Using SEO to Help People Find More Info on Novel Coronavirus COVID-19

The Search Behavior Revolution

When the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped daily life in early 2020, search behavior transformed almost overnight. People who had never searched for health information suddenly needed answers to urgent questions: Where can I get tested? How do I work from home effectively? What does "social distancing" actually mean?

As SEO expert Bill Rowland explained in a UVM Digital Marketing discussion, "People started searching for more things that were needed, rather than desired." This shift had profound implications for search intent classification.

Understanding the "Needed vs. Desired" Framework

• Needed content: Answered urgent questions about symptoms, safety protocols, testing locations, government support programs, and operational changes
• Desired content: Represented aspirational or recreational interests like travel planning, entertainment, and luxury purchases

Organizations that recognized this shift and created content addressing urgent needs found their visibility increase substantially. UVM Professional Education's analysis confirms this shift had profound implications for search intent classification.

Local Search Importance

Local search became exponentially more important during COVID-19 as people needed location-specific information about operating hours for essential businesses, testing and vaccination sites, restaurant availability for takeout, and healthcare facility status. Google's emphasis on local results increased, with Google Business Profile optimization becoming a critical SEO priority for any organization with physical locations or service areas.

For organizations seeking to understand how search intent changes during crises, our comprehensive SEO services provide the foundation for adapting content strategies to meet evolving user needs.

Google responded to the pandemic by prioritizing authoritative sources like the WHO and CDC in search results, effectively sidelining less reliable sources that might have ranked highly under normal circumstances. This shift toward trusted authorities became a defining characteristic of search during the crisis period.

Technical Implementation: Schema and Structured Data

Event Status Schema Updates

One of the most practical technical SEO responses to COVID-19 was the adoption of updated schema markup for events. As BrightEdge's research documents, Schema.org introduced new properties to communicate these changes clearly to search engines.

For canceled events, the proper markup used EventCancelled status:

{
 "@context": "https://schema.org",
 "@type": "Event",
 "name": "Annual Conference 2020",
 "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventCancelled",
 "startDate": "2020-05-25T20:00"
}

For postponed events, the status changed but the original date remained:

{
 "@context": "https://schema.org",
 "@type": "Event",
 "name": "Annual Conference 2020",
 "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventPostponed",
 "startDate": "2020-05-25T20:00"
}

For events moved online, the markup included virtual location details:

{
 "@context": "https://schema.org",
 "@type": "Event",
 "name": "Annual Conference 2020",
 "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventMovedOnline",
 "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OnlineEventAttendanceMode",
 "location": {
 "@type": "VirtualLocation",
 "url": "https://livestream.webinar.com/"
 },
 "startDate": "2020-05-25T20:00"
}

SpecialAnnouncement Schema

Schema.org introduced SpecialAnnouncement markup specifically designed for pandemic-related communications. As BrightEdge's comprehensive guide explains, this markup was recommended for government health agency updates on disease spread and prevention, news from local businesses, hospitals, schools, and government offices, announcements about testing centers and risk assessments, and information regarding travel restrictions from airlines, hotels, and transportation providers.

Core Web Vitals Emphasis

During the pandemic, Google accelerated its emphasis on Core Web Vitals as ranking signals. This shift recognized that as more people worked, shopped, and sought information online, site performance became a critical user experience factor:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measured loading performance, with pages needing to load within 2.5 seconds
• First Input Delay (FID): Measured interactivity, requiring response within 100 milliseconds
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measured visual stability, needing to maintain a score below 0.1

Organizations that invested in technical SEO and site performance improvements saw benefits both in search rankings and in user engagement metrics. Our web development services ensure that technical foundations meet modern performance standards.

Content Strategy for Crisis Situations

The E-A-T Imperative

Google's emphasis on Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness intensified dramatically during COVID-19. According to Search Engine Journal's detailed report, the algorithm increasingly favored content from recognized authorities--healthcare organizations, government agencies, established media outlets--while downplaying content from unknown sources regardless of keyword optimization.

For organizations creating crisis-related content, establishing E-A-T meant demonstrating expertise through citing qualified authors with relevant credentials and linking to authoritative sources, building authoritativeness by being recognized as a reliable source through consistent quality content and external validation, and establishing trustworthiness through clear sourcing and transparent information about what was known versus uncertain.

Keyword Adaptation

As search behavior shifted, effective SEO required adapting keyword strategies. Common modifiers emerged that reflected the pandemic context:

• "At home" or "home" modifiers: Remote work, home schooling, home workouts, home delivery
• "Remote" modifiers: Remote learning, remote work tools, virtual consultations
• "Contactless" or "curbside" modifiers: Reflected new service delivery options
• "Open" or "status" modifiers: Operational status, hours changes, availability

Content that naturally incorporated these contextual modifiers found increased visibility as users increasingly searched with more specific, situational queries.

Creating Evergreen Crisis Content

A critical insight from the pandemic was the value of evergreen content that could remain relevant through extended crisis periods. As UVM Professional Education notes: "Covid-19 and everything around it has shown how an investment in SEO up to the point where the pandemic started can really benefit. It's almost the textbook SEO strategy of creating evergreen, great content that can carry a business through this time or a future business disruption."

Effective evergreen content strategies included foundational "how-to" content that addressed persistent needs rather than momentary circumstances, comprehensive resource guides that could be updated incrementally rather than rewritten entirely, FAQ-style content addressing common questions in an expandable format, and category pages that served as hub content for related specific queries.

For organizations looking to build content strategies that adapt to changing circumstances, our AI automation services can help scale content production while maintaining quality and relevance.

Quick-Win Content Strategies

While most SEO improvements take two to three months to show results, certain content could gain traction more quickly during the pandemic. Updating existing pages with current information such as hours, status, and offerings provided immediate value. Creating concise FAQ content answering common questions addressed urgent user needs. Adding schema markup to improve appearance in search results enhanced visibility. Optimizing Google Business Profile listings with current information helped local businesses reach nearby customers searching for available services.

Sources

1. BrightEdge - Discover the Changes in Search Due to COVID-19
2. Search Engine Journal - Google Reveals How Search Behavior Has Changed During COVID-19 Pandemic
3. UVM Professional and Continuing Education - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategies Shift Due to Global Pandemic