Most of us want to find the easiest path to success as evidenced by the number of weight loss gurus, books and programs.  Eat better and exercise more seems to be the essence of what most experts recommend, but since that isn’t easy for most us, we look for simpler, less painful answers. 

It is no different for online marketers.  We are looking for the silver bullet, the sure thing —the way to better SEO rankings, attracting more customers, improving our conversions, increasing our customer loyalty, etc. 

The reality is that there are no silver bullets in online marketing.  There are best practices and time-tested approaches, but those are no guarantees of success.  There are just too many variables to say a given approach will work in every situation. 

That doesn’t mean we throw-up our hands and give-up.  What it means is that we need to spend time to look at what we know, identify improvements to test, implement those tests, review the results, and make changes accordingly.

If you don’t have the time to do all of these, you need to re-prioritize resources to find the time or hire someone to help.  It is that important.

Internet Retailer reported that according to the Chase Paymentech Pulse Index, December 15th had the highest online sales volume during this past holiday season. Despite the attention given to the first Monday after Thanksgiving, dubbed Cyber Monday, online sales volume was actually higher on almost every day following November 27, through Thursday, December 21.

What was also interesting is how strong sales were through December 21.  There is no doubt that retailers are better able to push for last minute sales as they have improved  fulfillment operations, allowing them to take orders later in the season and still guarantee delivery by Christmas.

Each year it seems like the holiday shopping season starts sooner and lasts longer and online marketers must ensure that their plans encompass the entire season.