If the calendar hasn’t tipped you off to the upcoming holiday season, then a growing spate of TV commercials will. The retailers’ most prolific season seems to start earlier every year, and it’s never too soon to jump on board.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and even Festivus—all these marquee events bring out the generosity and giving spirit in consumers worldwide. And as the ratio of onsite purchasing versus online sales continues to shift, it’s even more important to rev up for a hot holiday commerce opportunity.
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You may have some sentimental ways to make your end-of-year sales period special, and that’s critical for your brand. But if you’re open to some tips from experts, pay attention to these specialized strategies.

From everyone here at Cennos, we're sending Thanksgiving wishes across the miles from our offices to yours. 

May your home be filled with friends and family, laughter and happiness, and plenty of delicious dishes. 

It’s never too late to change, even if you’re looking for a fresh new start with a website. Ecommerce vendors will be evolving virtually on a constant basis as they go forward with adjusting to new technologies and the growth of their business.

By now you’ve either heard of or have been using WordPress as a content management system. Its transformation over the last decade has been astounding, becoming one of the most sophisticated, adaptable, and even user-friendly platforms. At $25 per month for a business site, it’s a phenomenal bargain.
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What makes it even better? A boat load of extra options. Plug-ins for WordPress can increase its functionality and convenience to the point where your site is practically running itself. And they offer up handy features that you would otherwise have to search for and install separately.
If you’d like a primer on starting or upgrading your WordPress site, check out this guide.

By now you’ve at least explored the concept of creating a website that shows your brand at its best, and forms the foundation of conducting commerce through cyberspace. And since the ultimate goal is to make your site viewed and read by as many people as possible, you’ll need to learn how to crack the code of becoming search engine optimized. The balancing act of utilizing search-optimized syntax and offering readable, relatable, and compelling verbiage can be a challenge. Ultimately, though, it can make or break your success as an ecommerce merchant.

Do you feel as if you can’t keep up with current best practices and trends influencing site engagement? You’re not alone. It’s not a simple task, but it needn’t be prohibitive. Thanks to generous experts, the web is rife with outstanding resources on every aspect of SEO for operations of all sizes.
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Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective customer and spend some time evaluating what it is about online merchants you’ve shopped in the past. What was great about their presence? Their interface? What made you shy away from navigating around a particular entity’s page? These basic first-hand experiences can help you set up a presence that works for you.

Leveraging User-Generated Content
 
Successful merchants hype the concept of “word-of-mouth advertising” It’s hard to dispute the value of satisfied customers singing your praises to other potential clients, and making it an element of an overall marketing strategy is a win-win. But in the digital era, there are greater opportunities to engender positive input from people who are giving a thumbs-up to people they don’t even know.

Through social media and review sites, happy clientele can boost your rankings in search engines and make your brand become known to millions. The mining of user-generated content is recognized as equally important to your outreach through advertising, website excellence, and devoting countless hours to employing search engine optimization’s best practices.
And it works.

An oft-used example is the now infamous Coca Cola Co’s clever bottle labels that featured common first names. Consumers went wild for the homey idea, snapping images of themselves imbibing with a personalized bottle. That viral campaign cost the corporation absolutely nothing, and generated a windfall of invaluable advertising.
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If you’re not a Fortune 500 mega-corporation, you’re not alone. The rest of us need to expend more elbow grease into successfully employing user-generated content. Organic customer input doesn’t fall in your lap, but it’s not that difficult to find.