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The pandemic has hit the world hard and small businesses are the most affected ones. While some local businesses have completely vanished; some arrived at the verge of extinction. But, there were still some industries and small businesses that managed to sail through the Covid-19 blow by continuing their expenses to sustain their brand’s online presence.

The pandemic shut down in the whole world restricted the production of various products, stopped consumers from going out to physical stores and brands to continue their sales and marketing in the traditional way. The only medium that kept these businesses going was Digital. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) were among the most useful methods of Digital Marketing for small and local businesses amidst the pandemic.

The Major Challenges for SMEs

The year 2020 and half of 2021 was full of uncertainties. The rising graph of new Covid cases, inadequate vaccination in the initial phase and complete or partial shutdown in different states left small businesses clueless. There was no clear view of the demand and the supply. The struggling sectors and businesses were hardly able to make sales and operating profit margins adequate for survival. This resulted in layoffs, cutting in ad spends and whatnot.

How SEO Can Keep Your Business Afloat Post Pandemic?

The economic blow and pause in the ad spend for most of the businesses created a room full of opportunities for some brands. SEO was the low-cost alternative for PPC and some of the smart brands in the world couldn’t afford to miss it. Not only during the pandemic but also after things get back to normalcy, SEO will stay the most popular and cost-effective Digital Marketing technique or SMEs. Here are some strong reasons to answer to you WHY & HOW:

• A shield that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket

  Most of marketers believe that SEO is the best strategy for small brands that need online exposure with a limited budget. The service became even more important during the pandemic when people were locked inside their houses and the only ways to know the nearby stores and timings for grocery and essential item delivery were maps and search engines. SEO perfectly fitted the bill in these circumstances. The best part for small brands was even if the stores were closed, with SEO services, they didn’t have to go offline and somehow the sales managed to sail through the situation.

• The Dominance of eCommerce

  With the positive recovery rate nowadays, it is expected that the world is inching towards normalcy. However, the pandemic has taught the consumers across the globe that shopping can be done online with utter convenience and saving a lot of time. The habit of home delivery options in the consumers during the pandemic will sustain even after that and eCommerce websites will dominate like never before. With SEO, brands can easily make it big by appearing on the first page of SERPs whenever there are queries related to their products and services.

• The Rise of Local SEO

  The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us in various ways – economically, physically and mentally. Consumers have developed a habit of finding products and services on Google and other search engines or maps that are near to their place and here comes the role of Local SEO. The websites that are well-optimized for local searches will keep on leveraging the ‘New Normal’ consumer behaviour.

  It’s never too late. The businesses that realized the power of SEO are reaping the benefits as big fishes in the market today. Small brands can sow the digital seeds in the market even today. The world is moving at a fast pace and there will be a million opportunities in the next decades too.