How Has Coronavirus Impacted Search Behavior?

There’s no doubt that the crisis caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought an incredibly difficult situation to businesses around the world. Many businesses are going through a lot of new challenges as international borders close, bricks-and-mortar businesses shut their doors, and people are told to isolate at home. Due to the newly imposed government measures restricting movement and foot traffic have forced business owners to find creative ways to provide services virtually while other industries are seeing unprecedented surges in demand.

Here is a quick search behavior analysis caused by COVID-19

The coronavirus has created significant changes in online user’s search behavior, as well as the type of content that search engines display in their result’s page. As expected, queries and searches related to “coronavirus” are upsurges, and search engines, especially Google generates search results that display the highest possible levels of expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.

While it is expected that websites like WHO (World Health Organization) and other institutions that provide official information on infectious diseases would see increased organic visibility during a pandemic, some other interesting trends have emerged. For instance, websites that provide video workout classes are one of the winners in organic market share during the pandemic. This is simply because more and more people who are quarantined have been forced to work out at home. In addition to this, a reputable SEO agency in Dubai says that there are also some websites featuring data and statistics that have also seen sharp increases in search visibility.

On the contrary, some of the business industries that show the most decline in online searches include restaurants, apparel, footwear, accessories, travel, and entertainment out of home. This behavior is expected to continue as consumers’ stated expectations of reduced spending.

Improving your online presence during a pandemic to remain competitive

As COVID-19 becomes a global pandemic and search trends in UAE and the rest of the world is changing, it’s more critical than ever that you have a complete view of the marketplace.

As consumer behaviour changes and shopping online in upsurge, so too will the marketplace change to become ever-more competitive as more and more businesses seek to exploit this trend. If your website is not found in search engines for relevant searches, your ability to compete will be severely diminished. This implies that, rather than stopping marketing activities such as SEO, PPC, Content Marketing, and Social Media, businesses could benefit more by investing in these types of activities, especially now that most people are online. While each business is different and will face its own challenges, investing into these areas may actually help companies thrive in a competitive space, and help offset the financial impact of the loss of offline sales.

The digital marketing team at Creativo, one of the best SEO companies in Dubai, is working to adjust all current and future campaigns to best fit the needs of brands and consumers in this time of crisis. If you are looking for support during these challenging times, please contact Creativo at +971 4 568 4882. We can surely help you prepare for the coming months.