There are more than enough tools you can use to Halloween-ify your WordPress website this year. Mind you, a complete overhaul isn\u2019t necessary in order to pull this off. Sometimes it\u2019s the smallest touches that work the best!<\/p>\n
Whether you prefer to trick your visitors or give them a treat this Halloween, any extra effort you put into Halloween-ifying your site is sure to get you noticed \u2013 and potentially earn you an extra look.<\/p>\n
Here are just some of the ways you can add the perfect hint of Halloween to your WordPress website.<\/p>\n
#1: Update Your Logo \u00e0 la Google<\/h3>\n
We all know what Google\u2019s logo looks like. It\u2019s simple, clean, and colorful. But every now and again\u2014usually around a major holiday or event\u2014Google will switch things up and throw up a temporary logo design for our viewing pleasure.\u00a0Halloween<\/a>\u00a0is one of those special occasions.<\/p>\n While you might not be able to pull off a full redesign of your logo like\u00a0Wes Craven<\/a>\u00a0did for Google in 2008, you can make smaller alterations to it in the spirit of Halloween:<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: If you used a design program like Photoshop or Illustrator to create your logo, you can use it now to get really funky with this. If you don\u2019t have one,\u00a0Canva<\/a>\u00a0is a free and easy-to-use design tool.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, I wrote about the\u00a0psychology of color<\/a>\u00a0in website design. Color consideration is something you carefully plot out and define when first developing your brand\u2019s color palette. But when it comes to holidays like Halloween, it\u2019s okay to throw some of those rules out the window.<\/p>\n Luckily for us, WordPress themes make it easy to update color settings. So if you want to change your font colors, your theme\u2019s background, or even the colors of your calls-to-action, go for it. Just make sure they don\u2019t clash too much against the surrounding color palette and imagery. You want to give your visitors a startle–not a total fright.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: Most WordPress themes allow you to make updates to your color palette\u2014that you can see reflected on your site in real time\u2014within the Appearance > Customize<\/strong> panel.<\/p>\n Again, when it comes to something so ingrained in your brand\u2019s identity like a font, it can be tough to break away from your pre-defined styles. However, with plenty of free fonts available online, this is a fun (and temporary) way to give your site a subtle hint of Halloween.<\/p>\n When it comes to changing up your fonts for Halloween, remember that less is more. Many of the fonts that look cool for Halloween are a tad dramatic, so try to relegate these to header text on your website\u2014or in specific locations, like pop-ups, calls-to-action, and hero images.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: There are many free fonts available that all claim to be \u201cscary,\u201d \u201cspooky,\u201d or straight-up \u201cHalloween.\u201d To help get you started, I\u2019ve picked the ones that are simple and clean enough to still look professional, while offering a unique twist on the typical Halloween-style font:<\/p>\n The devil is in the details, right? For those of you with a heavy social media presence, it would make sense to give your site\u2019s social icons some extra character. Think about it: if you know your site\u2019s visitors will head over to your social links to share content or follow your page, this is the perfect place to add a touch of Halloween.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: Use free Halloween icons from the web (see more on that below) to custom-design your own social icons or you could use pre-made ones like these\u00a0pumpkin vectors<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Easy Social Icons plugin<\/a>\u00a0will enable you to upload those icons into WordPress and swap them out for the standard ones on your site.<\/p>\n Obviously, you don\u2019t ever want someone to encounter a broken link on your site.\u00a0But<\/em>, if it should ever happen, why not give them an entertaining 404 page to land on?<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: I\u2019m a big fan of this\u00a0animated 404 page<\/a>\u00a0available on ThemeForest. It\u2019ll cost you a couple bucks, but I think it\u2019s worth it if you want to give your lost visitors a random spook.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say, hypothetically speaking, a visitor was thinking about leaving your website without taking any action (gasp!). You\u2019d want one more opportunity to grab their attention and at least get an email address before they jump ship, right?<\/p>\n Why not take this opportunity to add an exit-intent,\u00a0newsletter opt-in message<\/a>\u00a0to your site? With most plugins these days, you can change the colors, fonts, animation, and other settings to whatever you want, so this would be easy to update as a new holiday approaches.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: When you want to make that last-ditch effort count, use the WPMU DEV\u00a0Hustle plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re already in the habit of writing content for your website and social media regularly, throw in some Halloween-inspired or seasonal topics, too.<\/p>\n An example of this would be\u2026 well, I guess, this post. But your Halloween-related content doesn\u2019t have to be an educational roundup. If you want to go for pure entertainment, do it! Perhaps you run a website that sells children\u2019s shoes. If that were the case, you could write a blog post about the scariest kids to ever hit the silver screen (and then recommend the shoes they should wear if they want to catch the adults they\u2019re chasing more quickly).<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: Your imagination. And\u00a0IMDB<\/a>\u00a0is a big help if you want to write about movies.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in a giving mood this Halloween, how about running a special Halloween offer for your visitors? Here are just some promotion types to consider:<\/p>\n There are a few things to keep in mind before launching any special promotion:<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve sorted the details out, use the following tools to launch your promotion.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: Try the WPMU DEV\u00a0Popup Pro<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Slide-In<\/a>\u00a0plugins to produce well-timed, strategically placed, and fun-looking announcements around your website.<\/p>\n Want to have a little fun with your visitors? Consider hiding Halloween-related imagery around your website. If someone happens to stumble upon the random, spooky icons, they can click them open and receive a special \u201ctreat\u201d of your choosing.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: If you\u2019ve got a specific style of icon or character set you want to use, a simple Google search should help you find what you\u2019re looking for. If you want some inspiration, check out the following free sets of icons that would look great hidden around your site:<\/p>\n Even if you don\u2019t have a brick-and-mortar shop, you can still offer customers and other passers-by the opportunity to trick-or-treat on your website on Halloween.<\/p>\n Young or old, everyone loves the thrill of going from porch to porch to gather up their treats. You can recreate that feeling of \u201cIs this going to be another toothbrush-and-toothpaste kind of stop?\u201d or \u201cJackpot! I got a super-sized Milky Way!\u201d by advertising your trick-or-treat event ahead of time. Then watch as the visitors pass through on Halloween to discover the \u201ctreat\u201d you\u2019re offering.<\/p>\n Tools to Use<\/b>: Social media is a good place to start promoting this special on-site event. And for the people who already come to your website, you\u2019ll want to have promotional messages in place either directly on the site or in pop-up messages.<\/p>\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/google-halloween.gif\")
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#2: Alter Your Theme\u2019s Color Scream (Scheme)<\/h3>\n
#3: Go Spooky with Your Font<\/h3>\n
![\"Add](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/halloween-too.png\")
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#4: Vamp Up Your Social Icons<\/h3>\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/kellys-halloween-icons.jpg\"){kind=icon}
#5: Make a 404 Error Even Scarier<\/h3>\n
![\"Why](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/zombie-404.png\")
#6: Grab Your Visitors\u2019 (Attention) Before They Leave<\/h3>\n
#7: Create Seasonal Content<\/h3>\n
#8: Run a Halloween Promotion<\/h3>\n
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#9: Play Hide-and-Seek<\/h3>\n
![\"Smashing](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/smashing-magazine-halloween-icons.jpg\"){kind=icon}
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#10: Encourage Trick-or-Treating<\/h3>\n