Literally nothing has been the same since the time everyone first learned about the seriousness of Covid-19. People stayed in their homes, working, going to school, socializing, and even interacting with businesses on an entirely new level. The reality is that search trends are reflecting the impact of Covid heavily. Web users have been using internet searches to stay up to date on stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions, and the operating hours of their favorite grocery stores. Covid is impacting search trends based on our dire need for the most up to date information. Using search as it relates to Covid is not a matter of convenience, but of safety, as people absolutely have to know what is going on in their neighborhoods.
Businesses and the Scramble to Improve Their Online Presence
Some businesses have happily and successfully operated offline for their entire history. A local butcher might have done quite well before Covid, without much more than some business cards. The type of businesses that defiantly avoided setting up a website or email address has seen how search trends have had an impact. As soon as state governors started restricting businesses, telling them to send their workers home and scale back on their operations, these companies without an online presence had to make a change. As a result, search trends now include more complete information on and accounting of businesses that have been off the radar for years. Business owners are claiming their Yelp profiles, they’re updating contact information, and they are even setting up websites that function pretty well.
Consumers Want the Most Convenient Means of Doing Business
It was during this period that people in masses learned how convenient it was to do business remotely. Apps have been available for people to order pizzas, as well as websites for people to buy shoes and accessories, for a while now. The impact that coronavirus has had on search trends includes the increase in demand for convenience. Instead of searching for the name of a company or brand, internet users are including keywords like “app,” and “contactless delivery.” They are keeping their safety in mind while taking advantage of the fact that businesses are essentially in the same boat.
Internet Search Results Have Become More Localized
Search engines like Google have long been tweaking localized search results. Type in the word “florist” into the Google search engine, and all of the results that come up will be based on your current location. This is not a new search trend, but it has become a lot more popular and widespread. Most keywords that search engines interpret as being location-based now bring about targeted and highly localized results. For businesses, this has led to more leads without any additional marketing. Being the only car mechanic, for instance, within a 10-mile radius will surely benefit from the improvement of localized search results trends.
The Demand for All Things Remote
While at home, billions of people learned just how out of reach they really were when they weren’t able to get out as they normally did. Kids went from getting on school busses every morning to rolling out of bed and connecting with their teachers from their bedrooms. The vast number of shuttered workers relearned how to do their jobs from home, making use of videoconferencing, email, and even web-based chat services at record levels. Search trends reveal that searches for remote tools have gone up tremendously. People are looking for information on how to properly use Zoom, connect with their families remotely, and generally interact on a completely remote basis.
Address and Contact Information Based Searches
It used to be that you could just go in and visit most businesses during regular operating hours. Sure, you might need an appointment to shop at an expensive boutique, but you normally wouldn’t think to call ahead to see if your local drug store was open. That is the way it used to be until Covid hit. Today, many internet searches seek to find out where certain businesses are located, as well as information on how to contact them. Whether it be by email or phone, consumers are impacting search trends because they now want to confirm contact information for businesses. User keywords and metadata are being targeted by SEO experts in an effort to raise the positioning of websites they are working on. Needless to say, businesses have noticed this trend and are making it very easy for shoppers to get in contact with them directly.
An Increase in International News and Travel Based Searches
The disease that has left billions paralyzed, decimated the world’s economy, and left the medical world in shock may have started in one place, but it quickly traveled everywhere. As country after country declared lockdown, web searchers used the internet to find out what was happening where. People searched for information on Italy and learned about the lockdowns in their respective states diligently. This type of information is still searched for, as the vaccine is rolled out and different jurisdictions issue updates on travel restrictions.
Telehealth and Increased Health-Related Trends
Coronavirus has forced even the most unconcerned people to take a second look at how they treat health and wellness. As the virus has raged on, the world has seen healthy, young, vibrant lives taken far too soon. Because of this, everyone wants to know what the symptoms of the disease are, how to treat it, and most importantly, how to avoid being infected. As this information has steadily changed and been updated, search trends have shown that health-related topics are growing in popularity. In addition to searches related to Covid, internet users have been on the hunt for topics concerning eating healthy, exercising, and even alternative medicine.
The internet is still the fastest way to get new, authoritative information. Whether you go to a government-based website or follow a link to the webpage for your doctor, you can count on the information you get to be accurate and timely. These search trends have impacted businesses heavily, as they make ordering faster, more convenient, and easily trackable by consumers. As Covid continues to be a major concern, more changes in search trends will be noticed.