The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. Many companies have ceased operations. But Google does not fall in this list. So, what does this mean? You should not quit on your SEO efforts either. If you pause your efforts now, your competitors will take over your rankings in no time. Moreover, Google rankings are not achieved instantly. It takes time for Google algorithms to recognize your website and when you start working now, the results will be beneficial in the long run.
Coming to the pandemic, there has been significant changes in the working style of organizations. Most of the employees are working from home and companies are having to manage everything remotely. And this will be the ‘new normal’. Work from home will be the norm for the next couple of months and there’s no definite timeline as to when this will end. Hence, it’s better to prepare yourself with the existing conditions.
Additionally, digital marketing is gaining momentum in the current scenario. People are searching for almost everything online. While trade shows and magazines are no more happening, people are opting for LinkedIn to build connections. Therefore, it is high time that you take your SEO efforts seriously and try to increase your local presence. Let’s underline a few tips to help you get started.
You need to have a comprehensive database of your audience behavior. It is important to have Google Analytics integrated with your website. To understand user behavior, check the data at least every month. It may happen that certain products are now getting more attention than others. Also make use of the information to trace which pages of your site are getting the maximum traffic. You can then work on improving this particular page.
Carry out an audit session on the content in your website. Check what your competitors are writing. Try to be better than them. Attempt to offer good, quality, and helpful content. Make sure that articles or blogs which position your products or services directly are easily accessible. Do extensive keyword research. You can also hire an external agency to do the work for you. They are equipped with the latest tools, have a fresh outlook on the market, can point out new competitors, find out new key phrases, and review your existing keywords.
When other websites direct back to your website via good-quality back-links, it gives your brand authority. This can be achieved by posting quality content outside your domain. Some of the tools to get backlinks are directories and magazines. When Google notices that external websites are referring to your site, it recognizes your reliability. Multiple product directories provide unlimited scope of content upload, which in turn can be embedded with backlinks.
Images serve more purposes than simply beautifying your blogs and articles. They can be used to give more information and to visually engage readers. Moreover, they can help with SEO as well. You should include keyword-enrich tags in all your images. You might know this already that Google only recognizes text. Therefore, give a file name itself, followed by an image alt tag.
Again, metadata is the text that appears in search engine results. This comprises the meta title and a meta description. You must make sure that these texts are SEO optimized as well — this is extremely important. Additionally, meta titles and meta descriptions have character limitations. So, be brief and try to incorporate as much information as possible in that limited space. Metadata enhances SEO via click through rates. Hence, your content should be engaging enough to compel the reader to read more.
Mobile searches are rapidly gaining momentum as the more prominent medium of generating website traffic. To rank on the first page of SERPs, you need to focus on your local and hyper-local marketing efforts as well. During this lockdown period, start by concentrating on off-page SEO. Devote enough time to get good-quality reviews on Google. This is extremely important for the regionalized success of your business. Also, create impressive social media accounts. Be active on social media and keep readers engaged with frequent posts, business updates, etc. Try to be present on multiple platforms so that your brand appears more authentic.
Effective long-tail keywords focus in terms, specific to your niche. They again play a major role in building your local SEO strategy. This leads to better lead conversions from targeted buyers.
As we already mentioned before, the pandemic has led people to search online more on their smartphones. If your website is not properly readable on mobiles and showcases poor navigation, slow page-loading speed and low resolution, you will automatically rank below on the search results. So, concentrate on your mobile efforts. Use responsive templates, snippets, AMP web pages and lessen the loading time. This will lead to high rankings and low bounce rates.
Local citations are mentions of your brand name on Google. This includes all your business information such as address, contact information, and website link. A very common example of this listing is Yelp. Building Local citations have a massive impact on your local SEO efforts and on whether your company will show up in the SERPs. Local citations enable search engines to validate the authenticity of your company. They lead to increased website traffic and infuse customers with trust. Therefore, it is essential that you concentrate on getting featured on local listings as well.
In these uncertain times, you need to ensure that your marketing efforts yield the maximum results. SEO is extremely important for the success of your website and it should be your priority. Update your local SEO strategy to cater to the changing needs of customers. If you start preparing now, you will be at a much better position when business returns to normal.
