.
  2. I recommend you to use MegaMenu (for WordPress-based blogs) or any other plugin, which allows creating complicated menus. It will let you add as many sections as you want and keeps the design clean at the same time. Plus, MegaMenu really improves your SEO results!
  3. Talking about the menu of your blog, I also recommend you to make it sticky. In a word, the sticky menu remains on the top of the page all the time. It won’t disappear when a reader scrolls the page down. As a result, your visitors will be able to open the next section ASAP.
  4. On the other hand, create a small back-to-top button. By the way, it can also have Christmas design.
  5. Make sure you use tags and smart filters to let the readers find whatever they are looking for.
  6. Also, you will need an intuitive search. This search shows the results when a visitor is still typing their request.
  7. Among the other features that improve site navigation, I recommend you to use Related Products. Originally, the option was made for eCommerce but you can use it to connect any items or stories with each other.
  8. Needless to say, I also recommend you to find a place for your recent posts on the main page. Put there your most popular publications as well.
  9. Unquestionably, you should not forget about social media. As soon as you prepared your sm accounts for Christmas holidays, take time to connect them to the blog. Actually, I want you to locate Instagram feed or any other gallery you use right on the homepage.
  10. To finish with, contact information is another point to work on. Your contacts should be extra available for anyone who may need them! For these reasons, put your contact info in the header and in the footer. Besides, your blog required a separate page for contacts. You can add there a small chat or a quick contact form. It shows the readers that you respect them.

#11 Your fonts 

Finally, it’s time to work on the fonts you use for the blog. I’m not gonna lie, you should always prefer readable web typography to unusual fonts. Keep in mind that, before all else, your texts should be eye-friendly! However, you can look for a couple of creative fonts while preparing the blog for Christmas.

By tradition, you can use Google fonts or one of these free online resources for web designers like Canva. There are lots of designs to give your blog a holiday twist! On the other hand, you don’t need to search for fonts if you use a ready-made theme, which already has typography in the pack. Whatever you choose, it can be a hard work because such fonts are mostly beautiful but not readable. Still, there are many worthy examples. You can see one of them above.



#12 Focus on user experience!

When the beautiful part of preparing the blog for winter holidays is over, focus on the user experience. You should work out all the issues and fix any bug before the Christmas season. Remove all problems and see if you have any unnecessary elements or features. If something overloads the blog, remove it as well. In case you are using a theme, make sure you updated it (and all the plugins) to the latest version. All in all, redesigning your website is not enough to get success. You can attract people to the blog but you’ll also need to keep them. Thus, work on the quality of the website.



#13 SEO

And last but not least - let’s talk about your SEO. To put it briefly, Search Engine Optimisation may be the most important part of any online project. It’s the feature which brings readers to your blog. To get more traffic and find new visitors, make sure that your blog is optimized with modern search engines. Thanks to this option, Google will notice your blog pretty fast. Would you like to get impressing search results? You know what to do.



Final Thoughts

Needless to say, there are many ways to prepare your blog for Christmas holidays. Fortunately, all of these tips do not require any technical skills. You can do it without trouble even if you have never edited a single line of code! As you can see, modern technologies continue developing. They literally improve every day! As a result, you can design the site and add many trendy features to its look effortlessly.

To sum everything up, here is what you need to work on:

  • blog’s content,
  • Christmas theme,
  • counters,
  • CTA buttons,
  • holiday illustrations and animations,
  • icons and fonts,
  • social media,
  • newsletter,
  • user experience,
  • SEO
  • and navigation.

 Have you already prepared the blog for Christmas? And if you are still in progress, what would you start with?