Rethinking Your Startup’s SEO Strategy for Success in the Era of COVID-19

Four months into 2020 and COVID-19 has changed every aspect of life as we know it. From public institutions to private establishments and personal lifestyle, everything has had to change in order to adopt the new normal. But it is startups that have been hit harder by COVID-19, with some of them having to abruptly change the way they operate.

To position your startup well in the current era of uncertainty, it is vital to rethink your SEO strategies. This guide is a comprehensive outline, detailing both short and long-term SEO considerations that your business should adopt in response to the changing operating environment.

Short Term SEO Consideration

When we talk about SEO considerations in the short-term, the focus is mainly the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of 2020. But you may also consider including the last quarter because it is unclear how long the COVID-19 pandemic will take to be contained fully.

• Determine if Your Enterprise is Offering Essential or Non-Essential Services

To handle the coronavirus pandemic, we need to agree on one thing; everyone’s input is needed. So, you need to determine whether your enterprise is classified as offering essential or non-essential. An essential business is allowed to remain open while other, non-essential ones have to close down for social distancing.

Once you have established the nature of your business, ensure to update its status on your site, digital, Google My Business Profile, and all digital assets. This will help your clients and targeted audience to appreciate two things.

19. You are working towards chocking and finally diminishing COVID-19.
20. Being compliant with the policies and regulations installed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
21. Making your clients understand the reasons for possible closedown or reduced operations. Therefore, they will be looking forward to your business to bounce back once the pandemic is over.

• Promptly Adapt to the Changing Search Behavior

With the new categorization of what businesses are considered essential or non-essential, one thing you should expect is changes in consumer search behavior. So, you should anticipate a peak in stores that offer grocery and medicine. Also, brand names that offer essential products are also likely to experience high traffic. Again, businesses offering non-essential services and products are likely to experience a drop in searches. To learn this, you should do the following:

1. Monitor emerging Google Trends and emerging keyword tools to see the shifting search interest and behavior around the topics of your brand.
2. Closely follow your website performance to see how visitors are converting in this period. Then, use this information to make the right forecast for your enterprise.

• Make Sure to Understand the Role of SEO in Your Business Marketing in Times of Change

As the effects of COVID-19 become a reality, more businesses are likely to reduce their operating budgets in the next couple of months. Therefore, make sure to consider the channels of marketing that promptly react because of the impacts of COVID-19. Also, if you are mainly focused on paid marketing, it might be time to put greater effort into balancing between the paid and organic coverage in the next few months.

Long Term Considerations

As you put every effort into aligning your SEO strategy in the short term, you also need to think about the long term. This involves adopting key initiatives beyond 2020.

• Start Executing the Holiday 2020 Initiatives Right Away

Now that most consumers have put brakes on spending, you need to focus on the period when consumer spending will spike, which is around 2020 and beyond. This means directing your efforts to ensure that your site ranks well for high traffic and competitive keywords. Indeed, some people might be booking their holiday as early as now.

Note that while short term planning is crucial, good SEO long-term planning means that you will be ready for faster growth when the economy finally rebounds.

• Plan for Big Digital Transformations

As every government firmly enforces social distancing guidelines, you must have noted the sudden shift from common communication strategies to digital strategies such as the use of digital conferencing. So, how do you reach customers during the era of social distancing? It is to ensure that your business is future-proof for possible future emergencies.

Special Tips for Adopting Your SEO Strategies

To adapt your SEO strategies, the first step is understanding how COVID-19 will impact not just your brand, but the entire industry. In addition to the above short-term and long-term considerations, it is important to also do the following:

• Consider running a page on your website that is dedicated to COVID-19.
• Focus on creating more YouTube and Video content to reach the people who are at home.
• Update your FAQ page regularly to capture the emerging facts, especially in relation to COVID-19 pandemic.
• When developing your content, make sure to include messages about social distancing and hope to your visitors.
• Think of offering COVID-19 prevention guides such as cleaning and care instructions.

Conclusion

While we hope and pray that CIVID-19 passes as fast as possible, it is crucial to adapt your strategy well, both in the short-term and long-term. Carefully review your brand’s strategy and change it appropriately to fit in the shifting demands. More importantly, you must look ahead and prepare for post-coronavirus period. Well, these are tough times: but with the above considerations, your SEO strategy will deliver awesome results!