covid

Use SEO to help your business ride out the corona crisis

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK has entered the harshest recession recorded, with figures in mid-August revealing Britain’s economy had contracted more than any other major nation’s in the three months to June. Few sectors have been left unscathed by the crisis.

But while it may be tempting to cut SEO and digital marketing activities before anything else in response to the outbreak, there are lessons to be learned from the past. Amazon, for example, launched its Kindle and kept up its marketing efforts during the 2009 crash, to great effect. Meanwhile, when McDonald’s paused its advertising back in the 1990-1991 recession, it took a hit from competitors like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Here are some tips for staying visible, so that SEO actively helps you to overcome the corona emergency.

  • Keep it local

People are searching for locally based goods and services in particular. Be clear and consistent with key information such as opening times, physical location and contact details. Have a good, current Google My Business Page, encourage people to leave reviews and make the most of Facebook to connect with your nearest community.

  • Prioritise video

We know we’ve said it before, but video really is your friend. There are few more powerful ways to build your brand online, and few better ways for content to be consumed. Video doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, and you’ll find a number of free video content creation tools online. Use them and stay visible.

  • Concentrate on link building

Do everything in your power to build backlinks to your site, and show search engines your content is valuable and relevant. Remember to offer to guest blog for others; you can also ask key influencers in your industry to read your content with a view to sharing it.

Focus on creating content that will be shared, and bear in mind that this should be a long-term, continual process.

In these strange times, if you can build resources to help people navigate a different way of living, you could seriously enhance your readership.

  • Get it write

Those organisations which post at least 16 blog posts monthly receive almost three and a half times more traffic than those posting four or fewer. So add blog content on a regular basis, and update old articles. If you’re managing multiple websites, one solution could be evergreen topics which always stay relevant.

  • Encourage good reviews

When things are uncertain, it could be argued that people need proof of a product or service’s worth more than ever. Build your authority via positive reviews on the likes of Facebook and Google My Business, as well as in directories for your sector.

Clearly, many businesses are struggling. But reining in marketing and SEO efforts could well prove to be a false economy which ends up hurting you later down the line.

If you are running a PPC campaign read our other blog post, Making Best Use of PPC in the Time of Corona.

How we can help

Like everyone else, we at Front Page Advantage haven’t lived through a crisis quite like this Covid-19 one. But we do offers years of SEO experience and a broad range of clients with whom we enjoy long-term working relationships. We can help with all of the points mentioned above and more, so that you not only ride out the pandemic but emerge stronger than ever.

Schedule a phone call today and we’ll take it from there.