There’s no doubt on the importance SEO plays within a marketing strategy. This discipline is fundamental in increasing visibility in the search results and therefore bringing more traffic to your site.
However, for many people, a good SEO strategy isn’t achievable due to the lack of transparency within the ranking process and the ever-evolving algorithm. This is where the divide comes between those with general marketing skills to those with a deep understanding of digital marketing. Therefore, by most, SEO is often cast aside.
During the current pandemic of COVID-19, the need for SEO has only been amplified. Search entry optimisation is proving to be the differentiating factor between businesses that are succeeding and receiving engagement and those that aren’t. This is due to the fact a lot of marketing tactics can no longer succeed and more users are searching online.
Google Trends adds further evidence to back this statement with related search terms increasing in traffic over the past few weeks. This shows having a good digital strategy is in high demand and informs the overall direction every business’s marketing strategy is heading.
Due to COVID-19 organic traffic has become volatile, simply this means industries are witnessing steep increases or declines. Regardless of which one an efficient SEO strategy is crucial. By ranking highly you’re ensuring that the majority of the clicks go to your site.
What are the Benefits of SEO during COVID-19
Digital offers Long-Term Growth
With a strong SEO strategy, you will reap the rewards on a long term basis. For example, once you earn a top spot in the SERPs you will likely stay there a while. If you happened to lose your top spot it would only require a little bit of optimisation or updating the content. This is why SEO has played such an asset in COVID-19 for brands who had worked up their high rankings months ago. Now they get to enjoy the benefits of high traffic with minimal efforts if any today.
Cost-Effective
Optimizing your search results through SEO is extremely cost-effective, especially in comparison to other marketing activities. It can be completely cost-free unless you choose to purchase tools to enhance your strategy. Even still, a lot of tools have free limited versions or trials.
SEO Provides Useful Audience Metrics
By monitoring audience metrics and trending keywords you’ll be able to narrow down the pages that have benefited the most from SEO. This will highlight what your audiences are searching for and enable you to create and tailor relevant content.
Optimisation Builds Trust
During the current crisis, building trust with your customers is key, and digital marketing strategies can play a huge role in that. Users believe and trust in Google’s ranking system which is why they rarely go to page 2 of the results page or further. Therefore ranking high in the SERPs immediately gains you trust in the eyes of the consumer. This is because users assume that Google’s assessment of the top few links is accurate.
What Initial Steps Should You Take to Improve Your SEO Strategy?
- Research keywords
- Write useful content
- Keep site content up-to-date
- Prioritise Local SEO
As COVID-19 continues to impact businesses worldwide, online marketing activities and trends, there isn’t a better time to start your strategy. The value of SEO is clear. However, if you don’t already have an ongoing strategy in place, you won’t start to reap benefits and see the value until further down the line.
Don’t get disheartened when you don’t see the results straight away. Just remember that those top ranking spots are achievable for any brand! So start your strategy small and achievable and then gradually evolve your on-going SEO efforts over time.
Contact us if you’re looking for market-leading marketing, development and design expertise. Our experts can do the heavy lifting for you and supercharge your site for visitors and conversions.