If you want to get a serious boost from the holiday season this year, we suggest you start testing immediately. Early shoppers will be out in force in the next couple weeks, with the season really ramping up in November. Many experts expect e-comm sales to be especially strong thanks to high prices at the pump. Why spend upwards of three dollars a gallon when you can connect online and do everything from home??

The best thing about testing and optimizing through October is that the results are likely to remain consistent through the rest of the year, yet it is before the bulk of holiday sales are made. What would a 20% higher sales conversion rate do for your 4th quarter numbers this year??

Things to test? Free shipping offers work particularly well. Try varying the threshold for qualifying for free shipping. How about free gift wrapping? I have not seen this used as a promotion myself, but if it came down to it, I am sure it would sway many folks.

We just squeaked in under the wire this month. Our September newsletter went out on Friday the 30th. It is a good one too, with a big article about testing your homepage.

You can view it here: http://www.vertster.com/newsletter/newsletter.asp?newsletterID=18

Andrew Goodman’s new book, “Winning Results with Google Adwords,” is out, and looks like a winner. (no pun intended.) This book looks to be the defacto resource on Google Adword advertising… the bible of sorts. I haven’t had a chance to read much of it yet, but it appears to be very comprehensive at 352 pages. Whether you consider yourself a beginner, or expert at Adwords, surely there is something in here that will be of use to you.

The book starts with a look at the size of the PPC advertising market, and how Google got into it. Next comes basic information on how to set up and manage your account. This is followed by the best part of the book in my opinion… the intermediate and advanced stategies. Things like how to write powerful copy, tracking users after they click, and increasing conversion rates. There is even a section on landing page fundamentals.

Order your copy today from Amazon.com and save 32%. This is a very smart purchase at only $16.99.

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