Vacation a shop or not? Best practice?

[Former_Member]

I have read on other threads in the past, that putting a shop "on vacation" dramatically impacts SEO and it takes a long time to build things back up after take the shop out of vacation mode. People who have said that suggested just putting a note in the shop announcement as well as changing the note to buyer when something is purchased, stating the date items will ship after you return.

With the changes to relevancy, I wonder if it is now wiser to put a shop on vacation to avoid potential customer frustration.

What's the scoop? What works best? I'm getting ready to make a decision for a short time away and want to make the best choice here. Thanks!

[Former_Member]

I no longer put my shop on vacation mode for SEO reasons. It is SO difficult to be found online that when you finally do, and the customer sees nothing (which is what they will see when you go on vacation mode) but a "you're away" message, it seems counterproductive (to me, anyway).

Instead, I post my Vacation Mode BANNER which has my shop sign on 2/3 of the pic and the "vacation message" on 1/3 of the pic. My shop remains open - they can browse - but nothing ships until I get back. On my last trip this past July, I had LOTS of VIEWS and 4 sales while I was away. Customers didn't complain and all understood that nothing would be shipped until I got back.

Have fun on your break!