If you are a small business owner during this time, you are probably worried and concerned how your business is going to survive the shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders across the country. This is especially true if most of your revenue comes from your brick and mortar business and you are not considered an “essential” business. Well I am here to help with some tips to help you get through this time.

#1 Google My Business

If you own any sort of business, you should have a Google My Business listing. It is free and easy to set up. Now if you don’t have one, there may be a delay to getting verified, but it is worth the wait. Now if you do have one set up, there are some things you should do:

If you are closed, you can now change your listing to be “Temporarily Closed.” This is now an option for all businesses. And don’t worry about losing ranking, John Mueller from Google has stated this no affect on ranking here.
There is a new optional “post” for COVID-19 based updates. Anything related to your business and changes due to COVID-19 should be posted here.
In your business description you can state about your business being closed during this time, or reduced hours and if you have a website they can purchase from.
There have been some recent issues with posting in Google My Business, but it should now be resolved. In these posts, you should be talking about other options of purchasing. Whether it is curbside pickup or through your online website. If you have an online website, you definitely want to be posting here pushing sales through it frequently.
If you own a service based business, and are open, now is the time to be promoting your different services through Posts. You can also update your description to talk about the changes you are making during this time to be extra cautious.

#2 Google Adwords

Reports have come out that advertising has dropped since the outbreak has started. Companies are being more cautious with their budgets. This can be a good opportunity for you to advertise your business. Especially if you have never advertised before, this is a great opportunity to go after new customers, whether you have a brick and mortar business or an online website or both.

One thing to keep in mind with all your ads. Do not mention anything related to Covid-19. I am seeing ads disapproved, and this is confirmed here.

With your writing, you should be much more sensitive. You should clearly communicate empathy for your customers’ current situation.

Is Your Brick & Mortar Business Open?

If you are a brick and mortar business that is an “essential” business and open, you should be increasing your advertising locally. This can easily be done through Google Adwords. Not only should you be advertising on your company/brand name, but your product lines and/or services. This will get you found online locally during a time when many people will be scrambling to look for businesses like your own that they can get what they need.

Is Your Brick & Mortar Business Closed?

If you are closed, I would still recommend doing paid advertising on your brand/business name. This way you can craft some messaging in your ads about your closure. You can also get them to click through and potentially collect emails (need a 3rd party pop-up platform) so you can market to them again once you are open.

Is Your Brick & Mortar Business Closed, But Your Website is Shipping?

This is what I commonly see. Companies with their brick and mortar store closed, but they are still able to ship online orders. If this is the same for you, it is an excellent time to start up your paid search. While the competition is low, you can choose to advertise internationally, nationally, to the states with the strictest rules during this time, or just your local community. If the volume is highest enough, definitely test advertising to your local community. This way your local customers can still make a purchase and not even leave their home. This is why you should not only be advertising your product lines and related terms, but also you brand so customers know your brick and mortar store may be closed, but they can still order from you and have it delivered.

Top Marketing Phrases to Use

These are some things that are working well in ad content during this time.

Free Shipping
Hassle-Free Delivery
Stuck at Home?
Learn X at Home

#3 SEO / Organic Search

Google is not stopping during this time and your competitors are still working hard to be in a better position once this crisis is over. While you may have more or less time right now, you should continue with a few areas in order to push your rankings higher, especially once this crisis is over. I know it is tough right now. Many of my clients are not really focused and it is hard to concentrate during this time, but we need to continue through it.

Content Writing - You should be coming up with new content for your website. While some of it can be COVID-19 related, if it makes sense for your business (maybe it is a product perfect for those stuck at home), but you want to go back to writing content that searchers looking for your business would want to read or watch. You can use free tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends or paid tools such as SEMRush to find out exactly what people are searching for.
Link Building - You want to continue to increase your authority through this time. Make sure to get links from associations, chambers of commerce or other organizations you are partnered with. If you have manufacturers, ask them for links to your website. If you have customers or influencers, ask them to link to your site. The more good links pointing to your website, the better your chances at increasing your positioning.
Google Search Console - I would recommend reviewing Google Search Console during this time to see if you are seeing any other trends in the type of keywords people are using to find your website. If you don’t have Google Search Console installed on your website, it is free and fairly easy to set up.

#4 Communication with Your Customers (Don’t Worry, Not Within 6ft)

Whether you have a brick and mortar business, an ecommerce website, or both. You want to stay in constant communication with your customers and subscribers. This can be done in a variety of ways.

Emails - This is the easiest way to communicate…and the least expensive. From doing promotions, to letting customers know what is going on with your business, to talking about new products/services. I have many clients increasing the amount of emails during this time to make sure they are at top of mind of their subscribers.
Post Cards - This is something gaining more popularity. There are a lot of new services out there that can easily send out post cards by just sending them a spreadsheet of your customers. With more people at home than ever, you can get more eyes on your post card than ever.
SMS - This is a great way to communicate with customers, but you need their permission first. There are many services out there such as Slick Text, SMS Bump (Shopify Only), Attentive or Retention Rocket, that can help with this.

#5 Social Media

Recent studies have shown social media usage is up over 50% and people that normally stayed away from platforms like Facebook have come back to be more informed during this crisis. This is a big opportunity for your business.

If your brick and mortar store is open, you can easily create ads promoting it to your local community. I am not talking about just posting to your followers, but to a bigger demographic. This can be done by giving them directions or potentially a coupon to come visit your store. Maybe your retail store also has a website. You can promote the fact that while your store is closed, you are still shipping to customers. This could be something your consumers in your community didn’t know and will now.

You can find more information about advertising through Facebook and Instagram here.

#6 Youtube

With so many people working from home or out of work, now is the perfect time to start making videos and posting them on Youtube and/or other social media channels. You don’t need a fancy studio or anything like that, and posting videos is absolutely free. Or go a step further and set up webinars to help teach people things about your business/industry etc and show you are an expert in the industry. These are things that both take time to create, but very little, if any money to start.

Plus videos are not just found on Youtube.com. You can have your videos displayed all over Google, including right in their search engine.

#6 Website Review

Now is the perfect time to be reviewing your website and looking how you can improve things. From speed, to conversion rates, to user friendliness. Get your website optimized so when this crisis is over your site will be a well oiled machine ready to get leads and/or sales. You can use tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google Pagespeed Tester.

You should also be monitoring your internal search results during this time to find trends on what people are looking for on your website if you do have a search function. Any major platform should have this in the admin…Wordpress, Squarespace, Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce. Another way which can show you similar results (though not “0” result searches) is through Google Analytics.

BONUS: You should also be looking at new apps to add to your website. During this crisis, I really recommend a service like Sezzle, which allows your customers to pay over time. This is especially important with those worried about spending or those that have recently lost their jobs.

The Takeaway

I know it is a tough time right now for most businesses. If you take some of these strategies and put them into place for your own business, you should be able to at least get some of the revenue and exposure to your company back during these times. It’s not easy, but implementing some of these changes will help. And if you need assistance, I am always available to answer questions or consult for your company.

Small Business SEO Marketing Tips During the Coronavirus Outbreak