How COVID-19 Affects SEO
In the Pandemic of COVID-19, we can be sure that the question on just about every SEO’s mind right now is “How is the Coronavirus impacting SEO metrics?” and the answer with no surprise is “It depends”.
As we all know, search reflects human behavior, COVID-19 is affecting every industry differently. In other words, just as we form lines outside grocery stores now, e-commerce sites that sell the same essentials are experiencing a huge surge of traffic, which brings us to the fact that Online stores and sites that are not selling essential need to keep their SEO game strong to keep their curve from flattening.
This also changes with the news, for example; impressions and traffic for ‘packed food’ increased when topics like social-distancing and shelter-in-place were announced, and so as SEO’s, we must respond accordingly.
Based on this, here are 3 ways that COVID-19 is affecting SEO metrics, and how we should consider responding.
ECOMMERCE SITES THAT SELL ESSENTIALS ARE SURGING UP
It’s obvious that surges have spiked in regard to sites that sell essentials like Hand-Wipes and Toilet paper, these being products related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This huge spike in demand, as well as product shortages, have even created new queries like “toilet paper near me” and “hand sanitizer near me.” Around the same time, gyms started closing, we saw impressions and traffic spikes for things like indoor fitness options and working from home tips.
HOW WE CAN RESPOND:
Demand is high right now, but that demand has shifted largely to products that people need to avoid and/or deal with the pandemic. Monitor log files to ensure they’re not serving search engine bots errors. Make them easy to find in the site navigation.Watch the query data for those pages to ensure your content reflects the most up-to-date searcher intents.
1. HEALTH & WELLNESS SITES ARE SURGING UP:
As a result of COVID-19, the health and wellness sites I’ve looked into are experiencing an overall surge in impressions and traffic. It looks like that’s primarily being caused by queries like “coronavirus symptoms.” On the flip side, people seem to be caring a lot less about things like intermittent fasting. There also seems to be an uptick in queries for natural remedies like “antiviral herbs,” “antibacterial essential oils,” and “antiviral foods.”
–> HOW TO RESPOND:
Striving for expertise, authoritativeness, and trust with this type of content is more important now than ever. People are turning to search engines to answer their medical questions, a responsibility that can’t be taken lightly.
2. RECIPE WEBSITES APPEAR TO BE EXPERIENCING AN UPTICK
This is likely because more people are cooking at home as opposed to eating out. This may continue to increase the longer restaurants are closed or operating at reduced capacity.
–> HOW TO RESPOND
Use recipe structured data to enhance the way your recipes show up in search results to capture some of that increased demand for recipes.
Consider publishing or promoting recipes that utilize fewer ingredients and ingredients that are easier to get right now.
Above this, sites that have experienced a major loss in traffic i.e; Travel, luggage, online markets, restaurants, etc still need to keep their SEO updated, as the tide turns quickly and we must be prepared. Keeping your brand loyalty constant and undoubted.
The extra effort of keeping your SEO in check applies to all sites, especially the ‘Non-essential’. Maintaining your standards will reassure your customer’s loyalty and when we pull through this Armageddon your brand will have high standards and value that inspire brand recall!
If you’re thinking that SEO efforts go unrewarded during this pandemic, We’re here to tell you that you need SEO now more than ever to keep your business in the spotlight. We’re all fighting COVID-19 on different fronts and we are your Cavalry.
Need more information on COVID-19 and it’s online effects? Visit our website at www.merakomedia.com
