Consumers today are increasingly self–sufficient — they want to soak up as much information about your business as possible before making the decision to buy.

So, where do they go for their research? Your website. That means businesses must focus on generating traffic in order to compete and make money.

In this blog, we will cover actionable ways to increase traffic to your website and land more sales:

1. Search Engine Optimization
2. Content Marketing
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Public Relations
5. Email Marketing
6. Targeted Online Advertising
7. Analysis and Adaptation

FAQ: How can SEO increase traffic?

1. Search Engine Optimization

This one is a no-brainer. The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is to drive traffic to your website. SEO improves websites so they can rank higher in search results. And when you rank higher, you yield more traffic to your website.

SEO comprises different approaches, including technical SEO, on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Some of the tactics include:

• Conducting thorough keyword research
• Developing a high-quality SEO content strategy
• Doing thorough competitive research to inform your SEO program
• Optimizing the performance of your website
• Monitoring and fixing technical issues
• Creating a clear website structure to benefit visitors and search engines
• Optimizing each critical webpage with SEO best practices

When you look at your brand in a popular search engine such as Google, you want to review what searchers will see. How well does the description of your site match what you do and who you are? What pages show up under your main page when you search for your brand? As an example, you can see how “Bruce Clay” appears in Google when searched. It’s clear that Bruce Clay is an SEO company that offers search marketing services worldwide.

As you work to increase website traffic for your business, you also want to ensure that people see what you want them to see with that increased traffic.

2. Content Marketing

“Content marketing is like a first date. If you only talk about yourself, there won’t be a second one.” – David Beebe, branded content producer.

Content is critical for ranking in the search results and providing value to your target audience.

But today, content is held to extremely high standards by Google. The content you create must provide value and must be helpful.

To rank well in search engines, your content must demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust, otherwise known as E-E-A-T. For some subjects, direct experience is critical.

Providing helpful information along the customer journey will lead visitors to your website when they’re ready to purchase.

For more, see:

• The Complete Guide to the Basics of Google’s E-E-A-T
• What is Content Optimization?
• SEO Content Rules To Live By
• How SEO Supports the Customer 
• What Makes a Webpage Quality

3. Social Media Marketing

Social media can be an incredibly effective tool for increasing traffic to your site.

Establish yourself as an authority on platforms relevant to your target market and regularly post engaging updates that pique followers’ interest.

In addition, you need to manage your presence in the social media communities by interacting with followers and utilizing paid promotional campaigns to broaden your reach and bring in additional visitors to your website.

It’s important to remember that social media marketing extends beyond providing updates and information about your products or services. Of course, you want to establish your brand, but you also need to interact with your followers. Building an audience on social media includes engaging with the people who show up to your account.

As your audience grows, we recommend hiring a community manager who specifically focuses on engaging with your followers. Building a brand relationship with people interested in your brand is one of the best ways to increase conversion rates.

4. Public Relations

Gaining mentions and publications on influential websites in your niche or high-profile media outlets can significantly enhance your brand while driving traffic back to your website.

In the context of SEO, there are some rules to follow regarding public relations, specifically press releases. To learn more about that, see Why Press Releases Still Matter to SEO and How to Write a Press Release That Entices Media.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a very effective strategy for reaching your audience and bringing traffic to your site. It also gives you a high return on investment — research shows that email marketing ROI yields $36 for every $1 spent.

Emailing your subscribers keeps them informed with news, updates, information, or special promotions, and it ensures they will likely become repeat visitors to your website or customers of your products.

Email marketing is a complex strategy that involves different messaging for different audiences, so be sure that anything you send is helpful and relevant to the people receiving it.

6. Targeted Online Advertising

Google estimates that for every $1 you spend on Google Ads, you get $8 in return.

Digital advertising like Google Ads or social media ads lets you focus on targeting a specific audience to deliver uber-relevant ads.

Ad platforms allow advertisers to target potential customers based on demographics, interests and behavioral characteristics, creating highly effective digital campaigns.

This, in turn, allows you to drive targeted traffic to your site.

7. Analysis and Adaptation

Regularly monitoring website traffic with tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can help identify patterns, trends and areas ripe for optimization.

Studying visitor behaviors and the performance of your webpages gives you insights to adapt strategies accordingly.

Remember: Digital marketing is never done – it only evolves.

Increasing website traffic requires time and dedication, so be patient while staying aware of current digital trends.

Our SEO experts can help you increase website traffic, leads, conversions, sales and revenue. Reach out to us for a free consultation and let’s discuss how we can improve your SEO.

FAQ: How can SEO increase traffic?

SEO is a popular strategy to increase traffic to your website and convert this traffic into customers. Hence, all the most successful businesses take SEO very seriously, as it helps them grow to where they are now.

SEO is crucial because it involves optimizing content and website structure to increase your brand’s visibility in search engines. With the right SEO plan rooted in the proper techniques, traffic and conversions can grow significantly.

Search engines use complex algorithms to evaluate websites. By aligning your website with these search engines, your chances of appearing higher in search results increase, leading to more people seeing and clicking on your website.

The first part of SEO is keyword research. Keywords are words or phrases people type into search engines when seeking information. By identifying relevant keywords related to your website content and including them in titles, headings and content for optimization purposes, you can help search engines understand what the site is about while increasing its visibility through relevant searches.

Content creation is another critical SEO tactic, with search engines favoring websites offering visitors valuable and pertinent information. By regularly adding fresh and engaging content, you can bring in more visitors while increasing the time they stay on your website; both will improve search rankings while simultaneously building up a loyal following for future campaigns.

Alongside optimizing your site’s content, you must prioritize building high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites pointing back to it. When other trustworthy sites link back to your website, this signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable, improving rankings and driving more organic traffic to your business.

As with all SEO-related activities, monitoring and assessing efforts requires constant evaluation. Tools like Google Analytics are practical tools for measuring website performance by tracking metrics such as visitor count, bounce rate and conversion rates, giving insight into improvement areas while fine-tuning SEO strategies.

By implementing these SEO techniques and staying abreast of current trends and best practices, you can drive more visitors to your website while increasing its presence in search engine results. Remember, SEO is an ongoing process; continue refining and optimizing strategies until long-term success has been reached.

Step-by-step Procedure for Optimizing Content on Websites:

1. Research keywords to uncover relevant phrases and words for your website.
2. Be sure to include these keywords throughout the content on your website, from title tags and meta descriptions to headings and subheadings.
3. Ensure that the content provided to visitors is helpful, well-organized and intuitive for them to access.
4. Building an authoritative network with high-quality links in your field is key to long-term business success.
5. Consider writing guest blog posts on reliable sites and engaging your target market via social media and online communities.
6. Analytical tools provide an invaluable way to monitor and analyze the performance of your website. Monitor who is visiting, their behaviors and any traffic sources resulting from visits.
7. Data analytics allows analysts to quickly recognize trends and user preferences by using collected information to perform data analyses on it.
8. Adopt a data-driven approach to optimizing your SEO strategy.
9. Optimize your content based on feedback from visitors.
10. Stay current on the search engine algorithm changes and SEO best practices.
11. Optimize your Core Web Vitals page speed to enhance user experience and SEO rankings.
12. Use social media to spread information about your website content.
13. Utilize email marketing to inform your target audience about your website to increase traffic.
14. Stay ahead of your competitors by performing regular analyses to pinpoint areas for improvement.
15. Put different SEO techniques through their paces and observe how they impact website traffic.
16. Tweak meta tags and descriptions on your website to improve click-through rates, increasing clicks-per-visits.
17. Employ structured data markups to elevate your website in search engine result pages and boost its rank.
18. Continually review, analyze and adapt SEO strategies to maintain and expand visibility and traffic. for long-term and sustainable traffic growth.

The post 7 Proven Strategies To Increase Website Traffic for Your Business appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

“If you build it, they will come.” That mantra may have worked for Kevin Costner in the ‘80s film “Field of Dreams.” But it does not prove true in the SEO world of Google search.

So, what if you have a bunch of old webpages on your site (like on your blog) that aren’t getting much traffic, but they’re still good content? How do you breathe life back into them? Optimize, promote, and repurpose, of course!

This is a topic we tackle in one of our “Ask Us Anything” videos from our SEO training membership site. I’ve posted the video below, and after, I’ll summarize it by showing you some ways you can reanimate your old content and make it perform better for you.

• Optimize it
• Promote it
• Repurpose it
• FAQ: How can I effectively optimize my old content to improve its SEO performance?

1. Optimize It

Review and Update
The first thing you want to do to optimize old content is to bring the information up to date. Are there any old stats that should be updated with new data or guidance that has changed since you wrote it?

Once done, you can republish the article with a new date if you made substantial changes. But if your changes were only minor, I suggest you put an editor’s note at the top of the page stating when the content was last reviewed and updated. That way, if you have dates on your blog, people won’t be turned off by seeing an article that’s three years old, thinking it might be irrelevant.

Remember: Even if you update the article, always keep the content at the same URL because that URL may have built up links and traffic over time. (That is, of course, unless you need to 301 redirect it for some reason.)

Use Tools
Did you optimize your content before you published it last time? Even if you did, there may be some new, missed opportunities. Take some time to understand how you can improve the optimization of the webpage.

One of the best ways to do that is with the use of SEO tools. SEO tools can tell you quickly how you can better optimize a webpage. (Or you can always follow an SEO checklist as well.)

Take, for example, the Single Page Analyzer tool in our SEOToolSet. This tool can analyze your webpage and give you data on:

• Keyword usage and distribution
• Tags and headings
• Linking and anchor text
• Readability
• Any problems with cloaking
• JavaScript rendering
• Mobile-friendliness
• And much more

You could also use our Multi Page Analyzer tool to compare your webpage to your competition in the search results (meaning, the top-ranked pages that you are competing with). This can show you what they’re doing with their optimization, and you can get recommendations for keyword usage.

This is great because in SEO, it’s all about beating the competition, not the algorithm.

Optimize for Featured Snippets
Another way to optimize your content is to think about reorganizing it in a way that allows you to compete for a featured snippet. A featured snippet shows up at the top of Google’s search results. It’s meant to answer a searcher’s query right away.

Also known as “position zero,” it will feature a snippet of your webpage content with a link back to your webpage. And the best part is that it shows up above all the other organic listings.

I give tips on how to optimize for featured snippets in an article I wrote on surprising on-page SEO techniques you may not know about.

2. Promote It

If you have old content that’s performed well in the past, consider promoting it to generate new traffic and buzz.

First, you can share it on your social media channels. Be sure that the promotion of your old content fits seamlessly within your social media schedule, so be strategic. For more, Sendible has an article on how often you should post on social media channels.

And don’t let your social media posts get stale, either. Think about how you can vary the content in your social media updates for each article you are promoting to make it seem new and exciting.

This can be a great way to not only get more visibility and clicks but also fill up your social media calendar.

Second, also consider how you can create fresh links to your updated page from within your own site. Look for related pages, or create new articles on a similar topic, then include a link.

You might also add a “related content” section to your blog pages for more visibility. This can feature posts you want your visitors to read next. You can see how we do that on the Bruce Clay blog:

3. Repurpose It

Another thing you can do to breathe life into old content is to repurpose it into other types of content. This may or may not boost the original webpage, depending on if you link back to it or reference it in some way. Either way, it is another step you can take to make your content work for you.

Think about it: You put in a lot of time and resources to publish that original piece. Why stop there? Get more ROI from your content by using the same topic in various formats.

You might use an old article as:

• Inspiration for a podcast
• Script for a video
• Text for an e-book
• Content for an infographic
• Topic for a webinar
• Seed for a case study — and the list goes on.

In fact, I repurposed the content you’re reading right now from a video we created.

Yet another idea is to use your older article as part of a “roundup” on your blog. A roundup can get old content in front of a new audience while still providing value and generating new ROI.

It may be that your website needs SEO-enlightened content to bring your ROI back to life. If you’d like expert assistance, check out our content services and request a free quote today.

FAQ: How can I effectively optimize my old content to improve its SEO performance?

As the digital landscape evolves, maintaining the relevance and visibility of older web content becomes paramount. Optimizing existing content to maximize its impact can save you money and be an extremely effective means of increasing its value. Revising old posts and making necessary updates will increase SEO performance, and your audience will continue receiving value from it.

Conduct a comprehensive audit of your existing assets to optimize your old content for improved SEO performance. Identify articles, blog posts, or webpages that have the potential to generate value but may be hidden in the depths of your website. This audit will provide you with a clear picture of what content needs attention and how you can strategically approach its optimization.

Updating and refreshing the information within your old content is a crucial step in the optimization process. Verify all data, statistics, and insights are up-to-date and accurate – this increases the credibility of your material and shows search engines that it remains pertinent.

Build an interlinked web of content within your website using internal links. Identify related articles or webpages and incorporate well-placed internal links to guide visitors to other valuable resources. This enhances user experience and signals to search engines that your content offers comprehensive insights on a particular topic.

Converting articles to videos, podcasts, or infographics is an excellent way to add fresh life to your digital assets. By turning an article into something engaging, such as an attractive video or infographic, new life can be breathed into them. Repurposing broadens your content’s reach and caters to diverse audience preferences, boosting engagement and SEO performance.

Optimize your content for featured snippets—the coveted position zero on search engine result pages. Identify common user queries related to your content and structure your information in a concise, clear format that directly answers these queries. By aligning your content with featured snippet requirements, you increase the chances of capturing the attention of search engine users and driving organic traffic to your site.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Optimizing Old Content for Improved SEO Performance

1. Perform a comprehensive audit of your website’s existing content.
2. Identify older content that can be revived and optimized.
3. Update and refresh the information within the identified content pieces.
4. Verify the accuracy of data, statistics, and insights.
5. Implement internal linking strategies to connect related content.
6. Integrate well-placed internal links to guide users to valuable resources.
7. Strategically distribute keywords within the content for SEO enhancement.
8. Repurpose selected old content into new formats, such as videos or infographics.
9. Cater to diverse audience preferences with various content formats.
10. Leverage the power of featured snippets by structuring content to answer common queries.
11. Align content with the requirements for appearing in the featured snippet position.
12. Craft concise, clear responses to user queries within your content.
13. Optimize content headings and subheadings for readability and keyword usage.
14. Implement schema markup to enhance content visibility in search results.
15. Regularly monitor the performance of optimized content using analytics tools.
16. Track changes in search rankings and organic traffic for optimized content.
17. Continuously update and refresh content to maintain relevance over time.
18. Engage with user comments and feedback to address queries and concerns.
19. Share optimized content across relevant social media platforms for increased visibility.
20. Stay updated with evolving SEO trends and algorithm changes for ongoing optimization success.

By following these comprehensive content optimization strategies, you can effectively rejuvenate your old content and witness a significant improvement in SEO performance.

This article was updated on December 19, 2023.   

The post What’s the Best Way to Revive Dead Content and Get New ROI? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Start with this question: Do you believe that Google is in the business of making money? The obvious answer is YES! So it is vital that you pay attention to the what, why, and how of PPC.

• What is PPC?
• Why should I do PPC?
• How do I do PPC?
• PPC: The bottom line
• FAQ: How can I effectively leverage PPC advertising for my business?

What Is PPC?

PPC, or pay-per-click, is a method of online advertising in which advertisers pay for each time a person clicks on their ad. Simply put, the search engine or other platform gets paid only when it sends traffic to an advertiser’s website via someone clicking an ad.

Google continues to be the most popular venue to buy PPC ad space, followed closely by Facebook. Together, they make up the majority (over 60%) of digital advertising dollars spent in the U.S., with Amazon in third place but increasing.

Source: eMarketer estimates as of October 2019

Search engines earn the lion’s share of their revenue from ads. For instance, Google gets an estimated 83 percent of its revenue from advertisers who buy space in its ad network.

In the search results, you can find PPC ads in many places. Google points out that:

Ads can appear above or below search results on Google Search. They can appear beside, above, or below search results on Google Play, Google Shopping, and Google Maps, including the Maps app.

Keep in mind: Google has been known to rehaul the layout of the SERP completely, including how ads are displayed. It’s also not uncommon for ad displays to change based on the search query of the user.

PPC ads like those that show up on the search results page are just one type in many ad types available to businesses. Some other types include:

• Native advertising
• Display ads
• Social ads
• Retargeting and remarketing ads
• Local Search ads
• YouTube ads
• Google Shopping ads

Why Should I Do PPC?

Pay-per-click advertising can drive sales, leads, traffic, brand awareness, and marketing campaign support.

If you’re thinking about digital ads, you’re in good company: U.S. digital ad spending topped $129 billion in 2019, with the highest spending in the search marketing category.

Statista estimates as of March 2020

While COVID’s impact on digital advertising is still unclear, ad spending will continue growing each year.

Pay-per-click is a great complement to other marketing efforts like SEO. Here are a couple of reasons why PPC and SEO work well together.

First, PPC and SEO together are part of a whole-SERP strategy.

You should maximize visibility on a search engine results page (SERP) with a whole-SERP strategy, and that includes ads. A whole-SERP strategy also takes into account which content will satisfy a user’s intent (what they are looking for when they type a query into Google). Ads satisfy queries with the intent to buy.

Second, PPC can offer instant gratification, while SEO is a long-term strategy.

PPC can support shorter-term needs and specific business goals (for example, branding or lead generation). SEO is a longer-term strategy that can be progressing in the background. Meanwhile, PPC can deliver initial results while SEO gains momentum over a period of months.

Aside from SEO campaign support, consider some of these PPC advertising stats:

• About 65 percent (64.6 percent) of people click on Google Ads when they are looking to buy an item online. (WordStream)
• Seventy-five percent of people say paid search ads help them find the information they’re searching for on a website or search engine. And 33 percent click on a paid search ad because it directly answers their search query. (Clutch)
• The top three ad spots for a commercial query take 41 percent of the clicks on a page. (WordStream)
• Businesses generally make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. (Google)

How Do I Do PPC?

Here are five major steps to consider in a PPC campaign.

1. Focus on the major PPC network providers.

Google is the leader in search advertising, though Bing may be more appropriate for certain demographics.

2. Aim for good PPC quality scores.

Google explains what goes into an advertiser’s quality score and why it matters:

Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. Higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better ad positions.

3. Audit existing PPC campaigns.

Every business that is advertising can benefit from ongoing tune-ups. This can make accounts perform better and save tons of money.

Right now, it’s especially important to reevaluate your search ad strategies. Make sure that your geotargeting and other settings still apply and that your messaging fits with the current situation.

4. Monitor results.

Watch your PPC results. Make changes on an ongoing basis to enhance account performance.

5. Research new and emerging strategies.

Things are always changing in PPC. Stay on top of trends and opportunities for enhancements in your campaigns.

PPC management can be a full-time job that requires specific expertise. So businesses that are considering it should also consider hiring a consultant or agency.

Checklists from Google and others (like the one I’m about to share) can be overly simplified when it comes to the complexities of succeeding in PPC. However, in general, here are some of the steps in running a healthy PPC campaign:

1. Define your campaign strategy.
2. Perform keyword research and select the right keywords.
3. Create ad copy and messaging.
4. Create or identify landing pages on your site for the ad to take searchers to.
5. Implement campaign conversion tracking.
6. Submit ads to the networks for approval.
7. Establish and track PPC account settings.
8. Watch and adjust PPC bids for ROI.
9. Use the right PPC tools to optimize things like cost per acquisition.
10. Identify irrelevant keywords and add them to negative keyword lists to prevent wasted clicks.
11. Perform monthly analyses to identify performance trends.
12. Make changes based on performance trends.
13. Always test and optimize your ad copy.
14. Know which PPC keywords you’re ranking for organically. For example, if you already rank No. 1 for a keyword, you may want to put your limited PPC budget elsewhere.
15. Create and define audience lists (used in remarketing, for instance) for better targeting.
16. Do a competitive landscape analysis. Identify keywords you might bid on to ensure maximum impression share for your business.
17. (For ecommerce) Set up Google Shopping ad campaigns.

And above all: Focus on generating more-targeted, less costly, and converting traffic.

PPC: The Bottom Line

In sum, PPC is a form of online advertising in which advertisers pay each time a person clicks on their ad. Companies do pay-per-click advertising to drive sales, leads, traffic, brand awareness, and marketing campaign support.

PPC management can be a big job that requires the expertise of an agency or consultant to get the best results. But you can get a sense of what’s required by following the steps outlined in this article. It is complex and takes time to master so assume there is a serious investment besides the cost of the ads.

If you’d like to discuss how we can help you increase your targeted PPC traffic, conversions, and revenue, contact us for a no-obligation quote.

FAQ: How can I effectively leverage PPC advertising for my business?

Pay-Per-Click (PPC), or online advertising, has quickly become an effective strategy for businesses looking to increase their visibility and bring targeted visitors. When using PPC ads effectively it’s crucial that expertise meets innovation.

1. Understanding Your Goals:

Begin by defining clear objectives for your PPC campaigns. Are you looking to boost website traffic, increase sales, or generate leads? Your goals will shape your entire PPC strategy.

2. Budget Allocation:

Determine your PPC budget carefully. Allocate resources based on your objectives and the competitiveness of your industry. Remember, a well-distributed budget is crucial for sustained success.

3. Keyword Research:

Extensive keyword research is the cornerstone of a successful PPC campaign. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant keywords with high search volumes and low competition.

4. Compelling Ad Copy:

Craft persuasive ad copies that resonate with your target audience. Highlight unique selling points and include a compelling call-to-action (CTA) to drive clicks.

5. Landing Page Optimization:

Ensure that your landing pages align seamlessly with your ad copy. Optimize them for fast loading, mobile-friendliness, and user-friendliness.

6. Ad Extensions:

Utilize ad extensions like site links, callouts, and structured snippets to provide additional information and entice users to click on your ads.

7. A/B Testing:

Regularly conduct A/B tests to refine your ad copies, landing pages, and keywords. Continuously optimize your campaigns for better performance.

8. Quality Score Improvement:

Google assigns a Quality Score to your ads based on relevance and click-through rates. Aim for high-quality scores to lower your cost-per-click (CPC) and improve ad positioning.

9. Negative Keywords:

Identify and add negative keywords to your campaigns to prevent your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches, saving you money.

10. Monitor and Adjust:

Regularly monitor your campaign performance using analytics tools. Make data-driven adjustments to improve your ROI.

11. Competitor Analysis:

Keep an eye on your competitors’ PPC strategies. Learn from their successes and mistakes to stay ahead in the game.

12. Remarketing:

Implement remarketing campaigns to target users who have previously engaged with your site but didn’t convert.

13. Geographic Targeting:

If your business is location-specific, use geographic targeting to focus your ads on relevant regions.

14. Ad Schedule Optimization:

Identify peak times when your target audience is most active and schedule your ads accordingly.

15. Ad Placement Options:

Consider using both search and display networks to reach a broader audience.

16. Ad Rotation:

Experiment with different ad rotations to find the most effective ad variations.

17. Conversion Tracking:

Implement conversion tracking to measure the success of your campaigns accurately.

18. Stay Updated:

Stay informed about PPC industry trends and Google’s algorithm changes to adapt your strategy.

19. Seek Professional Help:

If PPC seems overwhelming, consider hiring a PPC expert or agency to manage your campaigns effectively.

20. Continuous Learning:

PPC is dynamic. Invest time in continuous learning and stay flexible to adapt to changing market conditions.

By following these steps, you can develop a robust PPC advertising strategy that not only drives traffic but also converts visitors into loyal customers. Remember, the world of PPC is ever-evolving, so keep experimenting and refining your approach for sustained business success.

The post What Is PPC? Why Should You Do PPC? How Do You Do It? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

There’s no question these are uncertain times. But how we as businesses and leaders react to situations and proactively prepare for the future will set us apart.

We are also in unprecedented times with social distancing. Yet quarantine or self-isolation doesn’t mean we’re cut off from all contact with one another. Technology is allowing people to carry on in many areas of their work and lives. It also presents new opportunities for businesses to engage with their audience and consumers.

The question for many remains how to adjust creatively now to survive — while also preparing for a future “normal” in which something like this could happen again.

While some predict the warm weather will curb the novel coronavirus transmission, others believe it’s here for the long haul. Of those who believe it will stick around, some think it will become just another seasonal cold.

Of course, time will tell how serious the pandemic really is, how prepared we will be to handle it, and how it will impact our daily lives.

That said, I want to share some real-time and forward-looking strategies for businesses and search marketing companies to understand how to face this pandemic. In this article:

• Impact of the novel coronavirus on marketing
• Don’t quarantine your marketing
• 10 to-dos for marketers in the current crisis
• Impact on search marketing vendors
• FAQ: How can search marketing budgets be optimized during periods of crisis?

The Impact of the Novel Coronavirus on Marketing

At the time of writing, conferences and any gatherings of more than 10 are being avoided or outright canceled.

Working from home and self-isolation are the new norms until further notice. So there is less traffic on the road, in the air, and walking into businesses.

Companies that invest marketing and advertising budget into things like signage, billboards or airplane magazines will find they’re getting less visibility than ever before. And organizations that rely on events and gatherings to generate new business and revenue may struggle to make up the difference.

It is entirely possible that radio and TV advertising spend will go up. It’s also likely that companies will hold on to cash, including marketing budgets, to brace for impact.

Some industries will fare worse than others during this crisis. For instance, as this article points out, if a business can’t get a product to market, they may cut marketing.

Reports from Search Engine Land show that industries like travel, events and restaurants are pausing their PPC campaigns altogether. Amazon has all but turned off its Google Ads campaigns, and instead is focusing on the demand for specific in-demand goods.

If you are in one of those most affected industries, your search traffic may also have tanked in recent days.

Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg recently echoed the sentiment many people are feeling — that no one knows how big of an impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on marketing.

Is there a silver lining for search marketers? Yes, but we have to look for it.

We can assume that the more people are working from home, the more flexible the “workday” becomes. This means that people may be doing personal or business types of searches at any hour of the day or evening.

And, of course, search behavior will vary by industry and query. For example, coronavirus is dominating searches on top news and social channels as of late. And the query “toilet paper” has gained popularity since the beginning of March.

trends.embed.renderExploreWidget(“TIMESERIES”, {“comparisonItem”:[{“keyword”:”toilet paper”,”geo”:”US”,”time”:”today 12-m”}],”category”:0,”property”:””}, {“exploreQuery”:”q=toilet%20paper&geo=US&date=today 12-m”,”guestPath”:”https://trends.google.com:443/trends/embed/”});

What does this mean to search marketing? For some industries, some marketing budgets, and certain queries, the need for SEO and PPC will be greater than ever.

Don’t Quarantine Your Marketing

As with any crisis, how an organization responds is key. Are you calm and taking action, or panicked and paralyzed?

Two things people should not be doing right now: hoarding toilet paper and hoarding search marketing budget.

How a business treats marketing can make or break them. The answer in these times is to not stop marketing. For many though, it may be a good idea to reallocate the existing marketing budget (like the budget for events or billboards) to different digital channels.

10 To-Dos for Marketers in the Current Crisis

Here are 10 things businesses should consider when faced with the current situation or future situations like it.

1. Know search trends.

To be more relevant for short-term SEO and PPC campaigns, be aware of what’s being searched for now (I suggest using Google Trends). As a retailer, you might have huge gains from your SEM campaigns if you have the products people are searching for. On the other hand, if you know what type of search results are showing up for a query right now (remember: query deserves freshness), you can create relevant content to answer it.

2. Create timely and relevant content.

What does your audience or consumer want to know from you right now? Take this opportunity to communicate and give branded, unique insights on the situation. Make sure you have a good mix of content that’s both “business as usual” and relevant to the crisis so that you don’t look tone-deaf.

3. Ramp up your digital content.

Consider setting up your business now to produce more digital content like podcasts and webinars in both the short and long term. If you are a business with a lot of in-person consulting or training, now is the time to explore online training. By 2025, research estimates the e-learning sector will be valued at about $158 billion, so it’s not a bad time to get in on it. Lessons learned now about these strategies will prove useful should you need to continue to make them a part of your business.

4. Shift offline to online or modify.

If you are a local business or retailer, you’re going to have to think long term. Is it possible to shift a portion of your business online or change your business model? Can you shift in-store experiences to virtual or in-store shopping to delivery?

5. Optimize your content.

If you are creating content about the coronavirus or anything that’s trending, you want to ramp up your optimization efforts so that it can be found in the search results. Schema.org recently added COVID-19-related structured data types, for example.

6. Use search marketing for branding and crisis communications.

Even if the sale of your products and services is slowing down, you can use search engine marketing for branding purposes. For example, ads could point to landing pages with key information on them.

7. Use search marketing for reputation management and trust.

Corona beer, for example, may need to do this based on people’s perception of its relation to the coronavirus. You also should monitor how online sentiment may be impacting your trust signals during this time.

8. Stay ahead of your competition.

If you pause your search marketing campaigns, and your competition doesn’t, who will be set up for success when this whole thing passes? Which brands will people follow through all of this — those that stay in contact, or those that shut down?

9. Remember that SEO is a long-term strategy.

Unless it’s critical, you should not divert your SEO budget. You should keep calm and carry on because Google’s algorithms are not taking a break during a crisis. In fact, this slower period may be just the opportunity you need to do the back-burner projects (such as new content creation or server improvements) that can position you for SEO wins down the road.

10. Don’t buy cheap SEO.

When budgets are tight, the tendency might be to go with cheaper SEO programs or buy bundled marketing services instead of using experts who specialize. In times like these, companies cannot afford to implement anything less than expert SEO. After the dust settles, they will be dealing with another crisis: no rankings, no targeted traffic, and possibly Google penalties.

What Will Be the Impact on Search Marketing Vendors?

This will likely not be a fun time for marketers unless you’re on the right side of things. For many search marketing firms, staff cuts are inevitable.

A search marketing agency cannot survive as a company of interns. Many large agencies that are used to thriving on less-experienced professionals will not succeed. That’s because for a portion of this workforce, the work-from-home approach will not be successful. Lack of experience without close mentorship does not produce stellar results.

For this reason, I speculate that a lot of search marketing firms will not make it. Tougher times do not bode well for agencies without a majority of senior staff.

Agencies will also need to do what is necessary to continue servicing new and existing clients. For some clients, budget cuts could be a concern (although the hope is that they see the value in continuing search marketing for all the reasons outlined in this article).

That means having to modify current campaigns and programs to focus on what is necessary now. Some may have new strategies while others may choose to do baseline tactics but not be as aggressive as before.

Some clients may consolidate vendors in these times. They may choose to bundle all their digital marketing services with one agency for a discount.

What we learned in the last recession was that these agencies weren’t experts in everything. Some of them even subcontracted to us at Bruce Clay Inc. for the SEO portion of their agreements.

Unfortunately, businesses that didn’t have SEO experts working in the background realized they had shot themselves in the foot with mediocre services after the recession ended. Many of them came to us to fix what was done in that time period.

At the end of the day, search marketing professionals, especially SEOs, are no strangers to reinventing themselves at the mercy of rapid changes (like algorithms). So, I am confident that many vendors can rise to the occasion and survive.

Closing Thoughts

Now is the time for all of us to be leaders — businesses and search marketing vendors. We need to create short-term solutions and future-oriented strategies for our businesses and our clients.

We need to be creative with our products, services and communications. We need to send the right message: that we can carry on in the face of a crisis.

In the eye of the storm, it can be hard to see anything but chaos. The best defense is to do what is necessary to still be standing after the storm.

Let us know if we can help you navigate your business through these times. Call us or fill out our contact form here.

FAQ: How can search marketing budgets be optimized during periods of crisis?

The world of digital marketing is dynamic, and businesses often face unforeseen crises that impact their budgets. Optimizing your search marketing budget in such turbulent times becomes crucial for survival and growth. As an expert in the field, I will guide you through the process with proven strategies.

1. Assess Your Current Situation:

Begin by evaluating your current marketing performance and financial standing. Understand the severity of the crisis and its impact on your industry. Identify which marketing channels are still viable and which need adjustment.

2. Prioritize Your Goals:

During a crisis, your marketing goals may shift. Focus on short-term objectives that ensure business continuity. These include retaining existing customers, reducing marketing costs, or pivoting to new opportunities.

3. Keyword and Market Research:

Update your keyword and market research. Consumer behavior can change dramatically during a crisis, so you must adapt your SEO strategy accordingly. Look for trending keywords related to your products or services in the context of the crisis.

4. Optimize Ad Campaigns:

Review your ad campaigns and refine them for relevancy. Pause or modify campaigns that are less effective in the current climate. Allocate resources to the channels that are performing well.

5. Monitor and Adjust Continuously:

Regularly track the performance of your campaigns. Set up alerts and KPIs to monitor changes in real time. Be prepared to adjust your strategy as the crisis evolves.

6. Leverage Social Media:

Increase your social media presence to stay connected with your audience. Share valuable information, offer support, and maintain a consistent brand voice. Social media can be a cost-effective way to engage during a crisis.

7. Cost-Effective SEO:

Focus on organic search optimization. Invest in high-quality content creation, which can yield long-term benefits. Optimize your website for mobile devices and user experience.

8. Reallocate Resources:

Consider reallocating the budget from offline marketing channels to online ones. Digital marketing often provides more flexibility and better tracking capabilities during crises.

9. Competitive Analysis:

Analyze what your competitors are doing. Identify gaps in their strategies and capitalize on them. Adapt quickly to changing market dynamics.

10. Data-Driven Decisions:

Base your decisions on data, not assumptions. Use analytics tools to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences. Adjust your campaigns accordingly.

Optimizing search marketing budgets during a crisis requires a proactive and adaptable approach. You can navigate the storm successfully by assessing your situation, prioritizing goals, and continuously monitoring and adjusting your strategies. Remember that crisis periods can also present opportunities for innovation and growth, so stay agile and resilient in your marketing efforts.

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