With online sales at an all-time high, marketers should focus on SEO and quality content this holiday season.

Advertisements in search browsers and on television sets hinted at some of the deals offered on this year’s Black Friday, and comScore recently reported that the famous shopping day garnered $1.04 billion in online spending, marking a 26 percent increase from 2011. The results show that ecommerce is enjoying significant success and growth. B2C content marketers should be focused on SEO efforts as well as the creation of engaging, custom content to ensure that sites are found in SERPs during the holidays.

“With Black Friday online sales up 26 percent and surpassing $1 billion for the first time, coupled with early reports indicating that Black Friday sales in retail stores were down 1.8 percent, we can now confidently call it a multi-channel marketing phenomenon,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore.

Holiday ecommerce is up overall, with comScore reporting that Americans spent $13.7 billion on the web during the first 23 days of the shopping season. This marks a 16 percent year-over-year increase. Marketers should be sure their campaigns reach online consumers who have credit cards in hand.

Brafton recently reported that content marketing can help businesses this season as they try to place branded content in front of buyers. Engaging, custom content that inspires social conversation about a brand is a good way to encourage consumers to make purchases this holiday season. With consumers surfing the ‘net for deals more often, not just during November and December, content marketers should continue to optimize content through a number of channels to ensure brands appear in search.

Emma Siemasko is a former member of Brafton's editorial team. Emma has experience with blogging, travel writing, industry news, SEO and content marketing. She used to live in South Korea, where she mastered the art of using metal chopsticks.