SEO Benefits to eCommerce Websites amidst COVID-19

For obvious reasons, the overall functioning of global businesses and their trends have gone through a drastic change due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This has also affected the way people around the world are using the internet as well as the quantity and the reasons they are using the web.

The SEO industry is no exception as it has undergone several changes in the way it operates; however, the demand for its services has never been so high. 

• With each passing day, more and more companies no matter what they produce or which service they offer have been following and feeling the need for SEO; thus the importance has reached a new high despite the pandemic slug. 
• Most of the changes-” NEW NORMALS” may have happened for permanent, as most businesses have realized the actual importance that the SEO industry bears.
• In the case of e-commerce, the websites have turned into the actual marketplace and are up for business 24X7. 
• This has surged the need for SEO activities to win the narrowing race for all the eCommerce players. 
• It has been more than a year now that people are just forced to buy products and opt for services using their smartphones or laptops. 
• Consumers are on a constant buying spree as essential commodities aren’t something that can be avoided. 

However, this prolonging practice of using eCommerce portals to purchase or sell the product is now getting into a routine that shall never change; or won’t change at least in the immediate future.

Although there are thousands of benefits of a website for business, SEO has impacted eCommerce websites and has become an inevitable factor for  their business:

The Impacts Of Search Engine Optimization On Business

SEO brings Brand Loyalty:

Even the biggest brand of the global markets has their shutters closed due to the coronavirus infection. Hence, business units irrespective of their size and nature or even their locations are hugely dependent on their website and social forums. This is where they are currently striving hard to gather attention and pluck new business opportunities; as much as possible.

Here is where SEO activities stand strong as it works on creating a virtual presence for the brands and developing a different feel/experience for the potential customers. 

• Taking the business online is nothing new, yet the increased interaction on social media pages dedicated to the brands gets the consumers closer and they turn into ambassadors, as they like the experience.
• This happiness by using the brand is further converted into reviews and the word of mouth keeps spreading, which impacts rankings on the search engines for the eCommerce company. 
• Ecommerce entities are being hyperactive on their social pages; positive effects for the same can be easily witnessed as the number of clicks, likes, and visits are crossing the roof. 

Enhanced Online Traffic:

Sources of Ecommerce Website Traffic via SEMrush

• SEO focuses to deliver better rankings by getting brand visibility on search engines. This is primarily done by concentrating on the targeted keywords; the search terms that consumers use for searching on the internet.  
• Focusing on relevant keywords can get brands the much-needed higher slots as they connect with the consumers; the ones who visit an eCommerce website (most of them) are well-decided consumers; who know what they are looking for?
• Hence, using the right, most appropriate keywords connecting to products serves a massive purpose as providing the searcher with exactly what they want is as well as door-delivering the requirement. 
• Hence,  a goal-focused content marketing method doubled with proper keyword targeting is ought to give increased traffic for the website which is everything that the eCommerce website is striving for.

A clear web structure:

Image source- blog.kissmetrics.com

• An average eCommerce website includes many products/services with segregated categories; it can come across as a complex experience for many customers; especially for youngsters. 
• Hence, SEO-wise it is important to create a non-confusing web structure that makes sure that the visitor finds what he or she wants from the website;  without putting in much effort. 
• Ability to easily navigate through the pages, find products through simple, most common keywords, and getting basic information such as details about the company, the seller, and the product variants count for a superior client experience. 
• Also, an SEO expert would know the value of finding the contact page with complete details with a single click. 

All of this builds to be a great online consumer experience, which is more likely to turn into a positive review helping promote the brand.  

FAQs

• What are the major challenges for eCommerce websites?

As COVID 19 effects have devastating results throughout the globe, brands need to concentrate on their online presence and push back their physical stores as secondary, for now at least. Better content marketing and website experience to their clients will be the best way to create a business. 

Activities shouldn’t be sounding too pushy yet they can include some extremely interesting “call to action” that attract increased numbers of customers online. User experience plays the biggest role as a consumer on a website or an application is eyeing to understand things on the first go; the ones that guaranteedly deliver this do well. The Digital Marketing concept is based on user experience and the coronavirus pandemic also has changed the behavior of search engines for E-commerce. 

• How can Brand Loyalty help eCommerce companies during COVID-19?

Brand loyalty is something earned through years of dedicated service. Clients may like and follow a brand for various reasons-maybe for their constant quality, maybe the attractive innovation or offers, or simply because of affordability. 

Brands need to push their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) online and keep their customers and others informed about how easy it is to stay connected with their favorite brands. Online presence, especially on social media platforms- as such: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even LinkedIn (Works well for B2B players) is the most result-oriented way to keep in touch and have an instant business communication that may turn into conversions.

• Which are the categories receiving maximum traffic post-COVID-19?

With the health issues rising to an all-time high, it is needless to mention that the healthcare and pharma sectors are receiving nearly an unmanageable amount of online traffic. Keywords from these segments are the most searched ones; the FMCG sector is also seeing a steady rise as consumers are forced to buy things online and for a majority of them this has become a normal which is less likely to change.

• How essential are KEYWORDS in SEO at these challenging times with regards to the eCommerce industry?

We all are aware that the internet is a chock-o-block place with unlimited information focused on words, more than topics. These words are technically known as “Keywords” in SEO.  No matter how big or small a business, irrespective of the location one needs to concentrate on how the consumers are searching them? Which are the keywords that are more relevant to the business? 

A good SEO for eCommerce will have a set of relevant long-term keywords that come under the most targeted categories. Also, there is the head term -keywords that do not exceed more than 26 characters; used often in search engines.

However, it is important to understand that the conversion rates vary between the head-term keywords and the long-term keywords (more than 26 characters);  the latter works better as it produces a higher rate of conversions in the case of eCommerce as well as general online businesses. Thus, it becomes necessary to enhance the landing page conversion rates for a greater benefit. Digital Marketing is nothing but only the opportunity of keywords are getting noticed. 

• How important is Page Speed for the success of an eCommerce website?

Page speed is an essential element of Google Analytics according to its updates recently. Moreover, there have been several proven case studies wherein; there is an instant reaction of positive conversions happening as soon as the page speed improves.  The most popular one is in the case of Amazon, which noticed that bringing down the page load time by a mere 1 second resulted in 7 %.

7% may sound like a small change, but with the volume business the brand is indulged with; it gave them a whopping $1.6 billion increase in their final deals. Now, that is some change!!!  

• Who are the most active buyers in e-commerce post-COVID-19?

Generally, people from all age groups, economic stature, and locations actively purchase their essentials from the eCommerce industry following the COVID 19  lifestyle. However, segment-wise; Millennials are the most hyperactive generation that is turning to online buying for almost all their requirements. The e-commerce growth is increasing day by day, but the pandemic may have increased the sales as people are afraid of getting coronavirus if they go to any physical store.    

• How to choose an appropriate SEO Service Provider for your eCommerce website?

It is very essential to choose the right SEO service agency for your business. You can list out the best SEO agency name from Google.  When you put some queries on the Google search engine it provides you with the best results on the first page. You can list out those SEO agency names and check their websites to gain more information