Now is the time to prepare your marketing campaigns, be they ads, promotions, or emails. Look at past years to see what worked best and what didn't work at all. Consider offering one-day only sales, buy one get one free offers, and free shipping days. And it’s time to start working on holiday related content for your email campaigns.

• Review past holiday campaigns
• Decide on sales and promotions
• Create marketing emails

2. Test Performance

Online shoppers will move on in a heartbeat if your page doesn't load quickly. In fact, studies show that as little as a 1 second delay in load time means 7% fewer sales. Test your site’s average response time on multiple browsers (try Pingdom or Web Page Test). Do load tests (simulate high traffic) to see how it affects your site’s response time. These are things your web host should be able to help with.Test Site Performance on:

• Chrome
• Internet Explorer
• Safari

3. Optimize for Mobile

With mobile sales predicted to reach more than $25 billion in 2013 you’d better have your mobile site optimized! Mobile devices create an opportunity for consumers to find you anytime, anywhere. If your website doesn't have a mobile version, talk to your hosting company and find out how to set one up. Make sure your mobile site is functional, easy-to-navigate, and aesthetically pleasing on both Android and Apple devices.

• Test mobile performance on Android devices
• Test mobile performance on Apple devices
• Test navigability and functionality on both types of devices