If you are one of the lucky ones, your business may have remained unscathed over the last few months. But many companies have been through some tough challenges – complete drop off in demand, lack of supply, forced closure, increased costs and staffing issues, to name but a few.
It is very likely that the environment you are now trading in looks very different from its pre-COVID state. The problems your customers face may have changed along with the solutions they are seeking. That shift will have ramifications on the way they search for your product or service online.
The changes in the search language and keywords they use may be subtle. They still want holidays, meals or days out or they still need your services or product in their own business, but they have different questions and demands. For example:
- Where is the safest holiday destination?
- What COVID-safe measures are being put in place in the leisure or dining sectors?
- What shops offer the safest socially distanced experience?
- What are the best foods to eat to boost your immunity?
- Is it safe to have my nails done?
- Will the café be open at the National Trust centre?
- In the B2B sector, questions might change around the supply chain or the manufacturing process.
So what can you do?
1. Check if your content reflects the new keywords your customers are using
Do some research to get a better feel for what keyword terms potential customers are using. Here are three simple ways to do keyword research:
- Firstly just sit and brainstorm what keywords your customer might now be using. What changes have impacted your business? Ask your staff, your social network, your friends.
- Ask your customers. What are their needs, problems and concerns? What were they searching for when they came across your business?
- Look at your competitors. What are they talking about on their website and social media?
2. Make use of free search tools
Move on to some keyword search with free tools such as:
- Answerthepublic.com– A visual tool that shows popular searches around your product or services.
- Google search console – You can look at the search console linked to your website to view your search performance report. This shows you what queries have been used to click through to your website, so you can discover what terms are popular with your site visitors.
- Google Trends– This shows keyword popularity over time and across geographic locations.
3. Use your new keywords to refresh your content
Before you launch into writing new content to fit your new keywords, do a review of your current content. Refreshing an existing piece of content with new angles and updated information is much faster and more efficient than starting from scratch.
- Start with your main pages – do they contain the current keywords? Tweak and update. Update the meta tags as well.
- Go through your blogs to find existing content you can refresh.
- And don’t forget to look for content that now feels out of touch or outdated. That includes images, phrases and topics that no longer work.
- Look for opportunities to create new content that includes the updated keywords.
4. Update your content plan
If you had a content plan in place, review and update it to reflect the new world with content that works for your audience now. And if you didn’t have a content plan in the first place, check out my guide to seasonal blogging. (Yes, it was written before the global pandemic but it still has relevance).
5. Be quick to react
In the current climate, the search language of our customers is constantly changing and content can become quickly outdated. Keep one step ahead of your competitors by following the subtle shifts in demand and review your keywords and content regularly.
Use a copywriter
If keyword research and content creation isn’t your thing then think about using someone like me. It’s my job to come in with a fresh pair of eyes, think like your customer and understand the language they use, then create content that reflects that.
If you need any help with content creation on your website, blogs, print or social media, please get in touch with me.
