SEO: Now and Post Pandemic
How will SEO lead your company through COVID-19 business recovery?
The longer shelter-in-place recommendations hold, the more likely it is that consumer behavior changes will stick. Research shows it takes 66 days for people to acquire a new habit and continue doing it even when they are not forced to do so.
In the past, consumers who may not have been savvy with ecommerce have had to adapt in a major way over the last month or two. Ecommerce, curbside delivery and pickup, and buy-online-pick-up-in-store have all become the norm, and will for the foreseeable future as social distancing with COVID-19 still hangs on.
Search and the optimization of content that works to deliver the optimal search results: this is at the core of the issue. SEO gives us valuable information when it comes to consumer behavior, and is vital in times of demand fluctuation and volatility. This is why SEO will guide businesses through the economic turmoil brought on by Coronavirus.
Check out why:
1. Consumers crave guidance
Consumers need guidance when faced with scary, uncertain times. You need to provide expert advice and accurate information about COVID-19 to your consumers, showing them how your business will keep things as close to normal as it can. Let them know they can remain connected to you. There are a few ways to go about this. You could include an email opt-in, invite them to join you on social media, or link to a useful download.
Keep in mind: when linking to external sources, use the CDC or WHO as reputable sources to confirm any COVID-related information before distributing, especially when it comes to health or safety tips.
2. SEO provides long-term traffic equity
While SEO does take a big upfront investment of resources, earned search engine rankings will continue to keep paying off for many years into the future. That means the content that you are creating today will live on to serve your brand later. Plus, you can update it as you see fit to reflect your ever-changing business goals as we navigate through this economic recovery.
3. Freshness gives you a competitive edge
As you know, Google is looking for EAT content (expertise, authority, and trustworthiness). As such, it’s vital to keep putting out regular, quality published content that is well researched, cited, optimized, and original. You should also update your evergreen content. You don’t always have to be adding COVID-related content, but you should at least make sure your basic information, recommendations, and calls-to-action stay updated.
4. Bring more traffic to your content
Take this time to re-evaluate how your paid strategy supports organic and how can you bring more traffic to your content. Approximately 53 percent of all traffic to websites stems from organic search, with 83 percent of search traffic being organic and 17 percent originating from paid search. Many companies have scaled back on their paid search efforts with Coronavirus-related business interruptions.
5. Search optimization augments user experience (UX) naturally
Your new content can also improve the user UX when you apply SEO best practices to site optimization. Your site become better organized, plus it becomes easier to navigate because you’ve properly marked up, tagged, and structured optimize content.
6. SEO equals conversion optimization benefits
This is the perfect time to bridge the gap in your customers’ journey with quality content. While it may not be the best time to convert prospects to a sale, it may be OK to convert them to another action that deepens your relationship with the customer. Now, you can stay top of mind until sales can become a possibility again.
7. Use SEO in preparation for post-pandemic success
SEO, your best option for responding to ongoing COVID-19-related business interruptions quickly and accurately, brings the greatest insight into consumer behavior in real-time, in response to the pandemic as it changes.
The long-term impact Coronavirus will have on consumer behavior remains to be seen. However, one thing can be said with certainty: as the situation evolves, SEO is still the most effective way to understand and respond to your customers’ needs — both now and in the future.
Contact AVM Internet Solutions
If you need assistance with pivoting and protecting your SEO strategy, contact us today at 732-526-7590.
