3 Strategies for Successful SEO During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has a left many brands questioning whether they are taking the right next steps with their digital marketing strategies. When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), following data driven strategies and adjusting for changing circumstances can go a long way.  

Here are three tips for managing your organic search strategy during the current crisis:

1. Don’t panic
   
   Your initial temptation may be to pull budget and try to conserve money. But during a difficult time, doing so might cause more harm than good, and in the long run could actually work against a brand. It is impossible to know how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, but it could be more of a shorter-term disruption. Therefore, it would be wiser not to make abrupt changes to strategy, but to continuously monitor the situation, all the while collecting data on how marketing efforts are being affected.
   
   People are still searching online even in these difficult times, and in some verticals, traffic has even increased. There have been reports that time spent on mobile and social interfaces is has gone up, and all this activity could feed into search traffic. In addition, with people seeking more answers than ever, certain terms and businesses could be seeing an influx of traffic. Pumping the brakes on online marketing could place brands far behind their competitors when everyday life shifts back towards normalcy. From an organic search perspective it is critical to keep moving forward to ensure visibility for branded and generic searches that are important to help businesses recover after a crisis.
    
2. Optimize location-based strategy  
   
   A short-term action than can be taken immediately is to adjust the optimization on location landing pages and Google My Business listing. You may adjust location pages to change focus for the conversion points that apply today versus prior to COVID-19, making them more relevant and more likely to convert sales.
   
   For example, if a brand is 100% location based (such as a restaurant), the on-page optimization can be adjusted to change focus from “dine-in” related searches to key word searches to “take-out,” “drive through” or “delivery” options instead. For any brand, other crucial information such as updated business hours, links to online stores, and information on how the business can assist a consumer during this crisis should also be highlighted.
    
3. Optimize for online events
   
   With events, conferences, meetings, and most other kinds of gatherings being cancelled, a strong pivot is being made to online events. If a brand was forced to move a previously scheduled offline events to online using webinars, Google Hangouts, teams, webcasting etc., it is imperative to fully optimize for them. Whether there was a previous landing page in place or a new one will be created, companies should leverage all assets available to them to gain organic visibility and to both inform their audiences of the change and to get their event in front of new attendees who may not have been previously able to attend. Keep in mind that a virtual format means possibly attracting more attendees unconstrained by location.

Contact IDX

From observing the situation to making smart adjustments, SEO can be made to work for any company, even during times of crisis. To learn more about IDX’s SEO expertise and experience, feel free to contact us at any time.