Christmas Searches Already in Full Swing

According to competitive intelligence service Hitwise, the holiday shopping season started revving up in September this year as searchers started the buying process with increased interest in phrases like "christmas gift ideas," "christmas gifts" and "christmas decorations."

"The fact that Christmas-related search queries begin ramping up in September demonstrates the length of the online researching and buying process," said Bill Tancer, General Manager of Global Research at Hitwise. "A similar pattern was noted when Halloween-related queries began increasing in mid August. Clearly online shoppers have become accustomed to longer lead times and use the Internet to plan out their holiday activities."

As for what items are hot this year, Hitwise reports that searches for the Apple iPod are topping the charts. Other popular searches include "Barbie," "xbox 360," "build a bear" and "dell computers."

Hitwise also reports that traffic to popular retailers is already up 7% over this time last season.

While it may be too late to get into the mix with organic search marketing for the holidays, businesses still have time to launch pay per click campaigns. For a few quick tips on getting started and maximizing your ROI, check out these recent Search Engine Guide articles:

• The Number One Rule of Pay-Per-Click
• Help Set Your Budget with Pay-Per-Click Calculator
• Starting Small with Pay-Per-Click will Pay Off
• The Purpose of Pay-per-Click - Part One: Short Term Campaigns
• PPC: If You Aren't Number One...You Still Get Customers...