We recently put out a video on LinkedIn about how abandoning your SEO strategy during this business downtime due to the Coronavirus, could be extremely detrimental to your business’s online presence and in fact, cost you more time and money in the long run.
Since then, there has been lots of debate online about continuing background SEO work on your website, even if it isn’t currently open for business as usual. At Colewood, we know the value that continuous SEO work has for a website, especially for one facing high volumes of competition. So, we’ve put together a few reasons that it should be full steam ahead for your search engine optimisation strategy, given that you have the means.
Keep up brand visibility
During this difficult time, some businesses will inevitably struggle to bring in the same volume of traffic as usual, but this doesn’t mean that the traffic won’t return. So, in this downtime, it is more important than ever to stay relevant and visible to ensure you remain visible to any potential new customers. Boosting your SEO during this time will help to ensure your rankings don’t drop to a place beyond recovery once this is all over.
Your ability to rank on SERPs really depends on what type of industry you work in. For example, travel businesses might find it easier to rank against the competition in comparison to the healthcare industry, as there will be more content being published around this topic.
Keep up with online search behaviour
Lockdown has changed people’s search behaviour. Not only are they spending more time indoors, there is an increased focus on self-improvement and making the most of the extra time at home. For all businesses, whether it’s relevant to the increasing trends, it could be useful to keep an eye on Google Trends to see how the lockdown is affecting search queries in your industry.
From an SEO standpoint, this means targeting content towards the rising trends. Take this time to create new relevant content for your users. This can be especially useful if your business is somehow aligned with the current situation. Whether it’s creating content about house cleaning tips, how to keep the kids entertained, creating meals from store cupboard ingredients or working out in your own home.
Prepare for a rebound
Carrying out background work on your SEO, be it refreshing meta data, link building, creating new content or improving the speed and visibility of your website can be an effective way of preparing for a rebound in traffic and revenue after we have overcome Coronavirus.
When business is booming, we rarely get time to truly sit back and review things fully. Take this time to scrutinise your marketing and SEO strategy and implement necessary changes to increase the effectiveness of the work you do. Whether this is topping up employee marketing knowledge with online courses, adapting the content you create to suit the changing search habits of users, or finding an SEO expert to take on all the necessary work themselves.
Adapt your strategy
While many businesses have been hit hard by the Coronavirus, there are some that are taking the lockdown and adapting to the lifestyle changes that has come along with COVID-19. For companies that feel they are unable to carry on business as usual, it can be beneficial to adapt your strategy.
Examples include event companies hosting online events and webinars, gyms and fitness classes providing online classes (Joe Wicks PE lessons, anyone?). By making a move to digital, your SEO strategy is more important than ever. If you have a small website, this is the time to optimise it to the best of your ability and increase your visibility across other online channels, including social media.
If you are worried about the effects of Coronavirus on your business and are looking for advice about your SEO strategy during lockdown, get in touch with our team, who are all working from home and helping clients get through this tough time.
