Covid-19 SEO Strategy

 

Covid-19 SEO Strategy

 
With the  Covid-19 virus still spreading in many countries worldwide and with the traveling restrictions put  in place in Cambodia  since March 2020 most businesses relying solely on tourism came to a standstill in April 2020. Among these businesses the most impacted as the ones we  described earlier in our blog:  spas in Siem Reap, restaurants in Siem Reap, hotels in Siem Reap. Only few businesses have managed to switch to an expanding local tourism but this might be limited in time.

What are the implications about digital marketing for tour agencies and hospitality businesses  in Siem Reap and in Cambodia in general during this time? Although we can argue about the  timeline of the reopening of borders, the key message is that you need to focus NOW on your SEO strategy so it can have an  impact in few months time when tourism will resume.

A new normal: doing business post covid-19 will be very different

To contain the virus, sanitary measures will likely to remain in place in the foreseeable future: wearing  of masks, usage of hand sanitizers, physical distancing.

Therefore, capacity is likely to go down. For example a movie theater will have a much lower seating capacity due to physical distancing, this will affect  indoor restaurants, conference rooms etc..

Supply and demand: the number of tourists after covid-19 in Siem Reap will be a fraction to what it was before. The numbers were already down in 2019 and it will be take many years to come back to the levels of 2018  where 2.6 millions tourists visit the temples of Angkor. Actually this number might not be reached again.

 

 

covid-19 strategy: few pointers

 

Reassess  your competition

 
 
The competitive landscape of your business is likely to change a lot if it does not already happened. Unfortunately  many businesses will not have the finances to open again in several months. Beside taking a walk around, on place to look  is Google Maps in a 1km circle around  your location to see what business are marked  permanently or temporary  closed. Other sources of information are Trip advisor, facebook pages and OTA’s like booking.com.

Found new business opportunities and business models

For restaurants it could mean developing a food delivery service to avoid depending on third party like Food Panda which take a 30% cut. For some others, it could be to start a small online store.

 

covid-19 SEO strategy: hire a SEO specialist

 

A SEO specialist will be able to help you to frame your digital marketing strategy and even find new opportunities  following a SEO audit.

 

For the majority of online marketers , organic search (the realm of SEO) was the top performing channel in front of paid search in 2019. Many customers are relying on Google search and Google Maps to find information and make purchases.

For example, if you have a restaurant business and want  to develop a food delivery service, being on the first page of Google with the keyword food delivery + city and on the top 3 of Google Maps will be a long-lasting competitive advantage.

 

DO YOU HOW WELL DO YOU RANK  ON GOOGLE ?