7 SEO Wins for Your Content During COVID-19

During COVID-19, some companies and businesses have had more time on their hands, which has allowed many to focus on creating great SEO optimized content. SEO content during COVID-19 is being commonly used for short-term awareness of company initiatives, but also can be used to build up content for post-COVID-19 efforts. Companies understand that it may take months to see the rewards of SEO and content optimization. Investments made now can be a game changer for ROI down the road. Here are 7 SEO wins to create content your target audience may need now and after COVID-19.

1. Keyword Research

Start by evaluating your current top-performing content pieces and find the search queries they are already ranking for. You can use data from these commonly used sites we use here at Top Floor, such as Google Search Console, SEMrush, and Moz. This will help organize how you plan on adding or updating SEO content during COVID-19. Once you have a list of all your relevant queries, segment the higher performing queries into groups:

• Queries ranking on Page 1
• Queries ranking on Page 2 
• Queries ranking below Page 2

2. Improve Existing Content

When looking for content to update on your site, the list above will help identify where you can strengthen content. For the queries ranking on the first page you should only make minor tweaks to move up a few spots or earn a coveted featured snippet.

For your queries found on the second page, your content will need more attention to break into that first page of results. To achieve SEO optimized content, we often suggest building out the current page with new content sections within the page, or even expanding on the topic with new pages on the site. Targeting queries with specific content can often earn that featured snippet as well. 

3. Consolidate Existing Content

This step is to evaluate the queries that are ranking below the second page. Looking at these queries you may find that some of your content is highly similar or repetitive. By consolidating similar pages into one stronger page, you are more likely to achieve a higher ranking since the separate pages won’t be competing for the same keywords anymore. This is an essential part of gaining SEO optimized content.

4. Incorporate Low-Search Volume Question Queries 

During your keyword research you are likely to find some question queries that are highly relevant to your business but have low-search-volume. While these queries don’t acquire a lot of traffic, their search volume and low competition can make them worth pursuing and getting those clicks. These question queries can be added in short-form content pieces that won’t take up all of your time.

5. Implement FAQ Page Schema Markup

If you are looking to get creative and enhance your Google search results, implementing FAQ Schema Markup can make content really stand out to searchers. In the image below we can see this schema markup enhances the search results with a FAQ box and drop downs with content. If you are interested in implementing this schema and are not sure where to start, let us know. We can help!

6. COVID-19 Markup

Recently businesses are also implementing markup to add Special Announcements specifically for SEO content during COVID-19. When the special announcement structured data is added, the content can then appear with the COVID-19 announcement result. This result can include a short summary that can be expanded when clicked. This feature is only eligible for health, government, and school sites for the time being, but Google is working on developing this feature further for other announcement types.

7. Create New Content That’s Relevant Right Now

New content that is highly relevant right now can be helpful in driving quick traffic to the site. Examples of this content include deals or special promotions during this time. You can also create content that includes common struggles your customers are having and how you can help. 

After evaluating your current content and identifying any updates, you can also start thinking about and investing time into content moving forward post COVID-19. Although this content may not drive the most traffic right away, this content will begin to gain traction before competitors and claim those top rankings. 

Maintaining your content during this time is critical for your SEO efforts. If you need some help getting started and are looking for some more recommendations, give a shout and we can help build your SEO content during COVID-19.