Time to prepare your business for the Christmas period!

In case you didn’t know already…the Christmas season is coming! The run-up to Christmas is one of two times in the year, with April-May time usually, when there is a boom in online business. We are a little over one month away from the holidays, so now would be the best time to look at how to maximise the seasonal performance of your business. One of the best ways to do this is benchmarking.

Checking the performance of your business in previous years is a good indicator of how well it can do at a certain time of the year. You have the data which can tell you how to do as well or better this year. Google Analytics can show you seasonal trends, with details aplenty. It is best to compare one previous year with another: if there was growth during a specific period in those two years, then you can expect that same growth rate in that same period this year. However, if there was higher growth in one year than another, try to find out why. Did you make positive changes to your website at that time? Did you launch a new product, which turned out to be a hit? Can this be repeated again this year? Make sure to also take into account market changes in those years, to try to explain seasonal trends. If there were any market changes for your business this year, how can you capitalise on them?

Remember: just because Christmas is coming, it does not mean you should just sit self-assuredly in your chair and wait for Santa Claus to come to town and bring you great business. Preparation and planning are everything, and you should keep an eye on all the opportunities available to you at this point in time, no matter how well things usually went in previous years.

For more useful information about benchmarking for Christmas:

http://www.ppchero.com/benchmarking-ppc-in-your-industry-for-the-holiday-season/