The COVID-19 crisis has had a tremendous impact on consumer behavior, search patterns, media consumption habits and budgets. The times are different now, and in order to survive, businesses have to re-think their SEO strategies.
You may be thinking to yourself, ‘why should I invest in SEO during COVID-19’? And, that’s a very valid question. Especially during the pandemic, when brands and businesses have taken a bad hit. We’ll tell you why investing in SEO during COVID-19 maybe a good idea for your business.
The thing is, between January and March 2020, marketing channels like PPC has seen a reduction in budget. Google search ads have lost 7% of their impressions. But, SEO is seeing a sharp uptick. And, here’s why!
SEO Is a Cost-Effective Investment in the Future of Your Business
It is true that the Corona Virus pandemic has greatly impacted purchases, but that doesn’t mean the internet people are all offline. In fact, people are now more online than ever. And, despite the current economic conditions, you’d want people to recall your brand easily. Staying at the top of their mind has a great advantage. You are first one they’d think of anytime they are ready to make a purchase. SEO is a smart investment in the future of your business, and the best thing about it is: It is cost-effective as compared to other marketing channels.
Tips To Build a Strong SEO Strategy during COVID-19
- Revisit Your Content Strategy: This is a time of chaos and confusion. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply influenced consumer sentiments, and they are less optimistic about brands and businesses following through on the claims they make. Now is the time to build trust and not to push people to make a purchase. So, the good old sales pitch will have to take a back seat. Revisit your content strategy to tell your consumers how your brand can bring them hope or make them feel more in control of their lives.
- Create Educational Content: This is a good time to educate your consumer, and tell them about the 5 or 10 different things that they didn’t know about your product and services, and how that can make life easier for them during the COVID-19 pandemic. As per research, consumers are 48% more likely to buy from brands that publish educational content.
- Manage Your Online Presence: Not just consumers, even search engines prefer brands that establish trust and transparency. Back in 2018, Google had included Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (also known as E-A-T) in its guidelines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, trust is the keyword. The more trust you build, the more likely users will click on your content in the SERPs.
- Update Your Schema & Google Listings- Make sure that Google is showing the accurate and updated information about your products and services, and the hours you operate. In a fast-changing world like this, if your brand or business help meet consumer expectations by updating product availability schema, it portrays you in a good light, and makes you much more useful in the eyes of the consumer.
- Refer To Google Search Console Results: Web traffic coming from organic search is an important indicator of where the demand lies. Spikes or declines in traffic will show you where and how the demand has shifted, and it will provide you with important insights about what kind of information will be relevant for your consumers at this point in time.
- Capture Important Search Terms: The world has changed, and so has SEO. If you are investing in SEO during COVID-19, make sure you revisit your keywords. The pandemic itself is the most searched topic. So, use COVID-19 related topics that are relevant to your business as keywords, and guide your audience to product and services that will create value for them during this time.
- Invest In More Than Technical SEO: The good old core SEO ranking factors aren’t going anywhere. They continue to exist. But, now is the time to do something more. Brands and businesses should be aware of consumer sensitivities, and use their insights to shape up new SEO strategies during COVID-19.
- Benefit from New Customers: Having a high ranking on the SERPs is always a plus. Even during the pandemic, there will always be customers who have the buying power. And, they may be considering a purchase. All it takes is a little nudge from your end, like showing up at the right place and at the right time. With the changing times, your target audience may also change to some extent. By investing in SEO during COVID-19, you can benefit from new customers.
The Conclusion
To sum it up, SEO was, is and will be an important aspect of digital marketing. It may come in more handy than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it will work for you or not, also depends on the SEO agency that you choose to partner with. Not all SEO services are the same. Some agencies do more than take care of SEO ranking factors. They provide you with sound advice that will help you during the tough times. And, we’re one of them.
IMZ Media Solutions has been around for the last 10 years. During this time, we have helped several brands with our hard-hitting, ROI centric approach. But, what we appreciate the most, is the lasting client relations that we have been able to form over these years. Now is the time to strengthen old bonds, and build new ones. So, if you choose to place your trust in us, we promise you that we’ll make it through the tough times together. Get in touch with our SEO experts today! Call us at + 91 22 23682245/8998, or write to us at info@imzmediasolutions.com
