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News flash : there’s a global pandemic going on 😷

At this point, we’re 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 make the most of it. We don’t want to just keep our heads above water - nope, we want to THRIVE during the madness!

This pandemic has brought about a total upheaval of day to day life, as well as business. Literally EVERYTHING has changed - we’re all staying at home, many people are working from home for the first time ever, social distancing is mandatory, and we likely haven’t seen our loved ones IRL in a long time.

Politicians are delivering daily updates that often make our heads spin. Breaking news from the WHO is now required reading. Government alerts are popping off. Our phones are blowing up with notifications of Insta Lives. It’s wild.

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! People are glued to their screens (phones, laptops, TVs, etc.) and we’re spending more time than ever online …. 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.

For some industries, this global pandemic has been a blessing and business is better than ever - Amazon, Netflix and Zoom are booming and stacking mad cash right now.

I wrote a blog post that explains how to take advantage of a spike or increase in website traffic because of the pandemic.

However, many other industries & niches have taken a major hit. A change in consumer habits has a direct impact on website traffic, organic online searches and even businesses’ bottom lines.

This is particularly true for North American or European-based websites, brands & businesses.

You might have unexpectedly found yourself in this unfortunate situation and maybe you’re freaking out that your website traffic has DROPPED and your business is suffering. If you have, that sucks and I’m truly sorry…. but rest assured that it’s not all doom and gloom! I’m here to help you out as best as I can and reassure you that it won’t be this way forever.

In this blog post, we’re going to go over what to do if your website’s traffic has dropped or taken a hit 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 drop in traffic & business with clear eyes and your head on straight.

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

Related:

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started!

Evaluate the hit you’ve taken - look at Analytics to see the drop in website traffic

Look, it’s the nature of the beast that some industries and niches are going to be harder hit than others right now. Given everything that’s going on, your audience/clients/customers might be less interested or less focused on your website’s content or business offerings right now.

According to Marketwatch, manufacturing & construction, restaurants (food & beverage) and travel have been particularly hard hit. But obviously the list is long so we need to see how things stand on your end.

These numbers aren’t just a vanity metric either - a drop in website traffic has a real impact because it basically means that fewer humans see your content, sign up for your offerings or purchase your products.

I pulled the image below from Squarespace’s Traffic Analytics article but in this example, you can see a decrease/drop off of website traffic across the board.

Ok, let’s see how YOUR website stacks up.

First thing’s first - let’s take a your Squarespace website Analytics tab.

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

When you take a step back and think about the drop in traffic that you’re seeing, you might be like “ok it sucks but it makes sense”.

If you have a solid understanding of your ideal audience and dream clients/customers, you will likely have more insights here because you can put yourself in their shoes. You’ll be able to understand WHY they aren’t visiting your website. Sometimes it’s not about you, it’s about them.

In most cases, the drop in website traffic is because your ideal audience doesn’t find your content/offerings relevant or interesting, or it’s just not something they are prioritizing right now.

Let’s compare certain niches so you can see what I mean.

Fashion & lifestyle bloggers are reporting way less apparel and fashion related queries - but on the flip side, there’s been an uptick in fitness, interior design and recipe searches.

Hair salons and spas are going to see a drop in inquiries/online bookings, whereas online fitness programs are going to spike.

Family photography services aren’t needed right now (because everyone’s stuck at home and no one wants a stranger getting too close to their kids) so they are going to see way less website traffic traffic/inquiries/bookings, whereas DIY websites & blogs are popping off because everyone’s stuck at home looking for things to do!

See what I mean?

We’re seeing this show up a lot with significant effects on search-related traffic (particularly organic search and traffic that comes from Pinterest).

Your website audience’s priorities have changed

This is probably the biggest, most obvious takeaway: if you have noticed a drop in website traffic, it’s because your audience’s priorities have changed.

There are also changes to when, where and how people are consuming your digital & website content!

As such, your offerings and website’s content creation & promotion plan must also change/pivot as the pandemic situation evolves - we’ll talk about in greater detail below.

Acceptance vs. Rejection

The best way to understand WHY your website traffic has TANKED is by putting yourself in your audience’s shoes, and asking yourself “how have my thoughts or priorities changed?”

Ask yourself honestly, is this something I have control over?

Obviously, you can’t control the global pandemic situation… but you can come up with a plan to turn things around so that you stay afloat until things get back to normal, or even thrive!

Don’t accept this drop in website traffic as something permanent either. In the short term, you might need to get creative and work a little harder/smarter but that’s ok.

If you’re reading this, you obviously have a fire in your belly so I believe in you :)

Are you going to pivot?

I’m about to ask you a very serious question because it might have a gigantic impact on your website and how things are going to play out for you over the next little while.

Are you going to pivot your website and content plan, or just ride it out with lower numbers than usual?

There’s no right or wrong answer here, because depending on your particular situation, the answer will be different. But, I still want to review the two options so that you know what we’re dealing with.

Option 1:

Go ahead with your website and content plan as normal. No major changes or updates, just keep publishing blog post as usual, deal with the lower traffic and know it’ll pick up eventually. If I’m being totally honest, this might make the most sense for you - but again, I don’t know your website/business/life!

Option 2:

The best plan of action might be to PIVOT and make changes to your website & content plan. This is probably going to be what most websites/brands/businesses do.

The most obvious way to pivot is to shift your website so that you provide content that covers topics and offerings that are more relevant/interesting/important to your audience.

Think about universality here (inasmuch as it applies to your ideal audience) - how can you pivot your website content and offerings to be more appealing?

Pivot your website content to what’s being searched right now and take advantage of that as best as you can.

For example, if you’re a Physio you could publish a blog post about “staying injury free while working from home”.

A therapist could create a new content series all about “keeping the peace at home during these difficult times” or “how to explain the corona virus and social distancing measures to your child”.

Fashion bloggers might change up their blog posts to highlight the current trend of comfort over style. Maybe you make a roundup of the best sweatsuit and loungewear sets, or the cutest lingerie, best sneakers or workout gear. Heck, why not crank out a blog post that shows off the wildest animal prints because hello, Tiger King!

Landscape designers could publish blog posts about getting your lawn ready for spring, or how to get started with a basic backyard vegetable patch.

Be direct - ask people what they want to see or how you can help them

One of the best things you can do is to engage with your audience and simply ask them what they want to see more of on your website. What kind of content would they find helpful? What questions do they have that you can answer?

The two easiest ways to do this are:

Ask or poll your followers on social media
Email out a simple survey

Personally, I’ve done both - using Instagram stories as well as sending out a SurveyMonkey form to my newsletter.

Look over the results (duh) and use that info to improve the content that you will create, market and promote on your website.

Remember, whatever content you currently have on your website isn’t cutting it - so ask the people what they want and how you can help them, and then actually do the dang thing to give them what they want!

Don’t press pause on blogging

If you notice that your website traffic has dropped, it can be tempting to stop blogging because “no one’s reading my posts anyways”.

BAD IDEA, my friend!

Now more than ever, you should be cranking out even more website content and making sure that it’s interesting and engaging for your ideal audience - no matter how big or small that is right now.

During this time, you should work even harder to create as much website content as you can, especially content that is aligned and adapted to the current situation.

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.

In the screenshot below, you can see that I currently have quite a few blog posts chilling in Drafts, waiting and ready to go.

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 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.

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 searches on your site. Do you see anything interesting? Any nuggets that could be turned into a killer blog post that drives even more traffic?

Repurpose old/existing content

Don’t reinvent the wheel - if you have already created good content, give it a second wind!

Update and re-publish old blog posts. Give your old posts an audit and make them more SEO-friendly. Add in more text, images, media, graphics, etc.

Review each blog post’s call-to-action (CTA) and direct readers over to relevant products/services, sign up for your newsletter, etc.

Add in video content (even something as simple as you talking into the camera about whatever the blog post is about!).

Promote old posts on social media, send them out to your email list, whatever.

It’s not rocket science but this could definitely help you see a bump in website traffic if you do it right.

Go where your audience is - email marketing and social media

If your audience isn’t coming directly to you (via your website), then go to them!

Be active on social media

Pro tip: spend more time on social media and increase your activity wherever your audience is hanging out - Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pottermore, IDGAF. Just show up!

Social media use is UP and you can definitely capitalize on this increased engagement.

The photo to the left shows my Instagram post where I let my followers know that I would be showing up for them daily, answering all their website, seo & online marketing questions LIVE.

Yes, it pushed me out of my comfort zone but it’s totally worth it!

Have fun with your email newsletter

Same thing goes for email marketing. Across the board, there has been a rise in email marketing open rates and click through rates so use this to your advantage.

If you don’t already have one, then you MUST start an email list right now!!!!!!!!

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.

Whether it’s through social media or email marketing, you’re going to where your audience is, and this means that you can still nurture your community. From here, send/direct your followers back to your website where they can get even more value!

The power of Pinterest

Many websites get a lot of traffic from Pinterest, even if it might seem like they are in random industries/niches. This is because Pinterest is basically a massive search engine and users will click over to your website via their Pinterest searches.

Pinterest can really work hard for you, especially if you use it as a way to strengthen and reposition existing website content.

I’m the first to admit that Pinterest is NOT my strong suit (I basically just share blog post thumbnail images onto my Pinterest profile and leave it at that), but I know how valuable it can be so I’m making an effort to learn the basics!

If you have any blog posts that are trending or have seen an increase in traffic (even if overall website traffic is down), you could create a graphic/infographic and add it to that blog post - and then share it to Pinterest again.

This is also a great opportunity to look at Pinterest’s Trends to see what people are looking for - and how you can show up & create content for them on your website to take advantage of those searches & potential traffic.

SEO is more important than ever!

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!

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.

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.

Final Thoughts: This won’t last forever

This drop in website traffic that you’re currently experiencing won’t last forever. The only thing constant is change!

Traditional online behaviours are likely to resume and website traffic will increase & settle back to normal. It’s impossible to predict WHEN this will happen, but we’ll get there eventually.

In the mean time, the best course of action for your website is to act fast, be flexible, listen to your audience and continue showing up even when it’s hard!

Now it's your turn to tell me, how are you holding up? Has your website traffic dropped because of the pandemic? Is it business as usual? 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.

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.