SEO Strategies During The COVID-19 Crisis

Many of you small business owners are stuck at home. While there are some of you whose business is either unaffected by the stay-at-home orders, or on the contrary, some businesses are booming, most small businesses will need to do something to survive the economic impact of this crisis. Work that was in the pipeline prior to the shutdown is keeping you busy, but you’re probably worried about what will happen if the shutdown lasts another month, or two, or more… that’s why I’ve put together these SEO strategies during the COVID-19 crisis.

This is actually the perfect time to work on your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO). For one thing, if you happen to have an abundance of time on your hands, you can start creating and optimizing your own content. If you really get into it, you could even load up your site in preparation for the entire year! However, even if you’re busy at the moment, you’re going to want to think about what the business landscape will look like months from now and create content that will meet the public’s needs now. If you wait until the need is already upon us, it’s too late.

Here are some ideas to get you started creating some new content for your site or blog:

1. Think like your potential clients, not an inside industry expert that you are. An all-to-often mistake small businesses make with their SEO is they develop content around industry-specific keywords, but those keyword phrases are not what the public uses to search for that product or service. So, how can you tell what they’re actually searching for? There are a number of free tools available online. Start by just typing into a search bar. As you begin to type, Google will automatically present you with options that it predicts you’re looking for. You can also sign up for a Google Adwords account and use their keyword planner tool – you don’t have to pay for ads to use this tool. For those of you who use Chrome or Firefox as your browser, you can install the Keywords Everywhere extension. The key takeaway here is to try and use words that you’ve heard your clients use, even if they’re not the correct terms for your product or service within your industry.
2. What unique complications might the shutdown present to your clients, and how can you help them? In this unique time, your clients might struggle with something that would typically be easy, like just popping into your store to purchase a specialty item they need. Are you offering to ship now? Perhaps curbside pickup? If you are in the trades, are you still offering services, and if so, how are you protecting your clients and yourself? These are the kinds of searches people are doing right now.
3. This too shall pass, and after it does, what will your clients be looking for? This is the perfect time to position products or services that will be greatly needed when the economy starts to reopen. Again, put yourself in your typical customer’s shoes and ask yourself what will I need now that the economy is flowing again?

Once you’ve identified what content you’d like to create, you can either spruce up an existing page using that new keyword phrase, create a new page, or a blog post. If you’re really slow, why not create content for the rest of the year? You could even be creating seasonal blog posts to promote your products and services and scheduling them (if you’re using WordPress) to publish in the future.

I hope these SEO Strategies During The COVID-19 Crisis were helpful. If you need help with your website or SEO, call 508-872-3212 or visit Gordon Multimedia. For more help on marketing during this crisis, check out Critical Marketing for Your Business While in the Coronavirus River and How Do We Promote Our Brand During a Pandemic?.