It’s fair to say that there are very few businesses that have not experienced some level of downturn due to COVID-19. While it may be tempting to hit pause on your SEO and organic marketing strategy, this could be a very costly mistake. If at all possible, it’s crucial to continue with (or commence) SEO, affordable website redesign or optimisation, and social media marketing during a downturn.

From the perspective of an expert SEO provider, this is why…

The Importance of SEO and your Marketing Strategy

It remains to be seen whether the global pandemic of 2020 worldwide will cause a recession or a depression, but there is no doubt that this is an economically (as well as socially) frightening time, full of uncertainty about the future. With the markets in freefall and the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic yet to be fully realised, some businesses are being forced to limit operations, change how they do business, or close their doors.

Suspending or cancelling your SEO, blogging, and social media marketing efforts at this time may seem like a short-term solution to the current problem, however, this is the ideal time to harness the power the internet provides to maintain and even build your business.

The Precedent for Marketing during a Downturn

Precedent demonstrates that those businesses that maintain and even build on their marketing efforts in a time of recession will reap the rewards of this.

A recession comes in three stages:

1. Initial fall
2. Slow recovery
3. Active regrowth

In 2020, we are just now at the first stage – and none of us knows yet how long this will last or how low it will go. Not all businesses will survive, and some will take a long time to recover. Others, however, will thrive – and yours could be one of these with a clever, strategic approach to online marketing.

It’s critical to ensure that, as a business owner, you lay the foundations for survival, recovery, and growth in the future so you are all set for after the crisis has passed and the economy stabilises and recovers.

To fail to do this may set you up to fail overall.

A Captive Online Market

People across Australia and globally are spending more time online than ever before. Your online presence is essential to the survival and future growth of your business, no matter how tempting it may be to conserve your resources and cut spending at this time.

You need to cement and promote your online presence and visibility in search results as well as on social media. Saving money on digital marketing now may translate to needing to spend more in the future to get back on track. You can bet that your competitors will likely be staying the course – and if not, then by doing so yourself, you will be even better positioned later on  – and there will be definite rewards for you to enjoy.

Did You Know?

• Companies that advertised during the economic crisis of the 1970s achieved the highest net income and sales growth throughout and in the years thereafter.

• A study of 600 businesses during the US recessions in the 1980s showed that those who continued advertising throughout the recession experienced growth of 256% in the recovery.

Tips for Marketing Cleverly During Downturns

• • Optimised for search engine ranking
• • Supports customer service
• • High-value in terms of content

• Reassure your audience with clear statements relating to your status and efforts to address COVID-19 risks.

• Consider how you can deliver your product or service in new ways to meet altered consumer needs and the current challenges with social distancing.

• Maintain (or invest in) economical SEO in Sydney or elsewhere. A top SEO provider (like SEOcycle) can and will undertake local SEO for your business, no matter where you are worldwide.

• Be active on your chosen social media channels. Social media marketing is extremely effective, especially right now when people are spending so much more time on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Provide engaging and valuable content targeted to your ideal customer.

• Continue to provide interesting, compelling, informative content regularly via your blog. This provides dynamic content for your website (which Google loves to rank) as well as shareable content to generate leads on social media.

By demonstrating that you are still here, still operational, and interested in the welfare and wellbeing or your customers, you look good and will remain in consumers’ minds. Even if they are not shopping for your products and services right now, they will remember you and seek you out on the other side of this crisis.

For affordable SEO, web design and development, content writing and blogging, and SEO-based social media management, SEOcycle can help.