COVID-19 has changed life, work – and search. Smart businesses are adapting their SEO to capitalise on new opportunities and prepare for the next normal that is likely to be different from the one that existed just four months ago, writes Harry Sanders founder of SEO marketing agency StudioHawk.
Internet use has surged due to COVID-19, by up to 50 per cent in some regions. With people confined to their homes, the internet has become more important than ever as a source of information and recreation, as well as a means for shopping.
Importantly, these searches are coming from desktops more than mobiles. Desktop impressions and clicks have surged 20-40 per cent as people adjust to working from home. This is likely to be a feature of the new normal, as working remotely is expected to play a larger role in business life after COVID-19. People are staying up and online later than usual, with large spikes in late-night searches a feature of life during COVID-19; up to 15 per cent increase in search volume after midnight in some markets. Weekend searching is less impacted by COVID-19, with search volume within 10 per cent of pre-COVID-19 averages, but it is also increasing significantly in the late-night hours.
In the first months of COVID-19, coronavirus-related searches dominated searches on Google, as expected. The search, antibody, hit an all-time high worldwide, for example, in the first week of April. But then, so did insomnia. Health searches continue to trend, with coronavirus symptoms and prevention leading – but even home remedies such as antiviral foods and herbs and antibacterial essential oils featuring in searches. Coronavirus searches have been exceeding by far the usual top runners like news, weather, politics, Google, Facebook, Amazon – and even porn. News searches are up, though. News publishers are seeing gains above 30% in traffic.
Most noticeably – and also as expected – work from home-related searches are significantly higher, with searches for hardware service, tools, technology and delivery options surging. Smart retailers are updating their home pages in response, he adds, putting high search items front and centre on their websites and reorganising their pages to “squeeze as much SEO juice as possible” from this ongoing COVID-19 phenomenon.
Travel searches are down nearly 50 per cent and these searches are now primarily for cancellable options. With international travel bans likely to continue for very many months and the cruise ship debacles still in the news, people are looking to recoup their losses or add safety to their future travel plans.
Cooking searches are booming, especially how-to searches. Food searches are up nearly 25 per cent overall. With a large percentage of restaurants and cafes closed and fast food chains offering drive-thru or delivery only, people are rediscovering home cooking – some for the first time in a while, some for the first time ever, others as a pastime – for the joy of it. Online delivery searches are also peaking, especially for groceries.
How-to searches are surging in general – from household chores (home cleaning is a COVID-19 trend) to D-I-Y repairs and renovations, to arts and crafts – especially for children as parents try to keep offspring of all ages occupied at home. Education-related searches are also up as parents try to keep their children’s learning on track.
Fitness and sports searches are booming and brands responding to this are reaping rewards. Fitness and exercise equipment searches have been surging by as much as 150%, whereas videos and video game rental is only up by about 40 per cent.
Harry Sanders has begun a video series called Tea Time SEO that will provide SEO insight updates – all in the time it takes to brew a cup tea. For more information on Harry Sanders visit www.studiohawk.com.au
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