How to Make the Most of 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Website Tips for UK Small Businesses

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are fast approaching – and while they started as American shopping events, they’ve become major milestones in the UK retail calendar too. For small businesses, especially online retailers, this is a prime opportunity to boost sales and grow your customer base.

But to truly benefit, your website needs to be ready. Whether you’re running a sale or simply hoping to draw in more festive shoppers, here’s how you can prep your website – and when to do it.

🗓 Key Dates to Know

• Black Friday 2025: Friday, 28th November
• Cyber Monday 2025: Monday, 1st December

These two days mark the start of the peak shopping season, but your prep should start weeks in advance.

🧰 Timeline for Prepping Your Website

Early November (Now!)

• Audit your site speed & mobile responsiveness: Around 60% of traffic now comes from mobiles – if your site is slow or hard to use on mobile, you’re missing out.
• Plan your offers: Whether it’s 10% off, a free gift, or free delivery – make your deals clear and compelling.
• Update your homepage: Add a Black Friday banner or pop-up to start building excitement.

Mid November

• Test your checkout process: A confusing or buggy checkout is one of the top reasons shoppers abandon carts.
• Set up analytics: Ensure you’ve got visitor tracking and conversions set up properly.
• Boost your SEO: Optimise key pages so people can find your offers with meta descriptions, product titles, and structured headings.

Week of Black Friday (24th–28th Nov)

• Launch a teaser campaign: Use email and social media to count down to your sale. SMS campaigns can also drive urgency.
• Check your hosting: Make sure your site can handle traffic spikes – let your provider know if you’re expecting high demand.

Black Friday – Cyber Monday

• Go live early: Shoppers start early – launch Thursday evening or Friday morning.
• Monitor performance: Keep an eye on orders, traffic, and customer enquiries. If you’re on a maintenance plan, your provider should handle this.

💡 Extra Tips to Stand Out

• Create urgency: Add countdown timers and “only X left in stock” messages.
• Use clear calls-to-action: “Shop Now”, “Grab Your Deal”, or “Limited Time Offer” work well.
• Add trust signals: Use customer reviews and secure payment badges to build confidence.

🎯 Not Selling Online Yet?

It’s not too late. You can get a landing page or basic ecommerce setup live quickly to capture seasonal interest. Prices for landing pages start from £250, and ecommerce sites from £1500.

If you’d like help getting your website Black Friday ready, give us a ring on 01793 239239 or email hello@obrienmedia.co.uk.

Let’s make this season your best yet!