Why the Global Pandemic Means We Should be Investing More in SEO

With the doors to lots of non-essential shops still shut and many reluctant to venture into town, shopping has shifted even further to online. In the midst of a global pandemic, investing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help enhance your site so it’s perfectly positioned to answer increased demand. Done properly, SEO is the foundation of a pandemic-proof business model.

These investments include anything from fixing broken links to adding meta information to every page. That blog you’ve been neglecting over the years? Well, now’s the time for it to shine with some up-to-date content. You could also look into creating a well-rounded link-building campaign to drive even more traffic to your site and lend it more credibility.

You’re still in demand

One of the most important things to remember is that your services, products and skills are still necessary. Optimizing your site so that it’s the first one customers see will help you reach an engaged audience with intent to buy. Even if you’ve had to temporarily pause some of your services, there will still be demand for it. Use your Google Analytics data to asses just how much traffic your site is getting and how much it has changed during the pandemic.

Good SEO sets you up for the future

Whilst the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is yet to be seen on the horizon, good SEO practices now could see your business leave the pandemic even stronger than when it began.

Big or small, if your company is suffering because of more localized lockdowns and limits on group numbers, you could use the time to optimize your site. For smaller businesses, this could mean using downtime to writing blog posts, developing FAQ pages and adding meta information. For larger companies, this may mean allocating more budget towards optimizing your site.

SEO is a long-term investment and the rewards of any optimization can only be seen months down the line. Amine Dahimene SEO expert says, “Any SEO-focused changes can take time to yield results, optimizing your site during lockdown sets it up to succeed once the situation lets up a little.” That means any changes you make now will mean your site is good to go once stricter measures are lifted.

It’s important to remember that any SEO efforts require ongoing maintenance and nurturing. Don’t just stop once you’ve laid a solid foundation for your website. Continue creating content and making changes according to any algorithm updates so the changes you make during the pandemic don’t go to waste.

We can measure search easily

Success is relatively simple to measure when it comes to Google. Is your page ranking well? If you’re ranking highly in Google then the odds are you’re doing something right. However, if you continue to rank poorly in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), then you will need to optimize further.

Organic traffic patterns are also easy to measure using Google Analytics or your preferred tool. This means you can track any changes you make and analyze their impact on your site. Whilst it can take months for the real benefits to be seen, react to any data you harvest and adapt your approach accordingly. This may mean focusing on different keywords or changing your strategy to emphasise on link building.

Consumer habits have changed massively during the pandemic so keep an eye on how your website traffic and rankings have varied as a result. Use these insights to pivot where necessary and target your attention to specific keywords and searches.

Competitive driver

SEO is a tried and tested way to drive more organic traffic to websites. Most brands and online companies are aware of this and will be using lockdown as a time to improve their site. With marketing budgets being reduced across the board, SEO is a clear choice for digital marketing teams. Neglecting SEO will lead to a drop in rankings and therefore decreased organic traffic. In the long term this could have a detrimental effect on your company’s finances.

Invest time and money now so you don’t get left behind when these companies inevitably reap the benefits from focusing on SEO.