SEO during COVID-19: Things you must know

There’s only one name on the lips of the entire world, and that’s Corona Virus. Why wouldn’t it be, after all COVID-19 has infected more than 276,469 people and has caused 11,417 deaths as we write this article. The spread of this virus has been so scary that offices, cities and in some case entire countries have had to shut down. This pandemic has turned into a war and the whole world is fighting against it by staying at home and practicing social distancing.

This virus hasn’t left a single business on earth untouched – whether it’s grocery shops or multi-billion dollar organizations on the Wall Street. In such a case, it’d be a matter of huge surprise if it doesn’t impact SEO. We tried to dig into how COVID-19 is impacting SEO, and found some interesting results. Here’s what we found:

Coronavirus might be the biggest search topic Google has ever seen

When people are staying home and there’s too much panic happening around, what do people do? They go in search of information. And there’s only one place they’re most likely to go: Google. Some people are searching for educating themselves, for sanitizers & face masks, for impact on their employment and so on. It could literally be the biggest search topic Google has ever witnessed.

Health & care products related to COVID-19 are on the rise

The medical advice that has worked against Corona is staying at home, washing hands and wearing face masks. This has prompted people to buy products such as hand sanitizer and face masks. We’ve noticed huge upsurge in searches related to these products. It’s quite likely that website selling such stuff and website related to health and wellness are experiencing an upsurge in their traffic.

The travel industry is bleeding red

One of the industries that have been the most severely impacted by COVID-19 has been the travel industry. With borders shut down and cities locked down, people are looking to cancel the tickets they had already booked. We can see this trend growing clearly from Google Trends.

On the other hand, people are not looking to book hotel and flights, as suggested by Google Trends. So, it’s clear that the travel industry is taking the hit from both fronts. This is surely not a good sign for websites related to travel.

Impact on overall SEO industry

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a clear impact on the way people are searching. It’s a sad reality that all the industries, except a few, are going to witness a downtrend as more and more people are going to be locked in their homes will impact their earnings and ultimately, their buying power. That’s why, we’re likely to see a dip – at least for short-term – in most businesses, whether they’re online or offline.

So, Should we stop doing SEO?

Well, you should never stop doing SEO. The businesses might be taking a hit but we’re far from a recession. So, businesses should continue taking strides as far as SEO is concerned. Right now, people are searching for informational content and healthcare products such as sanitizers, toilet papers, face masks, etc. If you sell such stuff or are into health-related content, then there’s no reason to stop doing SEO. We’re not telling you to take advantage of people’s fears by selling stuff at high prices, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be visible to all people who’re at their homes and searching for products. In fact, you could be saving them from someone taking advantage of them.

Key Takeaways

• Huge upsurge in people are searching for informational content related to COVID-19 and essential health & care products related to it.
• Travel industry & food industry are one of the most severely impacted industries due to Corona virus.
• Online entertainment industry could benefit as people are staying at their homes, away from their work.
• It’s not time to acquire more customers, but to ramp up your support & services efforts.
• SEO becomes much more important in these times as businesses have had to cut down on their paid marketing efforts.

So, do not cease your social media or seo efforts, in fact change your business hours, work from home, share more details about how you are working and what’s going on on your business pages and keep your business alive during the stressful time of COVID 19. Stay safe!