No man is an island. Given what’s happening to many parts of the world now, it’s important that your business addresses COVID-19 concerns in the best possible way. Here are a few tips on how to pull off responsible and smart marketing in the time of a worldwide pandemic.

Acknowledge the Problem

Sweeping the problem under the rug isn’t going to work. If you’re only going to go with a Business as Usual approach, that’s you dismissing the problem. That’s not the appropriate response, especially given how the pandemic affects the lives of your staff, yours, and many of your customers. A BAU approach might seem like a good idea, but it could lose you, customers.

Change Your Campaigns

At this point, you probably have plenty of campaigns and plans in the pipeline. You’ll want to go over each of those campaigns and revamp or revise them to align them with the marketing message you want to send out to your customers at the time of a pandemic. Make sure you’re sensitive to anything that might offend a particular group. Emotions will already be running high. The last thing you want is to trigger conflict or tension.

Fix Your Content

You’ll need to go over the text and check for words or references that mention crowds. Replace those with visuals that don’t mention crowds or anything that suggests a close interaction with others. Also, remove any sections that contain any sections of people or crowds touching. This will help your brand send the right message about the crisis right now. By adjusting your content, you contribute to efforts in creating greater awareness among the populace.

Don’t Try to Take Advantage

Mentioning the situation in your marketing campaigns can be done in a tasteful manner. You’ll need to be careful about employing the right tone. It’s good to touch on the crisis and to talk about how it affects your business, how you’re trying to keep things afloat. Informing people of these things will help you garner the right sympathy and will come across as genuine and sincere. But you’ll want to toe the line. Make sure you aren’t being an alarmist or that you aren’t spreading terror, though.

Hire Pros

It’s best if you hire digital marketing experts. With skilled pros to help you, you can count on getting the best possible result or at the very least, the kind of help that your firm needs so it can address COVID-19 concerns that might discourage some of your staff or customers. Pros also know the best practices in the industry. By making the right hiring decision, you’ll want to

Know Your Budget

Value matters. Find affordable SEO services to provide for your search engine optimization needs. With the guidance of a qualified and experienced digital marketing staff, you can look forward to services that are well within your budget. You’ll also want to charge reasonable rates at this time. Think of giving out discounts on your fees, though, too, though.

The pandemic has forced the general populace to retreat into and stay at home for the indefinite future. While some cities in some parts of the world are slowly recovering and opening their businesses, others are still under lockdown or quarantine. 

It’s safe to say that the emergence of COVID-19 and the way it’s swept into communities has made online eCommerce sites ask: is SEO still relevant? Here’s why search engine optimization still matters. 

COVID-19 is Trending

The coronavirus trending means you can use that to get your content onto the SERPs. Using the right keywords in your pieces can help you rank higher. You can take advantage of this to get your business some site traffic. This is not you reducing the significance of what’s happening. But it’s you trying to make the most out of it. 

Evergreen Content Works

Keep publishing evergreen content that’s relevant to your site. Trending topics will help you get a few more customers, but they won’t stay that long. Push your evergreen content forward. Your SEO team can work on that for you. 

Increase Qualified Traffic

Digital marketing isn’t just about boosting traffic to your sites. You need qualified traffic to your pages to survive. That’s where affordable SEO services come in. You can hire pros to help you get qualified traffic. If they’re paying a visit to your site at a time like this, then you know that they’re interested in your products or services. 

Long-Term Gains from SEO

The best SEO campaigns take time to show results. That’s because the campaigns require consistent and steady output. When the campaigns finally take off, though, you can count on long-term gains. That’s why it’s essential to keep working on your SEO campaigns, especially at this time. That way, the consistent output can help you rank higher on the SERPs later on.

Search is Going to Be Important

The pandemic has made people stay at home, where they spend an inordinate amount of time online. With that many people on the internet, it’s safe to assume that search is only going to be more popular. By working on your SEO campaigns, you can attract more traffic to your site. That’s going to help boost your site traffic, conversions, and sales. 

People Support SMBs

Many people want to reach out and offer their support to small and medium-sized businesses in their communities. With SEO, your business can be more visible, and that can get you help and support from your community. It’s not going to be easy for many small businesses to stay afloat during or after the pandemic. With SEO, you can make it easier for people to find you online and hear your story. That can generate funds or donations to you or your staff. 

Cost-Effective Means 

It’s now more essential than ever to save on costs. There’s no telling how long this will run or how it will affect industries and businesses on a much larger scale. SEO makes it possible for you to improve your marketing reach while saving on costs. That matters. 

Finding the right SEO team is crucial to getting your site fixed. Don’t just let any company take your pages apart. Remember these tips before you hire a company that offers SEO services in Ventura.

Know What You Need

Assess the needs of your organization. Being clear about the services you require will help you filter through your options with ease. You can quickly tell which firms can meet your requirements and not.

Look Beyond the Cost

Staying on budget matters. But you’re already saving a lot when you hire an SEO expert instead of going with traditional advertising and marketing channels. That doesn’t mean just about any digital marketing firm will do. Look for one that offers the best value for your money. Opting for the cheapest options around isn’t going to give you stellar results.

Ask About the Process

Find out what they intend to do about the problems or issues that your site has. If they’ve already pointed out some of the things that need to go from your pages, then ask them what their next step is. An SEO specialist with years in the field will have no problem walking you through the process. If the SEO expert doesn’t seem all that knowledgeable about what’s going to happen next or what step should be taken, that’s a red flag. Move on to the next name on your list

Go Over Updates

How will the company update you? Will the firm send you regular reports? When you work together with an SEO company, make sure they copy you on all the changes they make to your site.

Look for Credibility

It’s important that you hire a firm that you can trust. You’re handing over control of your site, after all. If you aren’t careful, you could get into a lot of trouble. That’s why it pays to research the background of the sites on your list. How trustworthy is the SEO specialist you’ve got your eye on? Make sure you aren’t taking unnecessary risks by putting your trust in a firm with a dubious reputation or dodgy practices.

Talk About the SEO work

What sort of SEO work will the company do for your site? Some offer SEO packages, making it easier for business owners to choose. If you’re new at this and you’re not quite sure what services are necessary, then a package seems like a godsend. However, if you have services that aren’t included in the package, don’t hesitate to reach out to the firm. Some may be open to creating custom options for you to ensure that your every need is met.

Know the Signs

Anyone who’s ever worked in the SEO industry knows that this is a long-game approach. It’s not going to give you instant results. If the firm promises to make your pages rank number 1 in less than a month, that’s a lie. Some may also use questionable or black-hat SEO practices to get your pages to rank. That’s far from ideal because it’ll get you banned and even penalized by Google. Know the signs so you can avoid bad hires.

Local search is vitally important, not only to your website page ranking but to your business in general. Consider this statistic from Google: Forty-six percent of all searches have “local intent.”

So, what exactly is local search?

Think about it as owning a pizza restaurant. You might be able to rank for a search query such as, “How to make the best pizza sauce.”

However, residents in your area are more likely searching for phrases like, “best pizza restaurants near me.” This lets the search engine know your intent, so the ensuing local search engine results page (SERP) results will include local pizza restaurants.

That’s why local SEO is so important, as it’s a reliable and proven way to promote your business, product or services to local customers when they look for them.

And a local agency will know how to get the most out of your specific local search needs.

Optimize your Google My Business (GMB) Listing

Google feels comfortable sharing information and content that it can support and authenticate. GMB is the tool that does that. If Google can authenticate and verify your business, the search engine rewards you with an envied sidebar space in your local search.

When customers use Google Maps or search to find your business, they will have access to the correct information about your business address, phone number, website, hours of operations, and other critical information. Local agencies will optimize your GMB listing to enable Google to give you the desired public identity and presence.

Hyperlocal keywords

This is when you’re targeting a small, very specific region – and it’s a bit tricky, especially for very small areas that might not have much (or any) volume data. Work with your SEO provider to find out how they can provide you with volume data for those small communities because even if you’re only getting a dozen searches per month for that term, those are 12 potential customers.

Ensure your website is Mobile-friendly

Mobile search and local search go hand in hand. That’s because research shows most mobile searches aren’t necessarily done from home. And since most cell phone users share their location, search engines are prioritized to those mobile searches. From business locators to mobile coupons, you and your SEO provider should anticipate the requirements of mobile users, then ensure those needs are met on big-screens and small.

Optimize your website

From URLs, headers, tags, images, meta descriptions to content, SEO agencies are experts in this field – and local agencies can give you area-specific insight.

Making use of local SEO services in Ventura is a vital part of any SEO strategy. Opening a new business in Oxnard? Local SEO ensures you’re more likely to be seen by potential customers in southern California.