How to Prepare Your Website for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

You probably haven’t started thinking about turkey and cranberry sauce, but maybe it’s time you did.

No, you don’t need to go grocery shopping or plan your Thanksgiving feast quite yet. Still, as your hosting experts, we’re telling all you website owners out there: You need to start strategizing for the epic holiday weekend. 

We know it’s been a difficult time in many ways. You’ve likely felt that strain hard in your business as you’ve adjusted during COVID-19 conditions and embraced an online environment. The reality is this: Many people are out of work, small businesses are struggling, and consumers likely have less $$$ to spend. 

But that doesn’t mean you have to end the year on a sour note. As the calendar approaches the normally mammoth holiday shopping dates of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you can prep your business — and your website — to make the most of the spending season.

Even in less-than-ideal conditions, holiday shopping has a lot of potential to boost your business.

Historically, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend has been a record-shattering buying event that you’ll want to get your business on board with. Last year, Black Friday brought in more than $14 billion in online sales.

Those aren’t the only eye-opening numbers; a survey reported that more than 186 million Americans shopped online during the holiday shopping season’s Thanksgiving weekend. That’s a lot of potential customers — and potential sales — for your business.

Here’s the catch: If you aren’t anticipating the Black Friday e-rush well ahead of time, you could be looking at a mass exodus of your site’s visitors, who will happily take their credit cards elsewhere for the year‘s biggest spending season. Cue the flying-money emoji. 💸💸💸

Over the years, people have increasingly turned to their screens for Black Friday deals rather than retail stores. For example, in 2020, consumers spent a whopping $9 billion at online stores on Black Friday — a 21.6% increase from 2019. This year will likely break ecommerce records as people shop from the safety of their homes. 

And never underestimate Cyber Monday’s money-making potential; in 2020, Cyber Monday brought in $10.8 billion online, a 15.1% jump from the previous year and markedly the biggest online shopping day in history.

So what’s on your Black Friday/Cyber Monday To-Do list? Well, you need to prep. Your site needs to be whip-quick and bug-free, not to mention stocked with quality products and smart navigation. 

And we can help with that! 

First, we’ll talk strategy, helping you plan out the best ways to get your sales in front of customers. 

• Review Your Site & Goals
• Plan Out Sales
• Create a Marketing Campaign
• Track the Competition
• Generate Buzz

Then we’ll get into the nuts and bolts of prepping your sites for the e-crowds, one technical task at a time. 

• Assess Your Web Hosting
• Build Your E-commerce Store
• Focus on Safe Shopping
• Edit Your Return Policy
• Fine-Tune for Optimization
• Prep for Customer Service
• Test Your Site
• Plan for Contingencies
• Analyze the Results

With a website primed for a critical weekend of sales, you can put on your stretchy pants and enjoy another slice of pumpkin pie — while you watch your business grow. 

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Create Your Marketing Strategy

Whether your small biz is a team of one or one hundred, you need to have a pow-wow, STAT. You must organize a Black Friday plan of attack before your site gets left out in the dust. With an increased focus on online sales during the holiday shopping season, you have to be ready. Start with baby steps.

1. Take Stock (Literally and Figuratively)

It’s smart first to take a look at where your business stands. What are your goals? How established is your brand? How is your social media presence? And what are you hoping for — in sales terms and otherwise — for the big Thanksgiving shopping holiday?

Knowing where you are and where you want to go helps you set appropriate goals and put a plan in place to accomplish them.

Then there’s physical merchandise or, if you sell a service or non-physical commodity, virtual goods. 

In the case of tangible products, you will need to take stock of your items and increase inventory (and shipping supplies) in anticipation of sales (especially of your best-selling items) so that those ever-important buying days run as smoothly as possible. Keep a spreadsheet of inventory handy — this can help you stay organized and be useful if contingencies arise (more on this later).

Regardless of what you sell, you need to make sure you have the tools in place to run a sale on your site and figure out the kind of sale you want to offer — based on lifetime customer value or cost per acquisition stats — or if you’d be better to provide more out-of-the-box savings, like service upgrades or add-ons.

So, make some calculations and gather your data — you need this information for our next stage of planning.

Remember that COVID-19 has moved many businesses nearly entirely online. So how you approach inventory, shipping, and the services you offer will differ from years past. It will likely require additional time, planning, and resources to successfully navigate a successful holiday shopping season. Plan ahead and prepare for contingencies (we know you’ve been dealing with a whole year of contingencies).

2. Plan Out Your Sales

Believe it or not, holiday shoppers are researching products and scouting deals well ahead of time — like, now. So it’s important — crucial even — to take time to get organized by mapping out the sales you’re going to offer for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. Plan ahead to avoid messy last-minute sale scrambles and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants deals (yikes).

Also, note that coronavirus conditions have caused shortages in many industries, many of which could affect your manufacturers, suppliers, or operation suppliers. It may take extra time to get what you need, so plan for these delays well ahead of time when planning sales.

The sooner you have a plan in place, the sooner you can bring attention to your Black Friday sale and prep customers to bring their holiday dollars to your shop.

A simple Excel sheet works well for outlining planned sales — identify products or a set discount, regular and sale prices, the sale timeline, and how you anticipate promoting that sale.

You may need to talk with your supplier (if it’s not you) to work out the production details of increased demand.

Also, keep in mind that most Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers haven’t completed their holiday shopping at the end of the Thanksgiving spending spree. Studies show that shoppers usually wait to buy gifts at the last minute — in 2020, 75% purchased in the two weeks preceding Christmas. So don’t see Black Friday as the end-all, be-all. 

In your plan, include actions (and additional incentives) that encourage Black Friday shoppers to return to your e-commerce store throughout their holiday shopping and, eventually, become loyal customers. 

3. Map Out a Marketing Campaign

Now that you know what kind of sales you’re going to offer, you need to disseminate that information effectively to consumers. Advertise well ahead of time and prep your customers for buying.

We know things this year have been hard. Since we’re all pinching our pennies, here are some affordable — and creative — ways you can create a BFCM campaign that drives sales. 

Related: The Best Holiday Marketing Campaigns (And What You Can Learn from Them)

Email Marketing

If you’re wondering where to start with Black Friday marketing, email is truly a safe bet, since a healthy, growing email list is invaluable for your small business or ecommerce website. 

Sending marketing campaigns to those who have chosen to be engaged with your business allows you to tailor personalized messages that have the most impact come buying time. 

Electronics giant Best Buy hypes up Black Friday discounts with anticipatory email messages.

Promotional emails can prep your most loyal consumers for an upcoming sale or reward frequent buyers, and specific types of communications (like abandoned cart emails) can help wary or slow-to-act visitors complete unfinished purchases.

Your promotions can also help you to build an email list. It’s like an epic circle of benefits.

Related: Build an Email List With Your WordPress Website in 3 Simple Steps

Social Media Marketing

While social media tends to cast a wider net in marketing, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help you tease upcoming promotions and provide creative ways of distributing Cyber Week deals. You can also boost your posts to target specific audiences or reach a larger crowd for only pennies on the dollar. Tailor your content to each platform for maximum effectiveness.

Create a calendar to help you determine and plan out the best times to distribute marketing content — then stick to it! Consistency rules.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Sure, the saying goes that the early bird gets the worm, but if you’re planning deals late in the game, all hope is not lost. While search engine optimization (SEO) and other organic traffic drivers take time to implement, pay-per-click advertising allows you to pay for more clicks (hence the name) right now. 

If you’ve got more of a marketing budget at your disposal, you can utilize PPC campaigns to have more control over your search engine rankings and, at best, turn clicks into customers and see strong ROI. 

The basic steps are to create an ad and make bids on virtual auctions for top placement in search engines. Check out Google AdWords to learn more and start generating more traffic to your site.

4. Keep an Eye on the Competition

With a tidal wave of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals flooding every inch of the web, your small biz needs to set itself apart against other small operations and big-name retailers.

Extra touches can help distinguish your site from a rival online retailer; consider offering a gift (or an additional discount on future return purchases) with each sale, expedited or free shipping, special packaging, or customized thanks-for-shopping messages from your business. Watch your industry competitors and work to have the leg up.

Rifle Paper Co. incentivizes customer purchases with bonus gifts.

And even if manpower or budget limitations restrict you from including additional incentives, always provide hassle-free returns and friendly, prompt customer service. Emphasize the personality and care offered by your small business versus big-box retailers. Customers like to support small businesses and, in most cases, will appreciate, remember, and reward a more intimate online shopping experience.

Related: 11 Ways Your Online Store Can Compete with Mega-Retailers and Win

5. Build (More) Buzz

In addition to your organized marketing efforts, you can boost the hype for your Black Friday steals by engaging in additional awareness-building activities.

Craft Winning Copy and Create Alluring Graphics 

Time is on your side; with your early-bird preparation, you can plan out and prep copy that is engaging, personable, and error-free. Same with photos and graphics; planning ahead guarantees you have attractive visuals that impress and persuade. Putting special attention to even these most basic of website fundamentals can significantly improve your users’ experience during their holiday shopping.

Related: How to Write Product Descriptions That Really Sell: 8 Simple Tips

Utilize Hashtags

Insert yourself into the popular topics of each week by taking advantage of trending hashtags. The viral hype will seamlessly (and effortlessly) aid in spreading the word about your products and upcoming sales. #blessed

Build in Scarcity

Shoppers will naturally feel a sense of urgency to buy if they know your limited-edition, few-in-number, or wildly-discounted product won’t last long. Use language that reminds shoppers to act quickly to score the best deals.

Powerhouse retail brand Madewell offers customers a product exclusive — enticing buyers to act quickly.

Display Shop Signage

Well before the actual Black Friday/Cyber Monday crowds hit your e-shop, you can outfit your site to prep visitors for approaching sales. Consider updating your homepage with a special Black Friday header or landing page signage that cements SALE into your customers’ minds — especially those who are conducting their holiday gift-giving research now.

Clothing company Anthropologie displays sale signage on their site homepage, inviting visitors to engage.

Update Your Blog

Hopefully, your blog is regularly outfitted with quality posts that are relevant and engaging. If it’s not, get writing. A blog consistently updated with useful content brings visitors back to your site and builds your brand. Use friendly, personable language that establishes you as a trusted authority in your field or industry.

Related: How to Write a Blog Post — A Step-By-Step Guide

In the next few weeks, consider publishing useful holiday shopping content, like curated gift lists or helpful instructional guides (wink, wink) that feature your products and provide a service to customers.

Media entertainment company Brit + Co compiles helpful content for visitors — a creative way to feature their products.

Pitch to Other Blogs and Social Media Influencers

Influencers are called influencers for a reason. Get your products in front of the web’s most influential people, and you could be rewarded with more traffic to your site — and ideally, new shoppers. 

Pitch your products to other sites (for their gift guides, guest posts, or other content), and you’re inviting a whole new set of eyes to explore your offerings. Score!

Share Positive Product Reviews

Word-of-mouth marketing is powerful, especially in e-commerce. With prompts on your site or through after-purchase email messages, invite your customers to leave product reviews. Share the glowing ones with new customers (and turn them into repeat customers) or use them to persuade on-the-fence buyers.

Write and Share Customer Spotlights

Bring attention to the superstars championing your products or services — your existing customers! Profile their unique story and how your business helps them achieve success. These stories (like our own tales of a millennial-minded online publication creator or writer looking for a quick way to set up a website) will inspire other consumers to engage with your brand and, ideally, make purchases.

If you’re looking to go even more out of the box, try these other creative promotional ideas. 

And lastly, know this: According to Adobe, the power of social media influence on purchases is decreasing, but retailers have greater opportunities to invest in email marketing and search optimization for increased revenue. That could be a major thumbs up for your site if done well. So plan now.

Prepare the Technical Aspects of Your Site

Planning the details of your Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales is essential. But that’s only the first step. Especially when shoppers notice the buzz you’ve created and want to make purchases. Is your website up to the challenge? If not, start here!

1. Consult With Your Hosting Provider

As is necessary for success in all parts of your website, a site that’s functional and ready to deliver during the fall’s killer shopping holidays depends on your website’s foundation: your hosting provider. Your provider should be reliable and helpful, and at the most fundamental level, keep your site up and running 24/7.

Yes, a good hosting provider is essential. So consider: 

• Can your hosting plan handle surges in traffic that may occur during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales? 
• Can it keep you safe from virtual vulnerabilities? 
• And if your site does go down, will you be compensated by an uptime guarantee? 

Based on your needs, you may need to consider upgrading to a plan that can do more heavy lifting during the rush. 

Not sure what plan is best for your site? Chat with us. We’ve totally got your back.

Is Your Site Ready for a Cyber Monday Sale?

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2. Set Up Your E-Shop

Before you can draw customers in with deep discounts, you need to make sure your site is actually outfitted for e-commerce, if you haven’t already. 

Whatever tool you use — like WooCommerce or Shopify — get it up and running well before the big day. Ensure that it’s capable of handling your site’s crowds and that it allows customers to make purchases using a simplified checkout process. 

Related: How to Build an Awesome Online Store with the OceanWP Theme

3. Provide a Safe Shopping Experience

A vital part of building trust with your clients (and ensuring that they make return visits) is shopping safety. 

Shoppers — especially ones with the seasonal inclination to splurge — want to know that their information is safe on your site. That’s a big reason to think about security. A study by the Department of Commerce revealed that half of U.S. internet users are deterred from buying online because of worries about privacy and security.

To remove worry from customers’ minds, display prominently on your site’s checkout pages signage that proves it’s safe to shop with you.

Otter’s safe shopping signage puts customers at ease.

More often than not, your hosting provider can help you get set up with a free or low-cost SSL/TLS certificate (an authentication and encryption system — meaning, data is transferred online safely). If you’re a DreamHost user, we’ve got you covered.

Another way to ease your customers’ minds about security: Share the other websites that have featured your products. Display endorsements from other blogs and companies, (it’s OK to toot your own horn!) and give your products and services an outside seal of approval.

Bath product company Tubby Todd boasts the backing of other sites that help establish trust and authority with potential customers.

Visitors to your site will see the buzz already building around your business from other familiar companies and will be more likely to engage. Consider it e-commerce FOMO.

These trust-building measures that can make a world of difference, especially on those big shopping days. 

4. Create an Easy-to-Find Return Policy

It’s inevitable — some customers are just not going to love their purchases. During the 2020 holiday season, retailers experienced a 41% increase in returns of online orders. Currently, 88% of consumers report that they make returns at least “occasionally,” but 96% of customers said they would shop with a retailer again if their return experience with that business was positive. 

With the vast majority embracing online shopping this year, you’re likely to see an increased rate of returns. Returns are not only a part of the holiday season but a valuable point of interaction with consumers. They are an opportunity to connect with your audiences, provide them the best possible experience, and encourage repeat business and customer loyalty.

REI’s return policy is clear and easily found. 

First, make your return policy easy to find — in a limited number of glances or clicks. Keep your customers loyal by avoiding “the fine print” mentality; clearly state shipping costs, deadlines, and return policies (and make it big enough to read, please).

5. Fine-Tune for Optimization

You want every aspect of your site to be optimized for the best possible web experience. With eyes on increased sales, more traffic, and a loyal following, fine-tuning your site in these specific areas will help you build your numbers.

Make Your Site Mobile

We could easily inundate you with reasons why having a mobile-responsive site is so important, but we’ve already been there, done that. So instead, we’ll just pass along a few key statistics to prove our point.

Like the fact that Black Friday is big (no, let’s say B-I-G!!!) for mobile. Last year, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday were record-breaking days in retail history for e-commerce, with sales reaching $3.6 billion on mobile and 40% of all online retail coming from smartphone transactions (consumers spent $6.3 million a minute shopping online!)— and that’s only on Black Friday.  

Cyber Monday also made waves for mobile in big ways, with transactions soaring to $10.8 billion, the highest ever year-over-year dollar gain for smartphones. What’s more, smartphones accounted for more than half of all traffic on retail websites on Cyber Monday.

Holy smartphone, Batman. 

Mobile is also crucial for good SEO. How? Well, having a site that’s mobile-responsive increases your chances of earning a high ranking in search engines, and therefore, your chances of being found by potential customers.

Your site can look snazzy on a desktop, but if it delivers a disappointing mobile presence, then you can say adios to your sales. 

Ensure that your site’s template is mobile-responsive. Make sure that your site loads fast on a mobile device, links work, images load correctly, and any pop-up forms display correctly. Consider utilizing the AMP initiative to upgrade your mobile experience for users.

Boost Your SEO

As a small business or website owner, you’ve probably already had a rudimentary education in the importance of SEO. 

Simply put, SEO means positioning your site for discovery in search engines. After all, a simple search is where most people begin their holiday (or basically any) shopping. 

More than any other shopping season, you want your site — and by extension, your products — to have the best chance of meeting the eyes of potential customers. So prepping your website by establishing good SEO is a task of high importance as you anticipate Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Even if you’re a beginner, you can take a few small steps to improve your SEO. But remember, SEO gains take time, so get started now — the sooner you optimize, the better.

If you want to dig deeper into optimization, consider taking a few additional measures to improve. We recently outlined 13 key steps to boosting your SEO, but check out these main takeaways:

1. Ensure that you’re using a quality hosting provider. (Ahem, over here. Waves.) This can make a big difference. A reliable hosting service that helps your site perform will aid in your site ranking highly.
2. Choose a site theme that’s designed with SEO in mind. There are many themes available out there, but not all will help your site increase in rank. Not only does a well-picked web template provide an attractive layout and improved functionality (which aids SEO, too), but its quality code does wonders for optimization. When choosing a theme, look for ones identified as “SEO-Friendly.”
3. Use an SEO plugin, like Yoast. 
4. Improve your permalink structure.
5. Use a responsive design (meaning: works across devices — see the “Make Your Site Mobile” section above).
6. Get wordy! Long-form content is rewarded by Google algorithms, so go in-depth on your blog posts and be comprehensive. Provide value. And don’t forget to analyze and organize content. Perform a content audit if necessary.
7. Optimize your images. Resize your photos to increase load times and use the right file format. Oh, and no “asdfjk.jpeg” file names here. Get descriptive on your photo files. Really, it helps.

Related: How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy

Simplify Your Navigation

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping weekend is crucial for your business or website. Fail to simplify your navigation, and you could be looking at potentially lost sales and disengaged — not to mention frustrated — customers. 

Don’t squander your opportunity by making your website a maze of riddles. It’s got to be easy to navigate. 

Whether that means streamlining your design or improving the menu, tidy up your site structure. Simplify searches and checkout processes so that your customer can get from Point A to Point B in a minimal number of clicks — and you can make those sales that much faster.

Reduce Your Load Times

A reality check here: No customer (Black Friday-frenzied or not) will stick around on a slow site. 

As attention spans on the web get increasingly shortened, you need to think speed. One major key to a speedy site? Your site’s design. We outlined all the dos and don’ts in-depth, but here’s what you need to know for the holiday crunch:

1. Choose a good hosting provider (Check! We’ve got your back).
2. Optimize your images.
3. Minify resources like JavaScript and CSS.
4. Leverage browser caching. If you’re using WordPress, you can use a handy plugin or utilize our services.
5. Get rid of outdated or unused plugins.
6. Utilize expired headers.
7. Enable CSS sprites.
8. Implement open-source AMP technology (a Google-developed initiative designed to help developers build sites run optimally on mobile). Use the AMP WordPress plugin to start.
9. Once you’ve used your load-speed toolbox, test your site’s performance with Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

6. Be Available for Customer Service

While shopping, your customers may have an urgent question about your holiday sale, sizing, or shipping (or a million other things). 

If possible, be available to answer their up-to-the-minute questions during the Thanksgiving weekend. If you anticipate heavy crowds, assemble a team to help address consumers’ pressing needs, and leave them with a positive and memorable customer service experience. 

Related: How Your Online Business Can Nail Customer Service

Enable a live chat function on your site or have a customer service email readily available for them to contact you — and be waiting by the keyboard. 

Glasses retailer Warby Parker makes customer service easy with accessible buttons.

(And you DreamHost users know that you can count on us on Black Friday. We’re just a chat away.)

7. Test, Test, Test

The best way to anticipate any potential glitches or problems with your e-commerce site during the holiday shopping rush is to test it. 

We know we sound like a broken-record-meets-Jan-Brady, but: TEST, TEST, TEST. 

Think about it: You wouldn’t turn in a term paper without reading through it, using spell check, or editing for grammar mistakes. And the way your site looks is just as high-stakes for your business, so perform necessary trial runs.

Test your links for functionality (this handy WordPress tool can help), analyze responsiveness across devices, check load times, and even request visitors’ feedback. The more you can correct beforehand, the better.

8. Plan for Contingencies

By now, 2020 has taught us all that even the best-laid plans sometimes go awry. So in your preparation, you should try to account for unforeseen circumstances (like website downtime) and — dare we say it — emergencies you might encounter during the holiday shopping rush.

Besides allowing us to Zoom in our pajamas and inspiring our makeshift WFH spaces, the pandemic has caused us to pivot in many business-altering ways. Some things to think about as you prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday: 

• Do you have no-contact pickup options for online sales? Make sure to set up curbside pickup as a delivery option on your website. 
• You might need to bulk-buy hand sanitizer or make your meetings virtual. But your website also needs crisis-friendly adjustments. Website owners should make sure to update eleven key things. 
• Are you a service-based business used to running your business IRL? If you’re needing to adapt and run operations online, consult these moving tips. (No heavy-furniture-lifting required.)

Luckily, preparation can help you anticipate some of those potential mishaps. Make a contingency plan for situations that may arise — like an “if ___, then ___” exercise — so that you can quickly correct problems (and keep your blood pressure low because #holidaystress).

To help prevent unanticipated issues, take a few prep steps, like analyzing your site’s past Black Friday statistics (see the next section) and asking helpers to stand by. 

9. Analyze Your Results

A good rule of thumb after executing a plan is to review your outcomes. Whether you utilize Google Analytics or another metrics platform, gather the data and use it to make informed decisions on how to improve your site. 

Don’t let those numbers go to waste — they provide you with valuable info about customers’ behavioral patterns and a starting point for further improvement. Dedicate specific time to reviewing last year’s data (as you prep for this year’s shopping rush) and this year’s — so that you can continue to reap the financial benefits of the holiday shopping season. 

Related: 20 Metrics Every Blogger Needs to Track to Measure Success

Are You Ready for Black Friday Weekend?

Hey, you’ve made it this far into 2021. Give yourself a pat on the back. Wave your mask in the air. We know it’s been hard. But as the holiday shopping season approaches, you can still prime your business operations to take advantage of and prepare for the increase in online traffic. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a big deal for your website, and the time to prepare your site and strategy is now!

With a website primed for handling the e-crowds and a winning marketing strategy designed for our “new normal”, you’ll be able to navigate Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 and turn seasonal shoppers into frequent buyers that’ll follow you into 2021. 

Ready to optimize your site for Black Friday? Start with DreamHost. Leave migrating your site, installing WordPress, managing security and updates, and optimizing server performance to us. Now you can focus on what matters most — taking care of your customers! Check out plans today.

The post How to Prepare Your Website for Black Friday and Cyber Monday appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

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The Best Tech Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

It’s that magical time of year again when spooks and spirits abound. And what better way to celebrate Halloween season than by watching some scary movies alone in the dark? Mwahahaha!

Evil laughter aside, horror films have a storied history, beginning in the silent era with stars like Lon Chaney and Max Schreck up until present-day hits like Get Out and The Witch. Audiences can’t get enough scary cinema. And a common theme running throughout the horror genre?

Technology.

Think about it: High tech and horror go together like tricks and treats. History’s horror catalog is filled with countless mad scientists, killer robots, and imaginative technologies that come with unintended — not to mention terrifying — consequences.

So armed with a bucket of popcorn and a fair bit of hubris, we decided to combine our love for technology (we’re a web hosting company, after all) and horror films to find out which ones deliver the biggest tech scares.

Fair warning: this isn’t a list of family-friendly flicks. Many of these are down-and-out, shock-and-awe, blood-and-gore horror films, so use discretion if you’re screening around young ghosts and goblins, OK?

Now it’s time to get into the Halloween spirit: Turn off the lights, queue up Netflix, and back up your website — it’s going to be a spooky ride.

Web Hosting Shouldn't Give You the Creepies

Starting a website can seem terrifying, but it's not like watching a scary movie when you partner with DreamHost! Plans start at $2.59/mo.

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Science Gone Mad

Our first category features horror scares that revolve around a single scientist or scientific goal. These scary films definitively prove why clinical trials are a * very* good idea.

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Dir. James Whale — 1h 15m

In the sequel to Whale’s own 1931 classic, Frankenstein, a new mad scientist, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), shows up to continue Dr. Frankenstein’s work, who now wants nothing to do with his disastrous experiments. Pretorius finds The Monster (Boris Karloff) and promises him a mate.

What unfolds is an amalgam of creepy imagery, religious symbolism, and psychological games — as you realize, despite his brutality, The Monster is a deeply sympathetic character. Pretorius eventually does create a mate for The Monster — The Bride of Frankenstein (Elsa Lanchester) — and you guessed it: It doesn’t end well.

Fiend Without a Face (1958)

Dir. Arthur Crabtree — 1h 14m

The constant outpouring of nuclear power from a U.S. Air Force test facility causes one of the neighboring town’s retired scientists, R. E. Walgate (Kynaston Reeves), to covertly reroute some of the power to his own lab, where he’s secretly conducting telekinesis experiments.

Through these experiments, Walgate ends up inadvertently creating a race of invisible “thought” monsters that attack the townspeople and suck out their brains in order to multiply. These creatures are completely invisible for much of the film until they finally appear as slimy brains that slither around via their attached spinal cords. Suspenseful with an incredibly high “ick” factor, this horror movie is a fantastic watch.

Altered States (1980)

Dir. Ken Russell — 1h 42m

Professor Edward Jessup (William Hurt) is an abnormal psychologist who experiments with hallucinogens in a sensory deprivation tank. By doing so repeatedly, he begins tapping into a previously undiscovered part of the human mind.

His wife, Emily Jessup (Blair Brown), desperately tries to calm him down from his infatuation with this alternate reality, but Edward insists that he’s about to find the next big breakthrough in the field of evolutionary science. The results of his obsession are very unexpected and truly horrifying.

Complete with disturbing hallucinogenic sequences and a mind-altering musical score, this film is one heck of a ride.

Re-Animator (1985)

Dir. Stuart Gordon — 1h 26m

Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is a medical student who attempts to reanimate the dead using a special serum. During his experiments on both animals and people, he uses especially high doses that result in the subjects behaving insanely violent.

As West starts to become obsessively self-consumed, more bodies are reanimated and wreak havoc, and this horror movie becomes an all-out gorefest.

Honestly, this has some of the most unique — and utterly disgusting — makeup effects in film history. It’s gross, irreverent, and funny.

From Beyond (1986)

Dir. Stuart Gordon — 1h 26m

Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) — yep, another Pretorius — and his assistant, Dr. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs), develop a device called the Resonator, which emits a frequency that enlarges the brain’s pineal gland allowing those within range to see a reality beyond normal human perception.

Pretorius becomes obsessed with the machine’s power and crosses over into a parallel dimension, leaving his lifeless physical body behind. Tillinghast and a new scientist, Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton), conduct further research on the Resonator to discover what happened. What unfolds is a series of grotesque sequences and haunting visuals that scream 1986.

Scanners (1981)

Dir. David Cronenberg – 1h 43 min

This cult classic definitely has some Stranger Things vibes — at least where offspring-with-mind-numbing-superpowers content is concerned. In this case, a fictional drug causes pregnant test subjects to bear children with altered neurological functioning — specifically, with telepathic and telekinetic ability.

These individuals, called Scanners, are now an underground channel of curiosities, locked in an unconventional good versus evil tug-of-war between those Scanners who are learning to control their abilities and those wanted for use as weapons in building a new world order.

This thought-provoking horror film is especially well-suited for gore-hounds — yep, that much-talked-about head-explosion scene is only the half of it.

Tech Gone Awry

Each of the films in this category focus on a single type of technology. Someone should have QA’d this ish.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace — 1h 38m

Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy), the owner of a Halloween mask manufacturer, is gearing up for his biggest sale of the year. Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) is investigating a mysterious death that seems to be connected to the masks.

Unfortunately, detailing the technological aspects of the plot would spoil it for you, so you’ll just have to watch it. I promise it’ll surprise you.

Though audiences disliked this film when it was released (mainly due to the fact that it didn’t have anything to do with the series’ iconic antagonist, Michael Myers), it’s a uniquely interesting take on the original Halloween horror franchise and makes for a great watch during spooky season.

The Fly (1986)

Dir. David Cronenberg — 1h 36m

This remake of the 1958 classic film is centered around Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), an eccentric scientist who is in the process of building a set of telepods capable of instantaneous teleportation. Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), a science journalist, is invited to Brundle’s lab to document his process.

After several attempts with inanimate objects and animals, Brundle is convinced the telepods are ready for human trial and uses himself as the guinea pig, not realizing that a housefly snuck into the pod prior to the experiment. Brundle’s human DNA and the fly’s DNA become intertwined, and we witness his methodical and eventual transition into a human-fly hybrid.

Combining impressive effects with humorous and compelling performances, this film is a modern sci-fi body horror classic and an absolute must-watch.

eXistenZ (1999)

Dir. David Cronenberg — 1h 37m

Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a world-renowned video game developer, famous for her virtual reality games played on biotechnological VR gaming consoles that connect directly into human spinal cords. Geller demonstrates her newest game, “eXistenZ,” to a focus group where she is shot by a member of a counter-VR group called the Realists. Ted Pikul (Jude Law), a marketing trainee, rushes to her aid, and the two of them embark on a harrowing journey through what may or may not be part of the “eXistenZ” game narrative.

You’re never quite sure what is real or what is virtual reality, and that’s one of the reasons why this film is so darn compelling. It’s also inherently eerie and will leave you scratching your head — in a good way.

Pulse (2001)

Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa — 1h 58m

Several people in Tokyo discover ghosts entering the living world — and consuming lives — via the internet. Well, that’s the simple explanation. Kurosawa weaves a complex narrative with a lot of plot points happening beyond what we see on the screen.

The themes of death, suicide, depression, love, isolation, despair, and hope are all present in the film. Let’s put it this way: This scary story will sit with you for a while. It’s easily one of the creepiest and most compelling horror films made in the last 20 years.

The Den (2013)

Dir. Zachary Donohue — 1h 21m

Elizabeth Benton (Melanie Papalia) is a grad student who is conducting sociological research on a video chat service called The Den. She ends up video chatting with a number of people from all over the world until she witnesses a live murder. After looking into the murder, the killer’s focus turns on her and her friends, resulting in a grizzly and unexpected series of events.

The entire film is made up of spliced together computer and phone footage, but this isn’t just another stale, by-the-numbers found-footage gambit. The suspense is palpable, and it results in a twist that is both surprising and terrifying. It’s an underrated horror gem.

Ghost in the Machine (1993)

Dir.  Rachel Talalay — 1h 35m

Karl Hopkins (Ted Marcoux), a serial killer and local computer technician (because hey, even murderers need a day job) is hunting down his next victims when he crashes his car in a storm. While undergoing an MRI, a lightning surge transforms his mind into electrical energy, which he then uses to continue his reign of terror, infiltrating electrical grids and computer networks to kill.

Even with this cringeworthy, trainwreck of a horror flick — featuring a ’90s view of the most overblown ideas of what tech of the future could look like — you might still, after watching, be a little hesitant to microwave that popcorn.

How to Make a Monster (2001)

Dir. George Huang – 1h 31m

The return of the deadly power surge. (Has anyone in these films ever heard of a surge protector? Just wondering.) This time, a lightning strike and an AI chip bring a frightening video game, Evilution, to life. Crafted for a new level of terror by three renowned game designers, the monstrous — and now real-life — game confines the developers alone in a building and targets them as prey.

A video game-themed storytelling of what could happen when your creation turns against you, this film ranks pretty high on the cheesiness factor but is a good pick for when you don’t want your horror getting too heavy.

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Robots Gone Bad

Last but certainly not least, when it comes to thrills, these films focus on the dark side of advances in modern robotics and artificial intelligence.

The Stepford Wives (1975)

Dir. Bryan Forbes — 1h 55m

In this psychological thriller, Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross) is a freelance photographer who moves from New York City to Stepford, Connecticut, with her husband Walter Eberhart (Peter Masterson), only to find that all of the women in the small town are vapid, seemingly contented housewives. Joanna befriends a fellow newcomer, Bobbie Markowe (Paula Prentiss), with whom she begins to unravel the sinister plot.

Joanna eventually realizes that the self-obsessed husbands of Stepford are replacing their wives with androids, programmed only to keep house and support their husbands implicitly. Though this social satire is soaked in transparency, it’s an entertaining and suspenseful viewing experience. Plus, the ending is a masterfully executed exercise in psychological chills.

Demon Seed (1977)

Dir. Donald Cammell — 1h 34m

Dr. Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver) is the creator of Proteus IV, a particularly advanced AI software that was built to solve the world’s biggest problems — think disease and famine. His wife, Susan Harris (Julie Christie), feels estranged from Alex, and the situation is made worse by Alex leaving her to focus more on his research.

Proteus IV becomes self-aware and motivated to procreate. Susan gets unintentionally caught up in the AI’s plan, and what follows is an experimental science fiction film that tests the boundaries of what is morally right and wrong. It’s a fascinating watch.

Alien (1979)

Dir. Ridley Scott — 1h 57m

Though this timeless sci-fi horror film primarily deals with the eponymous “alien,” one of the most chilling and unexpected parts of this thriller is the reveal of the AI character. For those of you who still haven’t seen it, we won’t give away exactly who it is. But trust me, it’s a solid twist.

After a commercial resource-gathering mission, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the crew of the spaceship Nostromo are returning to Earth when they intercept a distress call from the planetoid, LV-426. And that’s when the excrement starts hitting the fan at a methodical and spine-shivering pace.

The film does an immaculate job of familiarizing the audience with the social environment of the Nostromo crew, so when the android character is made known, it’s a very effective reveal. If you haven’t seen it already, do it. It’s a classic for a reason.

Chopping Mall (1986)

Dir. Jim Wynorski — 1h 17m

The Park Plaza Mall has recently installed a brand new team of high-tech security robots to patrol the complex at night and make sure there are no intruders. Unfortunately, a group of teenage mall employees is planning an after-hours party in the mattress store — if you know what I mean.

Of course, the security robots malfunction and go on a killing spree. This scary film is pure 1980s schlock at its finest. The acting is terrible, the action is laughable, but the entertainment value is 100. It’s a genuinely great piece of trash cinema.

Hardware (1990)

Dir. Richard Stanley — 1h 34m

Moses Baxter (Dylan McDermott) is a scavenger in a futuristic urban wasteland. He buys an old robot head off a mysterious trader and gives it to his on-again, off-again lover, Jill (Stacey Travis). Jill installs the robot head to an android body that she’s already been working on — as one does. But soon, the robot develops a tenacious bloodlust and starts terrorizing everyone in its path.

Auteur director Richard Stanley is a controversial figure, admired by some and panned by others. The world he creates in this film is engrossing and admirably executed, but you’ll have to be the judge of whether or not this is cinema gold. For our money, it’s worth a watch.

Related: Your Website Downtime Survival Guide

Jump Scares Ahead

Well, there you have it: 15 fun tech horror movies to watch this spooky season. Sink your claws into as many of these films as you like, and if you’re a horror fan — let us know if we’ve missed one of your scary film favorites.

Here’s wishing you all a safe and happy Halloween! Just remember: Technology can be a real killer.

The post The Best Tech Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

source https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/best-tech-horror-movies/

7 Best Practices for Buying A Good Domain Name

If you’re looking to run your next small business entirely online, choosing the right domain is essential. You’ll need to develop a strategy, do some market research, and, of course, brainstorm a ton of ideas. So instead of taking advice from your uncle who is “really smart with computers,” here are seven best practices for buying a good domain name. 

1. The Best TLD Is .Com

Despite hundreds of new Top Level Domain extensions hitting the market in recent years, .com still reigns supreme for overall brand recognition and search traffic. In fact, just 12 of the top 50 domains use a non-dot-com — like .org and .net — and only a handful use a new TLD! That’s not to say your business is doomed to fail if you go with a less-traditional domain extension. Just plan on increasing your marketing spend if you go with something like .hiphop, .kitchen, or .studio.

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2. Think About Keywords and Localization

If you’re a local business, trying to get your services seen by the community using regional or descriptive keywords is a solid plan. While many local business owners may have already taken advantage of this method in your area, you can look into variations of the keyword groupings to find a suitable match that still works in your favor — LAshoerepair.com versus shoerepairLA.com, for example. Depending on your budget, you could look into buying similar variations of your domain name and having them redirect to your site. This would hinder competitor meddling — a lesson Jeb Bush learned the hard way during the domain wars of the 2016 election.

Related: How to Do Keyword Research for Your WordPress Blog

3. Spell It Simply

If your domain follows the basic principles of the English language, you’ve already taken a step in the right direction. Think about the scenario of pitching your business offline to potential customers. If they buy into your pitch, their next step would be navigating to your website. If your domain uses slang or nontraditional spelling, you’ve already put a roadblock in front of your potential customer, which could result in a negative impact on your business

4. Keep It Short and Sweet

With our attention spans shrinking, people these days can’t be bothered to think — or type — too long. So keep your domain name simple. Even though your idea may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, you should tighten it down if it has more than three syllables.

Related: Improve Your Search Engine Rankings with These Tools

5. Make It Roll off the Tongue

Word of mouth is still — and will always be — one of the most effective marketing tools for your small business. If your domain name sounds like gibberish, potential customers probably won’t know how to spell it either.

6. Avoid Anything That’s Not a Letter

Adding numbers or hyphens to your domain name is like having to tell someone your email address. Mistakes will inevitably be made, and it usually ends with you having to write it down. But even when you’re able to get your domain without the hyphens, savvy domainers often buy the hyphenated variations of their primary domain as well — in case competition comes knocking.

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7. Brainstorm and Research Domain Ideas

Now for the fun part. Come up with 20 domain names you like, keeping the best practices we’ve outlined above in mind. Then, look up each of these names using our domain search tool. If you see that a domain is already taken by a legitimate business, put that at the bottom of your list. If you land on a domain with generic directories, “under construction” graphics, or just a blank page, you can see who owns the domain and try to contact them regarding a potential sale. Or you can pull out a thesaurus and whip up a few more ideas.

Related: What Is Domain Privacy Protection?

Get ‘Em While They’re Hot

The number of available premium domain names is slowly fading due to increased internet access across the world. On top of that, the number of domain name disputes is growing at an alarming rate. There were more disputes in 2016 than in the previous 10 years combined. So the longer you wait to buy a domain, the worse your chances are of landing the one you actually want.

Like most things in life, finding the right domain comes down to good preparation. And now you’ve done the legwork. You know what makes a good domain, you’ve got 20 ideas that could work for your business, and you know where to check for availability.

After all, what’s in a name? In a word: everything.

Reporting by Matthew Lebo

The post 7 Best Practices for Buying A Good Domain Name appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

source https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/best-practices-for-buying-a-domain/