Prepare Your Website for the Holiday Rush Before It Hits

For retail shops, restaurants, and service businesses in the Seattle area, the stretch from late November through New Year's can make or break the quarter. But too many local businesses wait until the first week of December to think about their website -- by then it is too late to rank for holiday search terms or fix broken contact forms. This post covers the practical checklist we walk clients through every fall: updating hours and holiday closures, adding gift card or booking links, optimizing for seasonal search terms, and making sure your site doesn't crawl under traffic. A little prep in October pays off for months.