This website checklist covers the 30 things worth fixing before the holiday rush: hours, speed, mobile checkout, forms, security, gift cards and the details customers look for in November and December. Work through it a few weeks before your busy season so you’re not troubleshooting a broken checkout on the Saturday before Christmas.
For many Maine businesses, the holidays are the last big push before a quiet winter. Shops in Freeport and Kennebunkport, restaurants booking private parties, and makers selling online all see more visitors and less patience.
Grab a coffee and a phone. Most of these checks take a few minutes each, and you can split them across a couple of evenings.
Hours, contact info and holiday details (1–7)
- Post your holiday hours on the homepage. A short banner or notice near the top is enough.
- Set special hours on your Google Business Profile. Google’s special hours help page recommends confirming holiday hours even when they match your normal schedule, so customers know they’re current.
- Match hours everywhere. Website, Google, Facebook, Yelp and Apple Maps should all say the same thing.
- Check your phone number is clickable on mobile. Tap it on your own phone and make sure it dials.
- Confirm your address and map link. Open the directions link and make sure it lands at the right door.
- Add shipping cutoff dates. If you ship, tell people the last day to order for delivery by December 24.
- Update seasonal closures. If you close in January or switch to winter hours, say so now.
Speed and mobile experience (8–13)
Holiday shoppers browse on phones, often in a hurry. Slow pages cost sales.
- Test your homepage speed. Run it through PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse. Google retired its old Mobile-Friendly Test and now points people to Lighthouse instead.
- Know the targets. Google’s Core Web Vitals guidance treats a page as loading well when its largest content appears within 2.5 seconds. Our plain-English guide to Core Web Vitals for business owners explains the other two measures.
- Compress big images. New holiday photos straight from a camera are often far larger than they need to be.
- Remove unused plugins and pop-ups. Every extra script slows the page down.
- Check every key page on a phone. Homepage, menu or products, contact and checkout.
- Make buttons easy to tap. If you have to zoom in to hit “Add to cart,” customers will give up.
Online store and checkout (14–20)
- Place a real test order. Buy something small, start to finish, on your phone.
- Check payment methods. Confirm cards, PayPal, Apple Pay or whatever you offer all work.
- Review shipping rates. Make sure rates and free-shipping thresholds are correct.
- Update inventory. Hide or mark sold-out items so people don’t order what you can’t ship.
- Set up gift cards. Digital gift cards are a lifesaver for last-minute shoppers and a nice cushion during slow winter months.
- Prepare sale pricing ahead of time. Schedule Black Friday or Small Business Saturday discounts and test that they apply correctly.
- Check order confirmation emails. They should arrive quickly, look professional and include your contact details.
Forms, bookings and follow-up (21–24)
- Submit every form yourself. Contact, catering, private party and quote forms should all reach the right inbox.
- Check spam folders. Form emails often land in spam after hosting or email changes.
- Test your booking system. Restaurants, salons and inns should book a test reservation and then cancel it.
- Add a holiday event or gift guide page. A simple page listing gift ideas, events or party packages gives people something to share.
Security and backups (25–28)
- Update WordPress, themes and plugins. Do it a couple of weeks early, not the night before a sale, so you have time to fix any surprises.
- Take a full backup. Make sure it’s stored somewhere other than your web server, and know how to restore it.
- Confirm your SSL certificate is valid. Look for the padlock and check the renewal date so it doesn’t expire mid-December.
- Review who has admin access. Remove old employees and contractors, and use strong passwords.
Tracking and after the rush (29–30)
- Make sure analytics is working. Check that visits and sales are recording so you can learn from this season.
- Plan a January review. Put a reminder on the calendar to look at what sold, which pages got traffic and what broke.
How to use this website checklist without losing a weekend
You don’t need to do all 30 in one sitting. Here’s a sensible order:
| When | Focus | Items |
|---|---|---|
| 6–8 weeks before | Updates, backups, speed fixes | 8–13, 25–28 |
| 4–6 weeks before | Store, checkout, gift cards, sales | 14–20 |
| 2–4 weeks before | Hours, forms, bookings, holiday pages | 1–7, 21–24 |
| After the holidays | Review and plan | 29–30 |
If you get halfway through and realize the problems are bigger than a few tweaks, that’s useful to know. Our 10-minute self-check for when a website needs a makeover helps you decide whether to patch or rebuild, and our website redesign guide for small businesses covers how to plan a redesign for the quieter months.
A note for seasonal Maine businesses
If your business slows down or closes after the holidays, your website keeps working while you rest. Before you head into winter, make sure the site says when you’ll reopen, how to buy gift cards in the meantime, and how to get on your email list for spring news.
It’s also a good moment to schedule bigger website projects. January through March is often the calmest time for a coastal shop or seasonal restaurant to plan a redesign, so the new site is ready before summer visitors start searching.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start preparing my website for the holidays?
Ideally six to eight weeks before your busiest period. That gives you time to update software, fix problems and test checkout without pressure. If you’re late, focus on hours, checkout and forms first.
Should I update plugins right before a big sale?
It’s safer to update a couple of weeks earlier, after taking a backup. Updates occasionally cause conflicts, and you want time to fix them before traffic peaks.
Do I need to update holiday hours on Google if they’re the same?
Google suggests confirming holiday hours even when they don’t change. It reassures customers that the information is current and reduces “are you open?” calls.
What’s the most important item on this list?
For online sellers, a successful test purchase on a phone. For everyone else, accurate hours and a working phone number and contact form. Those are what customers need most in December.
Can someone handle this website checklist for me?
Yes. A web team can run the technical checks, updates and backups while you focus on the business. Many owners handle hours and content themselves and hand off the rest.
Want your site ready before the rush hits? Morellis helps Maine businesses with website care, speed fixes and online stores. Book a free 30-minute consultation and we’ll go through your site together and flag what to fix first.