Internet Usage
We know Covid19 has affected anything and everything in the last year from schools, to work, to families. But what impact has covid19 had on SEO? SEO is important right now because internet use is the highest it’s ever been, however, the increase in internet usage is partly in relation to video meetings, gaming, movie streaming, social media and more.
Socio-economic Trends
The supply and demand for products have changed dramatically in the last year, people have gone from searching for work opportunities, events and outings, to anything you can do at home. Millions of people have been decorating, doing DIY tasks, taking up new hobbies and creating home gyms and offices. Subsequently, the demand for products such as craft, decorating, and office supplies and exercise equipment have risen dramatically. This means that companies with the best SEO strategies are now gaining more traffic than usual, so the competition to be at the top of these searches is tight.
Importance of Local SEO
In the last year most website traffic has been going to the news, health and other relevant industry websites, this has led to a decline in traffic to nonessential business websites.
For nonessential and temporarily closed businesses, SEO may seem a lot less important—pointless, actually, as no one is searching for these. However, the dip in searches for websites such as Hairdressers, Restaurants and other services gives these businesses the opportunity to up their anty and boost their website SEO for the near future. If you’re not open now or unable to provide services, you should still optimize your business to get found, include important information such as re-opening dates, your covid strategy and more.
As we know we won’t be in lockdown forever, so the searches for non-essential businesses will be higher than ever as soon as restrictions are lifted, therefore there will be increased competition to be the top result on the Google page. With so many stores closing and people unable to venture far, local search optimisation is crucial. Local SEO tactics will help you to appear for “open now” and “near me” searches when we can start going out again.
After the pandemic, people are more willing to support local businesses, so make sure you set-up or manage your Google My Business Page and Maps listings to give you visibility on local search results. This is actually the first year Google has advertised Google Reviews on a tv advert in support of local high streets, highlighting the importance of making sure you are seen on local search.
Even if your business is closed/unable to provide services, you should still be optimising your website to get the best head-start when you reopen. Update your keywords, ensure all of your important information is up to date, set-up or manage your Google My Business and Maps listings and again ensure all the information such as location and contact details are correct. Or ask an SEO agency to do it for you.
Alice Baker, Digital Marketing Executive, Sierra Six Media
