SEO Planning For Post COVID-19
The Local, Regional, National and World situation is in a state of change right now. I believe that the best strategy in this unprecedented situation is to spend time understanding the “new normal” that will emerge in SEO and search post-COVID-19. I have outlined some opportunities that can be addressed now for improved SEO.
1. Google Trends
Total search volumesare increasing as those who are sheltered in place look to the internet fornews and information, as well as needed goods and services. Tracking new search terms in your vertical on GoogleTrends and optimizing for these terms can openup new sources of website traffic, especially when the economy picks up again.
2. Work On Website Content And Video
According to Search Engine Journal, YouTube traffic has increased by 15.3% during COVID-19 right now, start developing more video content to take advantage of this. A good place to start is to take a look at previously developed content that resonated via traffic and repurpose that content in a video format. If your goods or services have been seen in a different light because of COVID-19, address that in a video. If your business is supporting your community during this crisis, let people know. This is the sort of thing that reassures us all that we are truly working together.
Adding depth and information to your site to help consumers to better understand your products is also valuable. Typical resources include FAQs, estimating or evaluation tools, glossaries explaining industry terminology, and ebooks or whitepapers for email opt-in.
It may be true that some of this content will not reap results in the short term, but the long term benefits of having the information that customers will need when COVID-19 is over will allow you to be well-positioned to take advantage of the pent up demand for your products or services.
3. Keywords
These are not typical times. It is possible that new keyword searches have emerged or that existing keywords have taken on new importance and are more important to your traffic. Great sources of information to evaluate these changes are ahrefs.com, Google Keyword Planner, SEM Rush and Google Search Console. Another source of information is to evaluate your own site analytics and look for shifts in most popular pages and landing pages within your site. These are definitely not normal times, and using the normal strategy may put you at a disadvantage, so look for changing trends and how they may benefit your business.
4. Prepare for Future Opportunities
It is difficult topredict how long COVID-19 will have a stranglehold on the economy. Most businesses will be facing a challenge torebuild once shelter in place is lifted and those who have been displacedreturn to work. Using this time tooutline strategies for upcoming Holidays and thinking through how thoseHolidays may be affected by these circumstances will help to boost revenues. It is not too early to consider Thanksgiving,Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas.
5. On Page SEO and Site Performance
Content creation isdefinitely a key to SEO success, but now is a great time to circle back andreview the following:
- Ensure your page speedis optimized
- Update your websitephotos.
- Review Schema Markup
- Review UX (UserExperience) on your site.
- Check your URLstructure.
- Check Google SearchConsole and SEM Rush site scan for improvement opportunities.
Conclusion:
Feeling discouraged by the current economic and social challengespresented by COVID-19 is understandable. The reality of the situation is that many businesses will need a reboundin revenues once COVID-19 is done to survive. Looking for SEO opportunities and a competitive advantage in searchduring this time can be critical. Lookat your gap analysis if you need to improve rankings, look for additionalopportunities to improve traffic and conversions, and plan for success infuture events. For many businesses,there will be pent up demand for their goods and services. Be ready to have as many customers aspossible find you.
More Resources:
- 7 Ways COVID-19 Is Affecting Search Traffic & How SEOs Can Respond
- 5 Completely Sane Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Stop SEO Efforts During COVID-19
Eric Van Cleave is the CEO and Digital Marketing Director for TIV Branding
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TIV Branding is a boutique branding firm in Sonoma County, California. We specialize in building brands by using traditional, social and digital channels in unison. If you would like to discuss a project or find out more about how we do what we do, please email us at info@TIVbranding.com.