In March of 2020, the United States announced that flights from Europe would be unable to enter U.S. airports due to the high rate of infection of the novel coronavirus in Europe. Thus began (unofficially—the pandemic had already been going for some time by this point) the COVID-19 pandemic.
As you are well aware, COVID-19 has impacted every area of life since it started. It may have begun with international travel bans, but it continued with quarantines, lockdowns, social distancing, remote work, distance education, and now vaccines and boosters.
Another area of life the pandemic has affected is search engine optimization. While you might not imagine this to be the case, the way people search for information and the way businesses increase traffic to their websites has followed several pandemic trends.
Here are five of those trends.
People are searching “SEO” more than ever.
Believe it or not, the search term “SEO” itself has been impacted by COVID-19. Since the onset of the pandemic the search for how search engines work has increased. Perhaps this is because more people than ever are working from somewhere other than a traditional office and know that in order for their business to stay relevant, they need to increase web traffic.
Alternatively, perhaps it’s just because people have more time on their hands. Either way, according to Search Engine Journal, Google has released data showing a significant increase in SEO as a keyword.
Local is making a big comeback.
It turns out that when people are stuck in their homes or feel they are unable to travel long distances, they search for hyper-local shopping and experience options. Of course, it could also be the case that after spending almost two years relying on national companies like Amazon, consumers wish to support Main Street.
Either way, small businesses need to be ready to take advantage of increased local traffic. An SEO game plan is the best way to make sure your business is attracting the attention and traffic it deserves from the people who live in your neighborhood. First and foremost, this means making sure your website is current and updated regularly.
If you feel you could use help making sure your web presence is optimized for search, you might even want to consider hiring a company that specializes in SEO. SEO content and social media marketing are complicated, and your team probably has enough to worry about to keep your business running smoothly. An outsourced digital marketing team can take things to the next level, boosting your reach with years of expertise, without the steep in-house cost of a marketing team.
People search for anything COVID-related.
Given that the pandemic has taken over every facet of life, people continue to search for COVID-related content on the internet. Some of this might simply be an attempt to get the latest case numbers or learn the current restrictions for a particular place. In other cases, users want to see COVID information as it relates to your industry. You can serve this up to them on a silver platter by offering refreshed content regularly.
Make sure you have all information and procedures related to COVID clearly marked on your webpage. Some businesses might even find it helpful to create content tied to the pandemic at a deeper level.
Evergreen content is still important, too.
Yes, you might want to have some COVID-related content on your site, but don’t overdo it. Don’t forget about evergreen content, which has the potential to go the distance.
In a sense, at least as far as SEO goes, COVID is a trend. It is important to write about trends in order to drive traffic to your site, but all trends come to an end. In fact, the day will come when consumers will no longer want to read about the coronavirus.
What does this mean for your business? You should make sure your website is flush with content that will last. Think of this type of content as an investment. It might not bring traffic to your site overnight, but over time, good evergreen content should direct many people to your web presence. It will also help your overall search ranking, helping you to show up sooner in search for other keywords, too.
People are shopping online more than ever before.
This might seem obvious, but it is worth noting the massive shift to online shopping over the last 18 months.
In fact, one survey found that close to 30 percent more people are shopping online weekly than they were before March of 2020. This means there is huge potential to make money with an online store.
However, there is also massive competition. While now is definitely the time to fine-tune your e-commerce abilities, you will also need to make sure people can find you online. That puts SEO at a premium in order for your business to thrive.
SEO Today and Tomorrow
There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed the world in many ways. One of those ways in terms of search engine optimization. People are more interested in SEO now than at any time in the internet’s relatively young history, and doing SEO well has never been more important than it is right now.
While the pandemic will one day come to an end, its effect on SEO may last for years. Be sure you’re ready, now and when coronavirus finally begins to fade into the background. Contact Wordsmyth Creative Content Marketing today for help with all of your search engine optimization and digital marketing needs.