Our lives changed the very day that the Covid-19 pandemic was announced. All of a sudden, those who loved comfortably and with a healthy income found themselves stuck at home and will a much-reduced income. As travel and businesses came to a standstill and brick and mortar stores and schools closed, only our normally very-underestimated frontline workers continued to get up and go to work every day.
The Outbreak and the forever extending quarantine seen in many countries across the world have meant that we see the world in a very different light. Stuck in our homes, many are reliant on the Internet for communication and for shopping.
So, as the owner of a website, now’s the time to update your content, make sure you offer advice to your readers during the pandemic, and to ensure that people can purchase products from you in an easy manner that is suited to everyone, even computer newbies. In this article we are going to cover 5 SEO tips that will help ensure your business survival during the pandemic.
Many small businesses have suspended their businesses due to reduced sales. Brands across the globe are feeling the tool of the pandemic. People are no longer searching Google checking out what brand of sneakers to buy, or certainly not as many as before. Even though more people are at home every day with little more to do than use their phones and tablets, the focus of their searches have changed. Instead of asking Google queries on the best brand of cat food they are reading the headlines and searching for updates on the pandemic.
The good news however is that as the owner of a small business, it is possible to flourish despite the challenges that have been brought about by the pandemic. This post will go through 5 SEO tips that will enable your small business to stay afloat during these terrifying times.
1. Your Business
To survive in times of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s important that you rethink the way that you do business. Many small businesses have stopped selling their normal products, changing their websites to sell advice. As we mentioned before, with everyone stuck at home, there really is no need to be shopping online for beachwear for your next vacation. Within the advice sold by businesses, is their product. Content is created, and the product is wrapped either directly or indirectly within the text. People are no longer interested in reading general blog posts; they want facts and figures on the pandemic. People are searching for:
- Ways to prevent getting the virus
- Tips on struggling to telework, especially when they have young children at home
- Tips on keeping children amused and how to homeschool
- Ways to cope with stress and anxiety during the pandemic
- Where to source everything they need near to home, allowing them to buy products they need without breaking quarantine rules.
If you can help with these questions and offer advice to people, it’s possible for your business to flourish, even in these extremely tough times. It doesn’t matter that your business is not relevant to any of the questions above. As we said before, people aren’t interested in beachwear this month, but as the owner of a website that sells beachwear, you can still sell your product, wrapped up in the advice people are desperately searching for. You can even increase the visibility of your business in the local area by offering to help the vulnerable in your neighborhood.
2. Live
The best way to get people to listen to you during the pandemic is by going live with your brand. People are at home, maintaining social distancing regulations. Going live with your business online will give your users something to look forward to, a break from the monotony of working from home. A simple example of this would be a bar that generally hosts a quiz night and that has a social media page. There is nothing stopping them still hosting their quiz night by going live on Facebook! As the owner of a small business, talking to your customers online can break the loneliness felt by those who live alone, and it can also answer the questions they have. People will look forward to your broadcasts and your brand will grow and become more recognized in the local area. Lots of businesses are shifting the strategy they use for their SEO to an online model or live streaming. This allows them to meet with their clients, even during times of lockdown.
3. Crisis-Proof Features and Products
During the Covid-19 pandemic, you need to figure out what you should be sharing with your customers and what products to sell. As we said before, many small businesses are selling advice in a bid to strengthen their brand. Helping customers that are trapped at home is complex and demanding. You may have a business that is now totally irrelevant during the pandemic. Say, you are an auto trader. Well, no one is going to buy a car if they aren’t allowed to drive it anywhere.
It would be both irrelevant and selfish to carry on regardless as if nothing was amiss. You will need to change the product you sell to help users while they are stuck at home. You could change car sales to sales of parts for cars. For example, a customer may have a car and have been meaning to get around to replacing a dented door or rusting wheels. Or maybe they want to give it a re-spray. All of these are possible if you can safely ship the parts to their home. In order to make this realistic and profitable, you will need to update your local SEO tactics. Once you have determined the features of your business that can run as normal during the time of crisis, it’s time to write some SEO, keyword-rich, content. This could include tips on servicing your car during the pandemic, including the keywords for the towns where you are able to supply parts to.
4.Positive Communication
Everyone is being affected by the pandemic. It is affecting all aspects of our daily lives. This is something that you must keep in mind when you are creating a strategy for marketing and content for your local business. People are susceptible during the Covid-19 outbreak, and won’t like feeling that they are being taken advantage of. So, don’t simply go online and sell products with Covid-19 in the name. This will only ensure that you end up damaging your reputation and your brand. Do not make false claims such as “we can help you improve your driving experience during Covid-19”. No, you can’t. You can offer services and products that will help someone get their car ready to go out on the road after lockdown is lifted. But, saying that your product will specifically help in the pandemic is not recommended. People are sensitive and they won’t take kindly to such claims. Maintaining a positive relationship with your customer base is actually more important than trying to sell them something at a time where they have less cash and when they certainly don’t actually need it.
5. SEO During Covid-19: Become a Mentor
Another way to ensure your business survives during the pandemic is to change your mind shift altogether. Stop trying to sell products to people that can’t afford them, and try to navigate the world through the eyes of your customer. Sharing knowledge with them is an excellent way to keep them as regular clients once the pandemic is over.
So, during the Covid-19 outbreak, your SEO strategy will need to change dramatically. Just because you can’t sell your normal product doesn’t mean that you should abandon your website or social media channels. Quite the opposite instead! It’s now time to channel your energies into writing some excellent SEO content that will help your client base during the pandemic. Remember, that your customer bases will now be more local than normal, so make sure that you write content that includes local keywords. Building up your relationship with your customers and growing your brand during the pandemic is not just possible, it’s actually quite easy. Just remember to keep on uploading interesting, optimized content to your online marketing channels, offering services and information that the average person in lockdown is looking for.