SEO and crisis: how to optimize your expenses?

News about coronavirus, self-isolation, quarantine and exit from it. This is what the world has been living with for more than a month now. There is not a single person, not a single company that has not been affected by this. And so we learn to live, work and earn in this mode.

The dream of an Internet marketer came true - everyone ran to the Internet. So why is it especially difficult now?

• Competition in all niches is only intensifying.
• Advertising budgets are limited.
• And people - the end consumers of products and services - are scared and now spend money mainly on food and essentials for the life and health of the family.

What about SEO promotion? I want to talk about this with you.

Should You Stop SEO?

There are several reasons why companies should put all SEO and digital marketing spending in general to a halt:

• products and / or services of the company are not among those that the user needs in the first, second and even third place;
• if you are not sure that you will be able to open and start working after 2-3 months of quarantine.

These may partially include business in the field of HoReCa. How to be such companies? It all depends on the service/product you offer.

If we are talking about hotels, recreation centers, country complexes - by the sea, in the forest, near the river, that is, in those places where users are happy to go for the weekend as soon as possible (away from the city) or on vacation for a week or two - It's time to get active.

Already now we see an increase in traffic on the websites of hotels in Zatoka:

Organic traffic to the hotel website in Zatoka from March 1 to May 10, 2020

We observe a similar situation with regard to recreation in the Carpathians:

Organic traffic to the hotel website in the Carpathians from March 1 to May 10, 2020

Additionally, the following factors contribute to the growth of traffic and interest in recreation in Ukraine:

• Holidays abroad will become at least somehow accessible (according to tentative forecasts) not earlier than the end of July - the beginning of August, but people already want to plan, and preferably with minimization of risks.
• Many, wanting to save money, will choose cheaper vacation options (and compliance with sanitary standards and distance on airplanes is unlikely to make the cost of a flight low).

And quite the opposite situation with the traffic of business hotels:

Organic traffic to the hotel website in Kyiv from March 1 to May 10, 2020

This is a niche in which you need to think carefully:

• How viable is the business?
• What can be sold during the settlement ban period?
• What can you offer to the local population?
• How to work in the "after" period?

And if there is something to offer to the local population, change the guidelines in promotion, possibly with a reduced budget.

Consider, using the example of a restaurant, how you can work during the quarantine period, both more stringent and with relief:

If there are no additional services and goods (surely not?), reduce the budget for promotion to the level of support or even stop it.

Especially for our customers on the SPRAVA blog, we published two articles about the crisis in the tourism and HoReCa niche:
Message to hoteliers: where the guest goes is also up to you
How does a hotel act during a crisis? Survival guide
Restaurants: a recipe for survival, trend 2020

Features of SEO promotion in a crisis

Each company, regardless of what it offers, had goals, objectives, priorities in website promotion. Most of these goals will be irrelevant or less relevant during the post-quarantine crisis.

Therefore, we are recommend reconsider:

• What tasks are paramount in promotion.
• What goods and services are more relevant now, and develop a plan for how you can increase sales for them.
• What goods and services will be relevant in 3-6 months, and what tools can be used to meet this demand with the best positions.
• What new products and services can be introduced into the range of offers in order to satisfy users (there can be both separate, new directions, and those that will help satisfy turnkey demand, thereby increasing the average bill).
• It is important to evaluate the price segment in which the company operates. If it is acceptable for the company, expand or reorient the business to a cheaper segment. Since users will look for opportunities to save money or at least not overpay, those companies that will satisfy this need will win. No, we are not talking about the need to reduce all prices en masse or work for free. Don't underestimate your product. It makes sense to expand your offer, range, in the end, your target audience.

In principle, the world is changing rapidly, and now it is many times faster, because your business must be flexible, change quickly and adapt to the circumstances of the outside world. Track the demand, interests of your target audience and constantly adjust, if required by the business, goals, objectives, directions for sales.

Just remember:

Feel free to use the audience acquisition channel that will help you sell here and now.

The next thing to do if you haven't already:

• determine the entire list of channels to attract customers;
• estimate the cost of a lead for each of the channels;
• evaluate the timing of attracting a new lead for each of the channels;
• stop or minimize spending on those channels that show the least financial efficiency.

Important! If you find it difficult to assess the prospects and directions of promotion in the next 2-3 months, please contact SPRAVA

To avoid the situation where you turn off one channel that seems to be the least cost effective and immediately drop sales, consider how the synergy of two or more channels works at the same time when evaluating. Customized goals in Google Analytics and the introduction of end-to-end analytics can help with this. The first option is faster and more cost-effective.

This skill will become indispensable for you, including in the “after” period.

Should You Start SEO Now?

Haven't you done it yet? Then, of course, it is worth it if you are not a company with characteristics (described in the first paragraph) for which you just need to survive.

Why is it worth it? Here are some reasons:

• The trend for local companies is to help local businesses. And which of the local users will incur their money depends largely on you.
• People want to quickly return to normal life, which means they want to choose, order, buy. And very soon they will spend more, which means the business will earn.
• Someone has not survived this crisis or will not survive in the near future. And no matter how sad it may sound, there are advantages to this: a niche is freed up, competition is reduced, which means that it will be easier to enter this market on growth. And for this you need to take your place under the sun, declare yourself publicly.

A few examples of businesses growing in quarantine

1. Construction and repair of apartments, turnkey houses.

Dynamics of organic traffic to the construction and repair site in comparison 2019 and 2020

A feature of the project is that the promotion began just a month before the quarantine.

2. Regional furniture store.

Dynamics of organic traffic to the sale of furniture site in comparison 2019 and 2020

3. Regional store selling awnings and roller blinds.

Dynamics of organic traffic to the sale of awnings and roller shutters site in comparison 2019 and 2020

We at SPRAVA understand that it is difficult to start in a crisis, so we have developed several anti-crisis solutions for website development, promotion and contextual advertising.

Sum up

If your business is doing really badly, stop promotion.

If your activity is not banned, create an offer that your audience may be interested in (taking into account the latest trends). And remember, it’s difficult for everyone now, but those who quickly adapt to the market will survive. Therefore, think about the future, but work here and now.