As COVID-19 is starting to settle down, the effects are very much still being felt by Australian Businesses. The Corona virus radically changed the entire landscape of how we use the internet. More businesses are upping their digital presence, are you?
Everyday more Australians are making the transition online. The huge increase in purchases made at Amazon this year is the best proof of this. Here we explain why it is worth investing in search engine optimisation (SEO) right now.
This economic crisis is one of the most significant in the history of Australia – with unpredictable consequences. The last recession in Australia dates back 12 years: the 2008 financial crisis.
If you compare both crises, it becomes clear that the economy – pictured here by gross domestic product – has been hit far harder by the Corona crisis than by the financial crisis. We will be able to monitor the long-term impact in the coming quarters.
E-commerce: the big winner
It is already foreseeable that e-commerce is the big winner of the current crisis due to the offline-to-online shift. Consumers have both the time and the need to find out online and then make the purchase on the Internet. The gigantic winners are, as you would expect, giants like Amazon & Co.
But also in areas such as grocery retail, furniture sales and medical supplies (despite open shops during the lockdown) more and more products were ordered online.
Small online shops in particular, which were previously unknown to consumers, are benefiting from this turnaround and are continuously attracting important new customers for their own business.
The losers of the crisis
It looked and still looks rather depressing – and in some cases also life-threatening – for the travel industry, trade fairs and events as well as cultural operators.
The dependence of the pandemic protection requirements has a massive influence on this industry and your ability to return to everyday life. In fact, it is only to wait and see and to reassess and decide on an ad hoc basis from situation to situation.
“Since good search engine optimisation is always a long-term investment, those who now rely on SEO will be able to find their websites in the upper, hard-fought places of organic SERPs in time as purchasing power increases again.”
When it comes to the sale of high-priced, prestigious-driven goods such as cars, clothing and seasonal goods, retailers also face enormous challenges. Many customers have postponed their purchase requests due to wage losses, short-time working and uncertain prospects for the future.
The prospect of a financially unplanned future is holding many back from their buying intentions. Until a decision is made, many will keep their feet still.
As a general rule, investments of all sizes are reconsidered and assessed for their importance and time flexibility. As a result, the dealers’ warehouses are bursting at the seams, which is why many sellers are currently luring with extremely high discounts and special conditions.
Secure the return on invest with search engine optimisation
In this situation, the question arises as to what measures can be taken for one’s own company in order to interpret the return on investment (ROI) and thus the return as high as possible and thus to achieve the best possible and above all long-term profit.
Our clear recommendation here lies in search engine optimisation! In the Paid sector, many online marketers are currently facing the challenge that conversion rates and thus inevitably the ROI decrease.
Predicted development of Cost Per Clicks after the crisis
The positive thing about this precarious situation in online marketing is that marketing budgets are also reduced due to the crisis and the declining ROI in the paid sector, thus reducing online advertising activities.
As a consequence of this action, the Cost Per Click (CPC) decreases, which could lead to an investment in campaigns in the first impulse. The only decisive factor (industry and product depending on the CPCs is whether the CPCs fall on the same scale as the conversion rates.
However, the Corona crisis will eventually be over, including the economic losses it will suffer, and purchasing power will increase sharply within the population as the deferred purchasing interests are made up.
At this very moment, the option for online retailers is to make up for their crisis losses. We currently expect that all online experts will again invest massively in Paid at this stage and thus the expected CPCs and TKPs will also soar.
Although conversion rates are expected to rise again as a result of the increase in purchasing power, this is not a guarantee of success due to the parallel rising CPC costs, but naturally reduces the expected success of the planned Paid campaigns.
Countercyclical approach as a solution
A recommended solution approach is to be countercyclical and in the current situation not to invest or less in SEA, but to strengthen and expand the SEO channel.
Since good search engine optimisation is always a long-term investment, those who now rely on SEO will be able to find their websites in time in the upper, hard-fought places of organic SERPs as purchasing power increases again.
“A perfectly optimised website with content, structural and technical excellence and a focus on transactional keywords ensures better rankings, more traffic, good conversion rates and, above all, satisfied customers.”
A perfectly optimised website with content, structural and technical excellence and a focus on transactional keywords ensures better rankings, more traffic, good conversion rates and, above all, satisfied customers.
This countercyclical thinking and, above all, action will provide the company with an enormous competitive advantage in the medium term and will produce it as a winner from the crisis.
Getting started: SEO Basics at a glance
For basic SEO optimisation, it is recommended to use the following tools and check the above aspects for your own website:
1) Use of the Google Search Console
To get the data of Google Search first hand, all website owners should set up the Search Console. Optimisation potentials can be easily derived and errors can be detected immediately.
2) Create Sitemap.xml and Robots.txt
Both documents provide important data to Google, which helps to decide which content is indexed and which is excluded from the index. These instructions are the basic equipment for communicating with the Googlebot.
3) Structuring the content
By writing unique meta titles and descriptions, Google receives information about how the search results of a search query are displayed. The issued SERP is thus responsible for the click rate and thus ultimately for the traffic that gets to the page. H-headings also help Googlebot understand what content is on the page and how it can use it for searches.
4) Keyword Focus
A landing page should always be optimised for a parent keyword to increase the chance of ranking for a search query. In this way, the search engine is taught that the website has a relevance to the respective topic. Furthermore, a clear keyword strategy of internal “duplicate content” (DC) can be avoided.
5) Internal linking
A good internal linking structure is essential to guide both the user and the Googlebot optimally through a website. Here, the most important pages should always receive most internal links and thus have a certain priority for the bot.
6) Backlinks
Links still play a crucial role in the rankings of a website. High-quality backlinks – i.e. link recommendations – from authority-strong sites are powerful tools to achieve top rankings in the SERPs. When you read the “Basics” you already realized that you still have SEO homework?
Use the time to make your website SEO-fit – it will pay off in the long run. Don’t know where to start? A good SEO audit and derived implementation strategy provide you with the roadmap to top rankings.
