Social Media and SEO is More Important Than Ever for Small Business Survival

The outbreak of the Covid-19 virus has thrown the global economy into a spin.  This turmoil has led to massive business failures among both the large and the small.  

Savvy businesses are surviving and some even thriving through these trying times by being smart about marketing strategies and adapting their communications strategies to meet their customers’  -and prospective customers’- needs.  

Social Media presence, and proper search engine optimization off your website has never been more important to the survival of your business than it is today in this new business environment.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media is an essential piece of your business marketing strategy. Social platforms help you connect with your customers, increase awareness about your brand, and boost your leads and sales. With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, it’s no passing trend, and its importance is growing.  Social Media marketing can involve something as simple as a regular posting strategy, to more complicated strategies such as influencer endorsements, paid placements, or even pay per click (PPC) advertising.  The first step in any social media marketing strategy is a careful analysis of where your products or services fit, and where your audience can be found among the array of viable social media sites.  For example, if you offer a business service, you might look carefully at a LinkedIn strategy, while if you are offering a consumer product, Facebook or Pinterest might be better choices.

SEO is Not Only About Increasing Traffic to Your Site

Now more than ever, the purpose of SEO has become multi-functional. Any reputable SEO agency will tell you that SEO is about far more than just bringing in traffic to your site. 

The truth of the matter is that SEO is not only about increasing the quantity, but more importantly the quality of your daily traffic. The correct use of SEO can help you hook up with visitors who will prove to be a source of high quality leads. The key when it comes to SEO is relevance. 

“A comprehensive SEO strategy is extremely important with such volatility in the market right now. With so many consumers going online now to find products and services, it is imperative for the survival of a business that they have a strong online presence,” explains Christopher Amos, of No Boundaries Marketing, a digital marketing and SEO agency. 

The Gains You Make with SEO Will Be Useful in the Long Term

Did you know that the majority of the pages that ranked in the first position for Google searches were almost all over a year old? This is due to the evergreen quality of top shelf SEO and content marketing. 

Creating expert-level content, and building real partnerships with news sites and partners in your industry can go a long way in getting your content seen and ranked in the search engines. The bottom line is SEO, when done correctly, has a long shelf life, and a huge impact on your brand perception. 

SEO is the Most Effective Way to Market on a Budget

Perhaps the most crucial reason to step up your SEO efforts is the fact that it’s both cost-effective, and practical, year after year. A concentrated SEO campaign costs you pennies on the dollar compared to other methods of marketing and advertising, and can offer more predictable results.

It is true that mastering the art and process of SEO does require a substantial investment of your time and energy, but it’s an investment that pays in dividends. 

The Covid-19 Lockdown Has Made Internet Searches Even More Local

One crucial thing to keep in mind is that the current Covid-19 crisis has made local internet searches even more prevalent than before. This is because lockdown has made long trips impractical. It also has to do with the fact that the mail service has, in many areas, been slowed to a crawl.

As a result, people are conducting local searches for the goods and services that they require. If you’re a local small business, you can benefit from this timely shift. You can localize your SEO to attract more visits to your website from people in your area. This could lead to a major spike in your overall level of sales.

The Time to Step Up Your SEO Presence is Now

There is no time like the present to get more invested in your SEO efforts. Making use of localized SEO in your website, blog, and social media content will reap major dividends. This is the time when you need to be concentrating on meeting customers where they’re at – online –  in order to offset the disruption from Covid-19.