Best eCommerce SEO Practices Are More Important Now Than Ever

Now that many businesses are facing forced closures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, many industries have almost nearly ground to a halt. Many areas are only allowing essential businesses and services to continue, while others are forced to close their doors.

Despite what would seem like an economic death knell, there is great opportunity underlying tough economic times. In this age where technology is never farther away than consumers’ pockets or fingertips, many turn to the online marketplace. And since the online market protects us from what might be seen as risky face-to-face contact, consumers are turning to eCommerce to meet their demand – both for essential and nonessential goods and services.

In the course of this article, we’ll explain carefully why the online marketplace is the ideal way to preserve, even to grow, your business through tough economic times like these, as well as why using best eCommerce SEO practices are more important now than ever before.

There’s Likely to Be Less Competition

As people are forced to remain indoors away from people, stay home from work, or both, more are turning to the online world to slake their boredom. There is an infinite number of diversions available on the internet, and one of them is shopping. The amount of people that will find themselves spending disposable time online is only going to grow in the coming weeks.

At the same time, the current conditions keeping people at home will be the same conditions that are costing businesses revenue. Most businesses will see this as a time to cut operating costs, and some of the costs that are first on the chopping block during hard times are those associated with marketing strategies or advertising. It might be tempting to cut costs associated with building organic traffic through SEO or through marketing channels, but you should avoid the temptation to cut those costs. They are actually critical to your ability to capture your share of the market.

Since more people are going to be shopping online for things they can no longer easily find in physical stores, you need to find a way to get your business in front of their eyes. This means that not only is spending on targeted marketing valuable, but so is any investment in SEO, provided you are targeting the right keywords and audience. SEO can be used to drive traffic to your online store and also to differentiate your eCommerce business from any competition that survives in the market.

Competition or Not, Shoppers Will Be Online

While the largest markets available to you will be in the digital realm during times like these, there’s another side to this situation. Not only will the online market grow, but many businesses are likely to spend less money wherever they can. That includes, contrary to the advice we would give, spending on marketing and SEO services.

You’ve probably considered cutting costs just about anywhere you can, especially if your business is acutely affected by the responses to coronavirus. So has just about everyone else.

Yet the fact that so many other businesses, probably including some of your competitors, will be cutting costs associated with SEO and marketing opens up a real opportunity for you. It means that now is precisely the time to gain a better foothold in the online market. Not only will you be likely to experience less difficulty reaching your target market, but if others are spending less to establish their presence in the online world, that void is your oyster.

Now is the time for keyword research, to find the keywords that you can feasibly rank for and improve your web design to make it more user-friendly, appealing to your customers and to search engines. It might be nerve-wracking to take it up at a time like this, but any gains you make will stay with you when the market starts to turn around. By then, it will be your competition’s trying task to unseat you instead of the other way around.

Search engine optimization remains one of the most effective and enduring ways to grow online visibility and drive organic traffic to your web store. If part of your market is online, then SEO is the way to get in front of them, especially in the long run when the money you originally invest will result in higher, sustained growth in traffic.

Succeeding Now Is Good Positioning For the Future

Perhaps more importantly than the fact that it could be more cost-effective for you to improve your SEO during times like these when the market is tried is the fact that if you grow during a recession, you will be well-positioned when the economy bounces back.

Any dollars you pour into your machine at this time will pay you back triple once the market becomes stronger. For one, your brand will have survived through tough times, you will have connected with customers and they will remember that. There is little replacement for that type of brand equity. Any traction you gain with search engines will remain with you in the long term when the market rebounds as well.

SEO Can Help You Grow in Any Climate

As a final note, if you manage to position your business to grow through a recession, it’s nearly bound to continue to grow when times are better. Plus, with the higher online visibility that comes with utilizing eCommerce best SEO practices, you’ll have more exposure to your audience when the market is healthier. The time when more and more shoppers turn to the internet to do their shopping is just the right time to invest in the best eCommerce SEO services you can find.

There are a lot of ways you can optimize your website on your own, but it never hurts to work with an eCommerce SEO expert to take an analytical look at the structure of your website, the content published on it and the keyword strategy you’re using.

SEO isn’t the only element of selling online that remains important during this time. PPC campaigns and other marketing spending remain crucial as well to preserve your positioning once the storm passes. As we mentioned previously, it’s also a better time now than ever to open up an eCommerce website to protect your retail sales or just to get into eCommerce.

Since now is a more important time than ever to capitalize on the opportunities of larger online markets, lower competition, and potentially even lower costs, working with an eCommerce SEO agency can help you grow your online business. Contact us at info@1digitalagency.com or at 888-982-8269 for a free SEO audit to see how your site is performing and expose areas for improvement.

For more information on starting an online business in order to stay ahead of the game and to keep your business afloat during this time, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay tuned in on simple quick and easy steps to get your online business started and off the ground.