How to take advantage of a spike or increase in website traffic during the pandemic.jpg

Have you heard? There’s a global pandemic going on 😷

We’re now several weeks in and the initial shock over COVID-19 has passed… but now we’re faced with this “new normal” situation and everyone’s doing their best to figure out how to ride it out… and even make the most of it. Some even find themselves in the unexpected position to thrive!

Day to day life as we knew it is on hold and this pandemic has changed EVERYTHING for who knows how long. It’s an upheaval for everyone’s personal life but it also has direct implications on business, work, and finances too.

Everyone is at home, mostly indoors, and social distancing is in full swing. All I can say is thank goodness that spring is in the air and the flowers are starting to pop!

We’ve also seen a complete disruption of digital behaviour and the craziest thing is that it pretty much happened over night back in mid-March 2020! We’re all spending an insane amount of time online, basically glued to our screens, phones, laptops and TVs …. but not always in the ways that you might expect.

This situation means different things for different people, brands and businesses - and yes, that means your website and it’s traffic are going to look different from what you’re used to.

News flash: the pandemic has brought about a massive change in consumer habits and purchasing priorities, and that is seen especially clearly with people’s internet habits and what’s going on online.

For some industries and niches, the pandemic has brought a significant drop in website traffic and business. They’re taking a beating and every day is a struggle to stay afloat and figure out the best way to keep the lights on without going under. A drop in website traffic isn’t just a blow to the ego - it has a real impact on a business’s bottom line which affects real people and their families.

I wrote a blog post all about what to do if your website traffic has DROPPED because of the pandemic, so check that out if that’s where you’re at.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for everyone!

This global pandemic has been a blessing for many industries and they’ve actually found that business is booming and better than ever!

You might have unexpectedly found yourself in this joyous situation and maybe you’re like, wow ok website traffic has spiked or majorly increase and business is thriving as a results! If you have, that’s awesome and I hope that you are able to make the most of this truly insane situation! I’m here to help you out as best as I can and share my tips and recommendations for fully taking advantage of this positive change in website traffic - for however long it lasts.

In this blog post, we’re going to go over what to do if your website’s traffic has spiked or increased because of COVID-19.

Whether you’re an independent content creator/blogger, a small business or brand, or a bigger company, I want you to take a step back and look at this increase in traffic & business with clear eyes and your head on straight. Now is your time to shine and truly hit the ground running so that you can make the most of this boom.

After you’ve read this post, I want you to feel like you have a plan and actionable steps that you can follow to max out your situation, and hopefully keep riding that higher website traffic and set your business up for future success.

Related:

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started!

What does an increase in website traffic mean for you and your business?

It’s a known fact that some companies, industries and niches are unexpectedly thriving during COVID-19 - just look at Netflix, Zoom and Amazon shares and you’ll see what I mean!

But many other smaller brands, solopreneurs and freelancers have also found themselves busier than ever as more and more people are interested in whatever it is they have to offer.

Online fitness programs all all the rage. Everyone in their cat is baking banana bread so food bloggers, restaurants and cafes are seeing an uptick. Therapists are helping patients to navigate these times via Zoom calls. Anyone who sells vitamins, palo santo, crystals, or other health & wellness items are definitely smiling.

It might look a little different depending on the type of website & business you have, especially if you’ve made any significant changes to deal with or handle the pandemic, but there are still some common traits. Some people are relying on their websites for the first time in… who knows how long, whereas other people are starting to appreciate just how powerful a good website can be when everyone is online.

This is reflected in increased website traffic, which often leads to a surge in product sales, greater demand for services, and lots more page views.

If you find yourself in this situation, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!

As website owners or managers, we need to get strategic and ride this out on a high for as long as possible! This increase in website traffic might last for a few days, but it could also go on for several more weeks or even months. Honestly, there’s no way to know. But, iff that’s the case, that means greater opportunity to drive business forward for a while at least.

You know the saying “strike while the iron is hot”? Yeah hunni, that would be now so let’s get to work.#LFG.

Personally, I’ve found myself busier than ever because literally everyone wants to improve their websites and up-level their Squarespace SEO. It’s a lot but I’m doing the hard work with a smile on my face, happy to serve my people in whatever way I can!

Understand the numbers and look at your Analytics

Alright, so we’ve already established that there’s a link between higher website traffic and increased sales/revenue. That’s music to our ears and we want to keep it up as long as possible.

Remember this: those page views aren’t just random numbers. They represent real live people who are interested in what you have to offer and are turning to your website for a solution to their problems, entertainment during a stressful time, seeking out your services, etc.

The data matters and will guide us through this next phase, so we must look at the numbers.

First thing’s first: open up the back end of your Squarespace website and hop over to the Analytics tab.

If your website traffic has SPIKED or INCREASED and you’re getting more traffic than normal (particularly more organic search traffic), then you are in the right place and this post is for you!

Next up, I want you to look at the pie chart that shows page visits by device type (top left below).

Depending on the type of website you have, who your visitors/clients/customers are, you might normally get more or less traffic from mobile vs desktop. It’s important to understand this because it might actually influence sales via your website!

Here’s the thing: more people might browse on mobile, but they usually buy via desktop. According to Wolfgang Digital’s KPI Report 2019, 53% of traffic to online stores comes via mobile devices, but this translates to just 32% revenue (source).

This is something you should care about. The New York Times reports that during the Covid-19 pandemic, people’s internet habits have changed and people are browsing the internet more often on their laptops/desktops than they are with their phones. So for you, this means that when more people are viewing your website on their laptops, it might very well result in higher sales than normal compared to when they’re just visiting from their phones.

You can obviously drill down on the numbers & data even more, either here in Squarespace Analytics or with Google Analytics, but these are the very basic numbers that you need to understand.

By looking at Analytics, you can see what people are coming to your website for, and figure out how to maximize that. Maybe it means creating more content, promoting existing content, showcasing similar products/services/offerings, setting up down/cross/up-sells, etc.

You might also find value in looking at referral sites, because that shows you the websites that are sending traffic your way through backlinks.

Finally, make sure you have checked out the click through rates so that you can see how your performance is across the board there.

1. Focus heavily on SEO

As the leading Squarespace SEO expert, I’m obviously biased here, but I truly believe that NOW is the time to up your SEO game. There’s a reason I put this at the top of the list, afterall!

SEO stands for search engine optimization and it’s all about getting your website content to show up in online searches, so that you can get in front of your ideal audience.

The thing is, you’re already seeing an increase in traffic during the pandemic… so don’t you want to maximize it and keep that flow coming for months and years to come? SEO is a long term strategy with proven results, and there’s truly no better time to dive in than right now. Strike while the iron is hot, my friend.

Squarespace SEO is the most important and popular topic on my blog and I have so many posts, video tutorials, resources, guides and online courses to help you get started here.

Start with these Squarespace SEO related blog posts:

Seriously, take a few minutes to click through these links because SEO is one of the strongest ways you can market your website & online business, increase traffic and reach your ideal audience online.

SQUARESPACE SEO SERIES

I have so many tips to share on the subject that it would have been crazy to put it all in one article! There are many misconceptions about Squarespace SEO which is why I've dedicate so many posts to this topic. Enjoy!

Click to view all posts in the Squarespace SEO Series

Visit my Squarespace SEO page for lots more resources.

2. Content marketing plan, strategy and calendar

Next up, let’s talk about content planning for your website and how that’s going to change as a result of a spike or increase in website traffic.

Content marketing covers a variety of different things but let’s focus specifically on blogging, since that’s going to be a major factor in driving traffic to your website and continuing to attract your ideal audience online. Taking it a step further, we want to continue creating blog posts that will point all these visitors towards our offerings so that there’s also an increase in business. Whether it’s purchasing products in your online shop, booking your services, clicking through affiliate links, or procuring your offerings in some other way, your blog posts should work extra hard for you right now.

This is NOT the time to hit pause on blogging - don’t get lazy just because more traffic than normal is coming in.

Now more than ever, you should be cranking out even more blog content for your website and making sure that it’s interesting and engaging for your ideal audience - especially since that number is extra big right now!

During this time, work even harder to create as much website & blog content as you can, especially content that is aligned and adapted to the current situation. As you can see from the screenshot below, I have been cranking out lots of blog posts over the past few weeks (this is free content that I create, in addition to all my client work and digital products #busybee) and I’ve been keeping the topics relevant and answering the questions my audience has been asking.

When it comes to creating blog content during the pandemic, I recommend that you think ahead and create content that is both timely and looks to the future. Or, just keep on creating that evergreen content. Either way, fill up that Drafts folder and keep publishing high quality posts.

If you haven’t already, take a few minutes to come up with blog post topics that you can write about. This will be your very basic blog content plan.

Next up, come up with a calendar or schedule that you’ll follow so that these blog posts actually get written and published! I recommend one blog post/week MINIMUM, but the more you can do the better. Heck, I don’t care if you hire a freelance writer to help you out, blog your little heart out!

Once you have your blog posts created and ready to go in your Squarespace Drafts folder, you can schedule the blog posts to go live whenever (see screenshot below).

Also, go back to your Analytics tab and look at Search Keywords (pictured below) or Site Search Keywords for your site. Do you see anything interesting? Any nuggets that could be turned into a killer blog post that drives even more traffic? If so, use that to your advantage and create new posts on those search terms.

The best blog posts not only serve your existing audience, but they also add new content to your website that can then connect with even more of your dream audience online. Think of all the millions of people who turn to Google every day and do an online search looking for specific content. The more content quality and targeted content you have on your website, the better chance you have of showing up in search results and connecting with these people - and blog posts are one of the best ways to do this.

If you’re going to blog, do it right! Create and write posts that are on-brand AND are SEO-friendly. Double whammy, my friend.

3. Embrace email marketing

Ahhhh, email marketing. My favourite marketing strategy of them all, it’s definitely my secret weapon and a true powerhouse of my business! I am that insistent web designer/developer who forces all my clients to start an email list and grow their newsletter haha I have zero chill but I know that email marketing is non-negotiable.

Email marketing and growing your website are total BFFs. They go hand in hand. Like Oprah & Gayle. Ben & Matt. Snoop & Martha.

Jokes aside, let’s bring this back to the increase in website traffic that you’re seeing and how you can use email marketing to take advantage of the situation.

You already know that your audience is coming to your website… that’s great, but will they come back? How do you know that they’ll be repeat visitors?

I’m such a huge advocate for email marketing because it’s one of the most direct ways of communicating with your audience. If you can turn someone from passive, one-time site visitor to a newsletter subscriber, you have way more control over how you reach out to them in the future. Instead of crossing your fingers that they’ll come back and check out your new products or blog posts, you can just send them an email letting them know what you have to offer, and chances are high they’ll actually see it and go check it out.

Across the board, there has been a rise in email marketing open rates and click through rates during the past few weeks of the pandemic so use this to your advantage.

If you don’t already have one, then you MUST start an email list right now!!!!!!!! Especially if you are experiencing a spike in website traffic - that means even more opportunities to grow your list fast!

If you already have a list but you haven’t really engaged with email marketing yet, now’s the time to do so. Your goal should be to GROW your email list because this is the most direct way to communicate with your website visitors, clients, customers, etc.

Don’t fight me on this, email marketing is where it’s at.

The screenshot below gives you a quick look at some of the emails I’ve sent out to my list recently - yes, I have fun with email marketing!

You might be afraid of popping up in your subscribers’ inboxes more than usual, but don’t be! People don’t read every single email that lands in their inbox anyway and they probably won’t care. And if they unsubscribe? Who care! They probably weren’t going to do business with you anyways #boybye #girlbye

Increase your email newsletter schedule - instead of 1 email/week, send out 2 or 3. These emails can be simple updates, previews of blog posts, roundups, list-style, whatever.

Remember: there’s no such thing as too many emails, just boring content and lame stories.

With email marketing, you’re going directly to where your audience is (their inbox), and this means that you can still nurture them over time. From here, send/direct your followers back to your website where they can get even more value!

An increase in website traffic is the perfect opportunity to grow your audience and customer/client base, and getting them onto your email list is the best way to turn them into repeat visitors and extend that relationship beyond the covid madness.

4. Use social media wisely

Look: social media use is on the rise right now and if you play your cards right, you can use that to your advantage to drive your followers back to your website and engage with them profitably there.

I’m not telling you to spend 4 hours mastering the latest TikTok video, trying your best to go viral with the young folks… unless that’s your target audience. I don’t know your life!

Instead, I’m suggesting that you ramp up your social media presence (on the platforms where your audience is already hanging out) and send them to your website for more. Don’t create social media “content” just for the heck of it… instead, think about how you can deliver value while also taking advantage of the spike you’re currently experiencing.

Whatever you do on social media, stay visible, maintain momentum, show your face (if it makes sense for your brand) and continue creating content across multiple platforms.

Related:

5. Dabble in paid advertising

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert in paid advertising - in fact, I have an entire free training explicitly dedicated to growing your website WITHOUT paying for ads!

That being said, even if I don’t speak a lot about paid advertising here on my website… I still believe there’s huge value in it, especially if you want to max the momentum you’re already seeing. If you’re already experiencing a spike in website traffic and you want to take advantage of it, you might see enormous ROI by investing some money in paid advertising to really cast a wider net.

Paid advertising is great because you’re showing up ready to pay and play, and you can be rewarded for it. It’s a way to get directly in front of your ideal audience on the platform you choose (paid search, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, Pinterest ads, etc.) and there’s no denying that the ROI can be impressive.

I won’t dive deep into this recommendation here today but I am going to say that if you have some wiggle room in your marketing budget, this might be money well spent and you can balloon up your website visitors and customers/clients even more. You already know you’ve got a hot commodity so why not go crazy with it, if you’ve got the cash on hand?

6. Develop your products & services

If you’re seeing an increase or spike in website traffic, odds are that you’ve also seen an increase in product sales, inquiries and bookings for your services, and higher overall conversions on your offerings.

It would be wise to look at your products and services, particularly the most popular ones you have right now, and come up related offerings.

This is a fantastic opportunity to do three things:

Down-sell
Cross-sell
Up-sell

Depending on what offerings you have, this might be easier said than done…. but it could pay off in major gains if you move fast and roll it out quickly, while the high traffic is coming in!

How to add related products to your Squarespace website or online shop

6 Q&As about Squarespace SEO for e-commerce businesses and online shops

Optimize old blog posts and website content

Another way that you can take advantage of all this website traffic is by going back to old blog posts and web pages that you haven’t touched in a while and optimizing the content.

This is super useful for many reasons, but the two biggest factors I want to highlight is the impact these content updates have on user experience and SEO.

Here are some tips to keep in mind as you audit and update old blog & website content:

Make posts & pages more SEO friendly (lots more information on Squarespace SEO can be found here)
Fix broken links
Clear call-to-action (CTA): buy now, inquire today, book now, join email list, read more, etc.
Interlink content (to other blog posts, web pages, resources, guides, freebies, social media content, etc.)
Reference any relevant products, services or offerings
Review and update any relevant affiliate links

If you want to make the most of your time here, I suggest going to your Analytics tab and reviewing the Popular Content stats so that you can see what are your highest ranking web pages and blog posts. Use that as a starting point that you know you’ve optimized the pages and blog posts that get the most traffic first. It makes sense to prioritize these pages & posts over ones that don’t get nearly as much traffic - you can always get to those down the road but right now, focus your efforts on the website contact that packs the most punch.

Personally, I have gone back and updated/improved/optimized MANY of my old blog posts and I can confidently say that it has resulted in higher website traffic , more inquiries about my services and more new subscribers to my email newsletter #worthit

Tweak your website design, if need be

While you’re auditing the content of your web pages, I also recommend that you audit the DESIGN of your site while you’re at it.

Now might not be the time to take on a massive website redesign project… but that doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from a few tweaks!

Ensure that your most popular or top offers are super easy for new visitors to your website to find.

Start by going over your homepage. That’s usually the page on your website that receives the most traffic and even if visitors first arrive on your site through another page/post, they often click over to the homepage to see what you’re all about. Make sure that your homepage clearly outlines who you are, what you’re all about, and highlights how you can serve your ideal audience or target clients/customers.

Next, take a look at your main navigation menu. Imagine that you’re a first-time visitor to your website… can they clearly use the navigation menu to find what they want and click over to your offerings? Is it easy to navigate? Clearly named pages?

Also, take advantage of Squarespace’s built-in marketing features if you haven’t already. Now is the perfect time to review and possibly even update these 3 marketing features:

An important word about mindset

Mindset is something I want to address in this blog post because it’s come up several times with my Squarespace SEO Audit & Consulting clients lately and it really deserves to be included here.

If you unexpectedly find yourself with an increase in website traffic and you’re seeing growth in your business as a result, it’s OK to celebrate this situation! Obviously you can still be sensitive to the greater global situation but if this has been your biggest website traffic and business revenue month, take a moment to celebrate that.

The work you do and the products you sell have value. People clearly want your offerings right now. There’s no shame in profiting from the situation (unless what you’re doing is unethical, prying on vulnerable populations or fear mongering, duhhhh) so don’t feel weird about it - especially if it’s something you didn’t anticipate.

The pandemic affects everyone differently and some people, brands and businesses happen to be on the up-swing right now! Feeling guilty about it does nobody any good, because you aren’t a bad person for capitalizing on this bat shit crazy situation - especially if what you’re doing is in service of others. Do no harm, keep yourself and your team safe, take precautions but also… go all in and give ‘er!

Carpe diem, my friend.

Also, perspective. You probs won’t be riding this high forever, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of this opportunity before things “go back to normal”.

Final Thoughts

If you’re reading this blog post, it’s safe to assume that you’re a hunni on a mission and that you want to make sweet, sweet lemonade amidst the chaos. Go for it, hunni!

Now is NOT the time to work on backburner projects. Instead, go ALL OUT now and later, when things slow down, you can turn your attention to those tasks that have piled up.

A situation like this doesn’t come around every day and you would be a fool not to make the most out of it. If you have seen an increase or spike in website traffic as a result of the pandemic, this is your time to shine and take your business to unexpected new levels. You are reaching more people than ever, serving them in different ways, giving them products that they need right now, and there’s enormous value in that. Don’t cut yourself short or hold back.

Now it's your turn to tell me, how are you holding up? Has your website traffic spiked or increased because of the pandemic? Is it business thriving or doing better than normal? What changes are you going to make to your website today? Has this blog post given you a few ideas of ways you can continue marketing your website and business online?

Leave me your questions down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. No matter what type of website you have, it will benefit from these updates so I encourage you to start where you are and work on improving your site a little bit every day so that you can really tap into all your opportunities right now.

If you want more SEO goodness, be sure to check out my Squarespace SEO page for all resources on the topic.

You can also sign up for my newsletter (right here or below), where I often share Squarespace SEO tips, tricks and high-quality exclusive content. I send out emails to my list every Wednesday, mostly focused on Squarespace websites and SEO, and I can guarantee that you’ll find the newsletter topics interesting, entertaining and worth your time. #humblebrag

Don’t forget to watch my daily Instagram Live Q&A videos, where I answer all your website, SEO and online marketing questions! Monday-Friday @ 9am PST and you can watch the replays HERE.

Finally, shameless plug : hit me up with any specific questions you have about Squarespace SEO and your website because I’m your girl. You can reach out to me directly if you’re interested in working together on your website and we can talk about whether or not you would be a good fit for my consulting and ongoing services. I can’t take on every request to do Squarespace SEO consulting but I do pick a few websites and businesses to work with every month and I’d love for you to be one of them.