After a rough year for retailers, it looks like things are perking up for the holidays, especially on Bing. According to the SearchIgnite Mid Q4 Search Marketing Report published last week, in the first half of Q4 conversion rates were up across all major search engines by 17% year over year. US search spend is following the same trend, up 7% over the same time period.

Conversion rates and spend are clearly on the rise, however average order value is not trending in the same direction. Average transaction value has dropped 27% year over year. Despite consumers scaling back a bit this holiday, the report shows you're in good hands with the Bing audience. SearchIgnite's research found that average order values on Bing are 21% higher than across all engines. In a time when ROI comes first, Bing will give you the biggest bang for your buck.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now behind us, but its not to late to optimize for those holiday shoppers. Research released by CrownPeak shows we can all gain from making sure we are driving customers to a relevant landing page this holiday. According to CrownPeak, "the majority of online ad campaigns and website content were not linked, a core strategy often required to drive successful online advertising efforts." Close to two-thirds of holiday ads are directing to a broader page (homepage, search page, or category page) rather than directly to the product in the search ad. With 22 shopping days to go, now is the perfect time to update your landing pages, and make sure you are bringing customer's one click away from that holiday purchase.

Happy Holidays!