Every time we turn on the TV, pick up our phones, or browse on our computers, we are reminded that we are in a pandemic — and Google is reminded too. Times are definitely different, and with the future unknown, many businesses and companies are accommodating and making some changes to continue providing essential services.
The general state of the world is a big question mark right now as reopen dates for theatres, venues, schools, and other establishments keep changing on a day to day basis. This has left us to make some decisions and implement changes to flatten those curves while continuing to boost those rankings.
This said, while some businesses are able to make the shift to remote work, many businesses also can’t. I feel very privileged that my team and I can continue working hard from the comfort of our homes.
Now is a hard time for a lot of businesses, and we are incredibly grateful to be able to work in the digital marketing world where you can work from just about anywhere. This is why we are committed to helping our clients continue their journey with the highest quality SEO services at this tumultuous time.
- Remote Work
For the foreseeable future, the team is working from home to stay safe, and help flatten that curve for the safety of others — our friends, families, coworkers, and everyone else.
While it’s definitely nice to see smiling faces in our office every day, it’s a privilege to be able to continue “business as usual” from home.
- Adaptability
I’ve always been of the mindset that “you can’t stay static,” and I’m maintaining that way of thinking at this time. After all, SEO is always changing, so the willingness to adapt is key.
Right now, many companies still in operation are adapting their business models to accommodate for social distancing. For us, adapting means a few things:
- Adapting to changing search trends (more on that later)
- Adapting to remote work through various virtual channels
- Adapting to our clients’ changing business models.
Work From Home Tips
Establish a Designated Work Area
Of course, we are using communication for more than just work. While Slack has been great for quick communication, and Zoom continues to be our means for team meetings and brainstorming sessions, we are also using our communication channels to check in on one another. After all, now is an important time to be checking in to see how everyone is doing and just say “hi.”
Make a Schedule
Make a schedule for your day and stick to it. Going through the same motions every day will give you a routine, and making a schedule will help you stick to this routine. Be sure to schedule your tasks, meetings, and even your meals & breaks!
Move Your Body & Your Work Space
We’ve all heard how important it is to get up and move around when you are sitting all day, but it’s also important to move your workspace. It’s easy to get tired or bored with the same work area or atmosphere.
This will change things up a bit, break up your day and tasks, and help motivate you a little bit.
Wear What’s Comfortable
Some people are most productive when they are wearing jeans and dressed up like they are going to the office, but not everyone’s the same. After all, why wear jeans when you can be comfortable? The important thing about workwear is deciding what YOU are most comfortable in and what will make you most productive. That can be jeans, shorts, sweats, khakis — you name it.
Separate Your Weekdays from Your Weekends
When you are living that #WFH life, it’s easy for workdays to just blend together. This is why it’s important to separate your weekdays from your weekends.
Sometimes working on weekends is just inevitable. Especially when someone is in an industry that never quite sleeps, It’s hard to stop working on weekends. The important thing, however, is to still separate the days.
Google Search Trends During COVID-19
The spread of Coronavirus — or COVID-19 — has changed a lot of things about day to day life, including search trends. How, when, and what people are searching has changed and continues to change as news about the world gets released.
COVID-19:
It should come as little surprise that a lot of people are searching about Coronavirus, COVID-19, and related subjects (rules, regulations, closures, updates, etc.).
Search Queries:
According to Google Trends, a lot of the search queries surrounding COVID-19 have been surrounding not only the virus itself and quarantine timelines, but how to apply for the different initiatives that have been placed by the Canadian Government.
According to Google Trends, a lot of the search queries surrounding COVID-19 have been surrounding not only the virus itself and quarantine timelines, but how to apply for the different initiatives that have been placed by the Canadian Government.
It also looks like people are searching for Coronavirus more than COVID-19 ….
Regardless, the searches for both terms have definitely seen a spike in the last month.
Search Volume
While the search volume for the term Coronavirus spiked in March, it seems to be tapering off. This is likely not for a lack of caring, but because taking a slight break from the news (while also remaining informed) is something many are doing for mental health right about now.
While the search volume for the term Coronavirus spiked in March, it seems to be tapering off. This is likely not for a lack of caring, but because taking a slight break from the news (while also remaining informed) is something many are doing for mental health right about now.
Regional Trends
Of course, the search trends for COVID-19 are varying by region based on the unique impact the virus has had on particular areas. For example, in India right now, most searches regarding COVID-19 are revolving around the recently announced student benefits.
Of course, the search trends for COVID-19 are varying by region based on the unique impact the virus has had on particular areas. For example, in India right now, most searches regarding COVID-19 are revolving around the recently announced student benefits.
Near Me < Online
The thing is, people aren’t really leaving their houses right now. A wide majority of people who have the option are staying at home and only leaving the house for essentials to help reduce the spread of the virus.
This explains why “near me” — a popular search term for voice search especially — has seen a reduction in search volume. “Online,” on the other hand, has been an increasingly prevalent search term in recent months.
For example, the search volume of keyword “online yoga” has well surpassed the searches of “yoga near me” in recent months.
It should come as little surprise that much fewer people have been searching for restaurants over the past month, especially in comparison to the increasing amount of people searching for recipes. This is likely for a few reasons, the obvious being that people aren’t going out to restaurants now and are instead more often opting to cook at home.
Additionally, with limited stock and people grocery shopping less frequently, more and more people are forced to get creative with recipes that use what’s already in their pantry.
The main “food” item people have been searching at this time is Dalgona coffee. If you are unfamiliar, or not much of a coffee guy (like me), this is a whipped coffee that has (apparently) been all over social media. Whether or not you are a coffee person, you can’t deny it looks pretty cool.
The Conversation reported that Google Trend identified “Dalgona coffee” as the most searched coffee worldwide, surpassing the peaks of all other coffee types with a 1,800% surge in search volume in March. This increased by another 1,700% in mid-April.
Boredom Solutions
If you are an internet person at all, you’ve probably experienced the “bored in the house bored in the house bored” meme that started on Tik Tok and has since made its way across all social media platforms. The reality is that, yes, a lot of people are bored in the house right now and relying on Google to provide them with some sort of solution.
According to Google search trends, the keyword “bored” hit a high in March. There’s also a wide variation of “what to do when you’re bored, what to do when you’re in quarantine” searches going on.
The correlation between Coronavirus and buying stocks has been pretty confusing and contradicting one as stocks plummeted with the rising prevalence of the pandemic. Then, there was talk of a recovery that has been quickly denied. All that said, more and more people are actually searching worldwide how to buy stocks and which ones to buy.
Businesses Finding Success at this Time:
There’s been a lot of emphasis put on the value of helping small businesses now — something that we are in full support of. This said, there are a lot of businesses of varying sizes that are finding success right now in this very different time.
Video Games: The video gaming industry is greatly benefiting from the fact that, not only do gamers have that much more time to play video games, but those who may not necessarily have been gamers before are taking this new wealth of downtime to actually try some video games.
E-commerce: If you are an avid Amazon guy like I am, an avid online clothing shopper, or are that person who subscribes to every subscription box service, you are probably spending a lot of time waiting for packages to get delivered to your front door, gloves and Lysol wipes in hand.
E-commerce websites of all kinds are seeing a lot of delays and roadblocks right now, it’s true. Still, with people not leaving the house as much, services that bring products directly to your door are becoming a lot more popular.
Amazon delays are up to a month (ugh) but there’s no denying how e-commerce brands big and small are getting a huge volume of business. Retail brands are adapting with sales (specifically for loungewear), and grocery delivery services (as well as general food delivery ala Uber and Skip the Dishes) are seeing steady growth.
Streaming Services: This one kind of goes unsaid — it’s #Netflix&Quarantine time. According to Global News, Netflix has earned roughly 16 million new subscribers since the pandemic.
Why Businesses Still Need SEO
We are well aware that not all businesses can continue operating, at least not at a large volume, with the rules and regulations that have been put in place because of COVID-19. Marketing may not be a priority for a lot of businesses right now but, if your business can, facilitating SEO services is a good idea for both present and future success.
Uphill Battle: If your business has been maintaining a solid SEO strategy and putting budget and other efforts into continued services, stopping your efforts cold turkey right now can hurt your business in the long run. For one, other businesses like yours may be continuing or ramping up SEO efforts. This means that once you get back in the game, it will be that much more of an uphill battle to get where you were in the SERPS.
Maintain Progress: SEO efforts need to be consistent. You can’t optimize pages once or do link building for a few months, halt, and then expect these efforts to continue helping your rankings over time. Search trends change, the algorithm changes, and your rankings will change if you aren’t staying on top of these variables.
Businesses Still Need to Be Found: Whether it’s now or when business picks back up, your business will still need to be found online. Maintaining a presence online is still important, even if a business isn’t operating as it typically would.
0 comments:
Post a Comment