Email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and usability/customer experience are the top priorities for online marketers this holiday season according to a recent survey. The survey was conducted by online solutions provider Brulant at the Shop.org 2007 Annual Summit held in Las Vegas in September.

Sixty-four percent of respondents ranked email marketing as their most important priority, with 46% ranking SEO as second. Usability/customer experience was third with 38%. The initiative with the least importance in advance of the important holiday shopping season was enterprise search/guided navigation solutions.

“During the crucial holiday shopping season, online marketers must focus their efforts on initiatives that will have the biggest impact on sales, and these three areas fit that bill,” said Scott Young, partner with the consumer goods practice at Brulant. “Because most consumers give themselves a spending limit when it comes to holiday shopping, online retailers need to ensure they are successfully attracting and converting customers so that those holiday dollars don’t get spent at a competitor’s site instead.”

Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071112/20071112006040.html?.v=1