SEO – A Silver Lining Amidst The Coronavirus

During this unprecedented time, in dealing with COVID-19, trying to keep “business as usual” is, in all likelihood, not easy.

Striving for that sense of normalcy is made even more challenging as we are all wondering what the coronavirus means to us personally, to our friends and family and to our colleagues at work. This moment in time is no walk in the park. We empathize with the pressure the pandemic may have placed on your industry and revenues and, given the above, how you might be viewing your business’ prospects.

While shifting focus from these troubling aspects can be challenging, there is a silver lining for businesses that are interested in improving their online visibility. What we’ve seen over the last couple of months is remarkable and perhaps counterintuitive (at least on first blush) — organizations that are investing in improving their search discoverability are experiencing better than normal increases in their search rankings.

This opportunity is driven by some businesses that are indiscriminately cutting expenses everywhere, including search engine optimization. In the past, some of these businesses have pushed hard to successfully improve their search results (let’s call them the “incumbents”). These incumbents have taken their foot off the SEO pedal.

This “COVID mass budget cut psychology” allows challengers (those vying for the incumbents’ spots) to sidestep the incumbents by wisely investing in SEO efforts now.

For those investing in Search, this moment is shaping up to be a Search “land grab.” Those that are willing and able to take advantage of these circumstances are reaping rank rewards that will far outlast the coronavirus.

While the coronavirus is obviously having a very real economic impact, it is at the same time presenting an SEO silver lining – companies investing in SEO through this crisis are scaling search in impressive fashion and creating enduring SEO value that will carry through to the other side of this.

For those looking to take advantage of this Search opportunity, we’ve outlined some of the important places to start:

Website Health

Behind every website are not only the technical components that make it work but also the underlying SEO elements that allow relevant content to rank on search engines and be found by your potential customers. This is known as Search Discoverability and it shouldn’t be confused with proper web development. Put differently, a site can be great from a developmental perspective but still be sorely lacking in search discoverability.

One SEO issue that plagues many websites is missing meta descriptions that impact your SERP click-through rate. Another common issue includes temporary redirects that cause ranking power loss. Both of these elements, in conjunction with a properly constructed SEO strategy, can have a dramatic impact on your website’s visibility in Search.

SEM Campaigns

While ranking organically will have a bigger ROI over time, getting your site in front of your customers right now might be of paramount importance. Pay-Per-Click ads could be the solution to drive online awareness to your business.

Remember: the data and intelligence that PPC uncovers should inform the strategy that drives your entire search marketing effort. Paying to play now, in a market that is being discounted because of COVID-19, means you have access to data that will help your business rank on the right SERPs both today and tomorrow.

And for those who are still concerned about the risk of deploying an ad budget during this crisis: recent insights show otherwise. Ad budgets spent during COVID-19 can be incredibly productive. In fact, those that stayed the course, with respect to their marketing budgets, have, by and large, seen a marked increase from the previous year’s revenues as businesses reopen and global stock markets rebound.

Get in touch with us to discuss how PPC Campaigns can work for your business.

Power of eCommerce

Interestingly, the one-on-one client conversations that we have been having, are now being supported by headlines. They all point to the same conclusion – the trend towards eCommerce is already mightily accelerating with no sign of slowing down.

In fact, the coronavirus appears to be the catalyst that will tip the scales from Big Physical Retail to eCommerce large and small. JCrew and Neiman Marcus have declared bankruptcy while Shopify (the eCommerce backbone for smaller businesses) has surged. The companies that those companies support have experienced massive sales increases during this moment in time. We’ve had the good fortune of leveraging our LIFT SEO system to support eCommerce brands that have had the wherewithal to leverage this momentous change in how all consumers are buying goods (in part because there is no other way to buy right now).

With the trend towards e-commerce firmly entrenched, the question brands are now facing is: how do we get in front of an audience that is glued to their screens?

Buying ads from Google and Facebook are options that can be expensive, but are ideally complemented with an organic discoverability program. That’s where our LIFT SEO System comes into play, powering e-commerce brands that are looking to take advantage of the tailwind that this moment in time is presenting.

Struggling to fathom what an eCommerce setup could look like for your business? Or wondering if you could be driving more productive traffic. Talk to us about our Audit and Opportunity Assessment.

Looking to the Future

Users have more time to strategize about how to use technology to stay connected and everyone is spending more time in front of screens. This, in conjunction with a trend towards internet commerce, coupled with a greater need for online discoverability, has created an incredible blend of opportunity.

This is the time to power up what you have been doing with your digital marketing efforts – for today and tomorrow.

So, here’s the silver lining in a nutshell: Innovation and positive action that comes out of times of crisis can lead to lasting, positive impact. And, we’re excited about that.

If your business is interested in future-proofing your growth and leveraging this moment in time to do just that then we’re interested in hearing from you.

Start a conversation with us today to learn more about how our LIFT SEO System can help your business become more discoverable.