The global Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting almost every part of life all over the world. As the global economy reels from the impact of this virus, businesses have been shifting strategies, hoarding cash, and have been preparing for the worst. But the reality is that businesses can thrive even during these unpredictable downtimes! The next question you should be asking is how? Well, it is quite simple, by investing in SEO you can increase the value of your business in the long term and out rank your competition! Let’s take a look at the benefits of SEO.

Search engine marketing can produce cash

During economic downtimes, cash is the king. Those that have cash, or cash flow, to push through the hard times are the businesses that survive. Search engine optimisation, both paid as well as organic, reaches the consumer when they are in a state of need. Forget attribution and the top of the funnel, SEO produces sales and leads precisely because the consumer is connected to your brand when they are searching for your product or service. Even when sick, people need products and services. Even if they are self-quarantining, maybe even more than they usually would. By being in front of your consumers when they need the product and make the search, you are setting yourself up for a sale.

Search is measurable

If you’ve been marketing to the top of the funnel but are experiencing a budget crunch, it makes sense that you’ll move your efforts to consumers with more immediate buying intent. SEO does just that – but more importantly, you can prove whether you are successful or not. Unlike “branding” efforts, it is easy to see if SEO is working. All you have to do is have a look at your sales or leads in your analytics. This allows you to pivot your budget and efforts where necessary, and during this uncertain time, pivoting is very necessary.

People still need products and services

Despite what some people say on socials, the world is not coming to an end, just yet. Humans still need things and as we have said, SEO, both paid as well as organic, is the best way to reach them! Now, SEO is not a quick fix for most, but you can set up a Google Ads campaign in a few hours and get the ball rolling.

Eventually things will go back to normal

The new world may be slightly different to what we remember, but the world will eventually stabilise, and search engine marketing will still be one of the most effective ways that you can reach potential customers. Those that implement effective SEO strategies during the downtimes will be primed and ready to clean up when things normalise again.  While you can see results from SEO in a short period of time, the overall effectiveness of SEO does not happen overnight. It takes time to get an SEO campaign running effectively.

This pandemic was definitely not the last one, so it is a good idea to start your SEO efforts now so that when the time comes, your business is able to make it through the inevitable hard times that are to come.