How to Prepare for a Client's Online Traffic Spike

If you're an app developer, it's your job to ensure your clients' sites can handle large traffic spikes. This is especially important for eCommerce stores during peak shopping seasons like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

One way to predict upcoming traffic spikes is to analyze previous data. Specifically, try to see which spikes are seasonal and when.

Check the SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimization and refers to the practice of guiding your site to rank higher on a search engine results page (SERP) so that more people see it. It's a mix of both qualitative content principles and technical improvements that are meant to boost your rankings over time, which in turn will drive more traffic to your website.

The main goal of SEO is to get your pages to rank well for keywords that are relevant to your business and the audience you target. You can achieve this by implementing certain keyword strategies, such as using a variety of keywords and creating well-written content.

You can also focus on specific areas of your site and make improvements in them. For example, you can add structured data to your pages or increase your page loading speed.

Another thing that can affect your organic search traffic is Google's algorithm updates. These can change the way that your site is ranked for particular keywords, and you'll need to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in order to maintain a high ranking.

Generally speaking, these updates don't affect your organic traffic significantly in the long run, but they can put you behind the curve and make it more difficult to gain a stronghold over your competitors. It's a good idea to subscribe to industry forums and websites so you can keep an eye on updates that are affecting your site and adjust accordingly.

One of the easiest ways to check your SEO is to look at your Google Analytics. This will show you the total number of visitors and the total volume of traffic over a period of time, which can help you understand why your site is experiencing a spike in traffic.

A sudden spike in traffic can be cause for concern, especially if it is from an unfamiliar source or during strange hours of the day. In this case, it is important to know the source of the traffic and what page the users landed on.

Some of the most common reasons for a sudden spike in traffic include holiday sales or viral blog posts. These events can generate a lot of buzz and interest among the audiences you target.

Check the speed of the site

With the holidays approaching, many business owners expect a traffic spike that will increase their sales. However, if the site is slow or has issues with checkouts, customers may quickly leave the website. This can have a huge impact on your bottom line.

The first step is to understand how your site can handle a high amount of visitors. This is mainly determined by the hosting provider and on-site content. In addition, you can hire a dedicated development team to test the capacity of the site.

You can also use tools like Page Performance and Speed Tool tests to see how your site is performing under a single visitor. However, these tests are not as accurate as load testing. Load tests simulate a high amount of traffic to get an idea of how your site performs with that much traffic.

Another option is to use a ping tester to check the speed of your connection. Ping tests measure how fast you can receive a response from a server, and are usually displayed in milliseconds. The faster you can receive a response from your connection, the better your experience will be.

A good ping test will also let you know whether your internet service provider (ISP) has a good network, or if it is causing problems for you. If you suspect that your ISP is not providing you with a good connection, consider changing your ISP.

As you prepare for your client’s online traffic spike, it is important to take the necessary steps to ensure your site remains available. These include optimizing the site for high speed, avoiding lag and crashing, and checking for security threats.

If you have the right tools, you can easily keep your website running even during traffic surges. For example, you can ask your hosting provider to scale up capacity in advance of a spike so that your website can handle the increased traffic without experiencing any downtime.

In addition, you can use synthetic monitoring to identify when a spike is likely to occur and prepare your site for it. This can help you to avoid costly downtime by giving you more time to test your site and respond accordingly.

Check the load time of the pages

A sudden influx of online traffic is often one of the most thrilling times for a website owner. But if their site isn’t ready for the increase in visitors, it could spell disaster for their business.

A slow-loading page isn’t just annoying to visitors, it can also reflect poorly on a brand’s reputation. A study by Aberdeen Group found that 40 percent of shoppers would abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. And loyal customers who have to wait for a second are less likely to return, too.

Page speed is one of the most important aspects of your website’s performance, and it’s a critical factor for ranking well in search engines like Google. It’s a metric that affects desktop, mobile, and ad rankings.

It’s vital to understand how page speed is measured so you can improve your web pages and keep them performing at their best. There are a few different metrics used to measure page speed, including first contentful paint (FCP), DOMContent Loaded (DCL), and more.

FCP is the time it takes to display the first piece of content on a page, while DCL is the time it takes to load a whole webpage. The latter is the metric that matters most for search engine rankings, and you can use it to identify bottlenecks on your site and optimize its performance.

You can check the speed of a page using tools such as Pingdom or Google’s free site speed test tool. These tools can show you how your website loads across different devices and browsers, and give you insights into the order in which individual elements load.

If you have a lot of dynamic elements on your website, it may be beneficial to cache them in order to reduce the load on your servers and make your pages faster. This can be achieved by using JavaScript that tells your server to load these elements only when they’re needed or to store them in a database so that the pages aren’t retrieved each time a visitor arrives.

Check the security of the site

When a client’s online traffic spike occurs, it can be difficult to predict and prepare for the situation. This is because many issues can occur at once, including a website that crashes, data hacks, or your online store running out of stock. But if you can prepare ahead of time, you’ll save yourself the headache and stress that comes with a massive influx of online visitors.

One of the first things you should do is check your site’s security. Having the right security measures in place can help prevent hackers from accessing personal information and other sensitive data stored on your website.

For example, one of the most common security techniques is to use SSL encryption, which encrypts communications between your browser and the web server. You can also look for a lock icon near the URL field of your browser and make sure that the URL starts with “HTTPS” instead of “HTTP.”

Another indicator is a trust seal. These badges are often located at the top of a page and show that the site is secure. The seal is usually a green bar with the words “Secure” or “Verified.”

It’s important to confirm if the trust seal is real and trustworthy because some sites can fake these badges. You can also verify if a website is secure by checking the privacy policy. This document should explain how the site collects and uses personal information, as well as what security measures are in place to protect that data.

If a website has a security badge, you should click on it to get more information about the site. It can be a good idea to contact the site owner if you have questions about its security, because they may be able to help you avoid compromising your information or giving away sensitive information.

You should also regularly update your software, particularly plugins, and CMS versions. This will keep your site secure from bots that scan websites for vulnerabilities and exploit them.

Lastly, make sure to host a copy of your website on a stable third-party service that can handle a heavy stream of traffic. This can help prevent downtime or a slow loading experience for your clients during a peak period.

Shopify Development Trends

Most Shopify store owners focus on their digital marketing alongside their web development. Keeping up with the cutting-edge Shopify Apps in ensuring a frictionless checkout for their online store, with additional tools to fill the Shopping Cart. Online shopping continues to grow year-over-year as the user experience improves with tailored customer service practices. Behind the scenes, are Shopify partners such as TheGenieLab. We are helping business owners and shopkeepers to drive continuous improvements through digital marketing services. Furthermore, they are providing Web Development in Shopify, BigCommerce, and other eCommerce store architectures. If you need a hand in any aspect of eCommerce, feel free to reach out to us at wish@thegenielab.com