The holiday shopping season is just around the corner. Is your small business website ready to capture the spike in demand? Is your website going to maximize your revenue this holiday season?

So, what exactly are companies doing to prepare their websites for the holiday season?

According to a Website Marketing NOW poll conducted throughout September 2008 at the Website Marketing NOW website, many small businesses are adding video, user-generated reviews and user-generated content to enhance their sites in time for the holiday season.

The poll asked the question: “What new features will you add this holiday season to your small business website?”

Out of a potential six defined answers, the responses "Video", "User-Generated Reviews" and "User-Generated Content" received the most votes, with 33%, 25% and 17% of the votes respectively. Trailing significantly behind these three marketing tactics were "Audio," "Product Recommendations" and "Personalization." The option "Other" did not receive any votes in the poll.

The results not surprisingly indicate that small businesses are leveraging the recent growth in interest and technical platforms for online video. The online population is now expecting video more than ever before, even in a standard online shopping experience.

With this in mind, it would behoove any small business to assess its website’s marketing strengths and weaknesses leading up to the holiday season, and to evaluate the opportunities for adding video and user-generated reviews and/or content.

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