Why is SEO useful during the Corona crisis?

The fact that cities are under global quarantine means that customers are increasingly experiencing shortages of products that they would normally obtain from local stores. Even after the initial easing of the quarantine, many customers continue to buy their desired products online.

Some people certainly visit their online shop of trust, but many also search for their products and alternatives on the web, through search engines such as Google.

The goal is clear: to get a position among the first search results for relevant keywords.

Currently, many jobs are affected by quarantine, which means that many activities can only be carried out in the home office to a limited extent, but the situation is completely different with SEO: All relevant tools are available online, shared data can be easily accessed through cloud storage and for meetings there are many free online tools that can be used sensibly. So it should come as no surprise that especially in the area of virtual meetings there is a rapid increase in traffic and value. It is therefore not surprising that online meeting apps are currently booming.

Understanding the status quo with the SEO audit.

It seems obvious at first glance, but it is often underestimated: The SEO audit. It is important to get an overview of the current state of the website. Not only to identify construction sites and quick wins. 

In an SEO Audit we check the following points:

• Technical SEO: Analysis of indexability, crawlability and page speed.
• OnPage SEO: Analysis of content, navigation and internal links.
• OffPage SEO: Link quality, popularity and social signals.

An audit forms the basis for the development of a long-term strategy and all necessary measures derived from it. 

Local SEO including structured data.

Local SEO is actually always an important topic. It is an efficient way to reach users in their environment. Thanks to structured data, additional informationcan be output directly via Google or voice searches during corona time. 

It is especially important to inform users about possible changes to events or opening hours in order to keep them up to date.

Optimize, extend and update content. 

Many customers are not sure what the current status is with the company they trust. Is the store still open? Does the restaurant now also deliver or can something be picked up? Such FAQs should now be answered on the website even during the crisis. 

Optimizing the content, based on a keyword strategy, for specific FAQs is ideal for (voice) search optimization and can give companies a head start in corona times. Are the appropriate keywords represented, which customers are looking for and can be reached through them? This is a question that should always be asked during content creation and even now during curfew.

Answer online reviews promptly.

The Internet is full of online reviews that companies do not answer. However, these form a particularly strong trust factor for customers, especially since the EAT update (Expertise, Authority, Trust) in August 2018. If there are quieter periods in operation due to the restrictions imposed by Corona, it is advisable to resume communication with users and customers more intensively.

Of course not all open reviews of the last years have to be answered, the focus should be on the most recent reviews. Attention must be paid to the correct handling of negative reviews and, if necessary, they must be forwarded to customer support or pointed out to them.

Publish webinars + videos to reach customers

It was to be expected and meanwhile it is also known: Many trade fairs and events such as the IAA and the Frankfurt Fair are cancelled for this year. Event marketing was therefore slowed down. However, many B2B companies are increasing their spending on digital advertising to compensate for the leads they would otherwise have generated at events. For many companies these are an important tool for networking and customer acquisition. Despite this setback, the emerging event vacuum should be used: According to a study, webinars are the preferred format for collecting information in a B2B context for 91 % of companies. Webinars and videos should therefore be used to communicate new developments or technologies and are also a good way to continue networking.

In almost all cases: Yes!

The economy was particularly strong before the pandemic and on an upward trend, which has now only been interrupted by this crisis. However, we can assume that the economy will start to recover after the crisis. That's exactly where we start with SEO: We are optimizing now and harvesting more traffic and leads the further we get out of the crisis. This is an opportunity that should not be missed.

You would like to learn more about SEO, are interested in an SEO audit or need support in your daily SEO work? We are happy to help! Just get in contact with us.