Pro Tips
How Can SEO Help Your Business During Covid-19?
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we live. From social distancing to the Movement Control Order (MCO), Malaysians are put into a situation like never before. People are not getting out and businesses have to either close temporarily or operate in a limited manner.
According to the Department of Statistics (DoS), the average Malaysian household spending has decreased by 55% across all income segments. People are spending less on non-essentials. In these uncertain times, they get more frugal and cautious towards extra expenditure.
Last week, we have discussed how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected various businesses and industries. Today, let us talk about something that can help you ramp up those valuable numbers and figures.
The Current Situation
Unless if you are involved in the essential services, you are 100% affected by the current Covid-19 and MCO situation. In times like these, we need to understand that life takes precedence over everything.
In that case, businesses are hit and some even predict an economic collapse if the situation does not improve. People do not go out and businesses are severely affected especially if you have zero digital presence.
However, there is a silver lining now. As people stay home, they are confined physically but they can still go online. This creates an opportunity where businesses that have a digital presence may still be able to operate online.
When people spend more time at home, they have plenty of spare time on hand. With that spare time, they search for things online. Whether they are looking for the next viral TikTok challenge or to do online shopping, they search. This is especially pronounced among the tech-savvy.
With increased searches, it creates demand. And it is up to your business to take the initiative and satisfy the demands of your customers.
What’s next?
When things eventually settle down, the world is a changed place whether we like it or not. The Ministry of Health advises to practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings for the next year or so.
Many people and business will have to change and adapt the way they live and operate. Some businesses will collapse in the aftermath, and some will survive. In times like this, it is important to rethink your approach to marketing.
The best thing to do now is to accept the current reality and move on. Rather than worrying about the current state of things, plan ahead. In this case, search engine optimization (SEO) can be one of the most effective solutions for you.
How SEO Can Strengthen Your Business
Businesses are taking a huge financial blow from the entire Covid-19 situation. This makes maximizing your returns on each investment even more critical. Search engine optimization (SEO) has been widely recognized as one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies out there.
SEO is helping you to build the most important thing between you and your customers – trust. Consumer behaviour has shown that a purchase decision is more likely to be made with a company or brand that they trust.
These are tough times for everyone. The last thing your customers would want is for you to actively shove your products in their faces. Instead, you should take a step back and take a more human approach. Build a relationship and let them know that you are standing in their shoes. So how does SEO enable all of this?
SEO Content is the Clear Winner
“SEO-focused content is the most cost-effective and direct path to maintaining your business during economic downtimes.” – Pat Reinhart, Conductor
When SEO strategies are put into perspective, the common denominator is always good content. Marketing gimmicks and phrases are simply not good enough today. As consumers get more tech-savvy, they are inherently exposed to more and more online content.
What this means is that consumers nowadays are better at distinguishing real quality content and a marketing pitch. During the MCO, you should think about more than just getting the figures up. Instead, try to be human in this situation. Create content that is genuinely useful and helpful that can help them in these tough times. Show that your business is not just about pitching sales and revenue.
By doing so, customers will not feel like they are listening to a marketing speech. People love it when they can relate to the business. Through your SEO content, show that you are a friend or a partner instead of a salesperson.
Make Yourself Visible
When you go out of sight, naturally you are also out of the minds of customers. If you are not even visible to others, there is no point in having a website in the first place.
As mentioned above, a lot of people are searching online. During these times, people are relying on online shopping more than ever. E-commerce stores and online stores are experiencing spikes in demand. SEO gives you the necessary visibility to capture all those potential leads.
SEO is a great way of making sure that your website and business remains visible to potential customers. While some may remember you, ranking high on Google makes sure that you get that important advantage over other competitors.
A Lifeline for the Future
The current pandemic is not going away any time soon. Its economic effects are expected to last until the end of the year. The world is slipping into an economic crisis and recession. Businesses are closing down and people are being laid off.
In these trying times, your SEO campaign acts as a lifeline for you. Traditionally, SEO has always been regarded as a long-term strategy. It takes months for your campaign to finally show results. By planting a seed of hope now, your SEO efforts will bear fruit for you in the future.
We can never predict when will the pandemic end or when will another one come. Having a lifeline makes sure that your business endures through these tough times.
Widen the Gap
As businesses take a step back during the MCO, you should take one further ahead. For many business owners, they think that it is not important to expand on their SEO strategies as many people are stuck at home.
Remember, people are still searching online and Google is still ranking your website. When others are slacking, take the initiative to go further and better. In some cases, you may even find that you are the only one actively optimizing in your niche.
A few weeks or months later, your competitors will have a lot to catch up with you. Your efforts throughout this period are rewarded in the long term. By widening the gap, you are giving yourself to get ahead by a huge margin. The bigger the gap, the longer your competitors need to catch up.
What Does This Mean for You?
These are tough times for everyone. Businesses, relationships, jobs and even lives are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, life still goes on. The question for you is that are you ready to rebuild when this is all over? That is the hard part.
At LOCUS-T, we have been in the digital marketing industry in Malaysia for more than 2 decades now. If you are ready for a different approach to marketing, talk to our digital marketing specialists here.
