Aug 17, 2020

Undoubtedly COVID-19 has changed the way all businesses operate and all though slowly, offices, retail stores, coffee shops, schools, and more have reopened doors in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. However, there’s still a lot of speculation and fear for another wave of coronavirus.

The California Budget & Policy Center predicted that the most affected businesses by the pandemic in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties would be Leisure, followed by Retail, based on the number of jobs from non-seasonal 2019 data.

Note: The number of jobs reflects the 2019 annual average of non-seasonally-adjusted monthly employment data. Source: Budget Center analysis of the Employment Development Department

Some services, however, like transportation and warehousing weren’t as affected. In fact, according to Google Trends, there was a spike in searches for this type of services in March and August of 2020, in California:

Source: Google Trends. Search Term: Transportation service in California

Reopening of Businesses

Although there are still many restrictions for businesses, regulations in both counties state that as long as facial mask usage, social distancing, and limited exposure are respected, businesses like hair salons and shopping centers can start reopening.

There’s a blueprint from the Official California State Government Website that is being updated, representing the state’s metrics and tier for each county. It can work as a safe guide on whether it’s a good idea to start opening your business to the public.

Don’t Let COVID-19 Stop You

Although there’s uncertainty about the health risk in San Francisco and San Mateo, you can’t allow COVID-19 to stop you. Like many other businesses, you have to learn to cope with this new way of living. A great way to invest in your business and focus on online sales is by having a robust online presence. Whether your type of business allows you to sell online or it’s more of a face to face service, there’s still work to be done through PPC and SEO.

PPC for High-Demanding Businesses

If you own a high-demanding business, this is the moment to advertise through PPC and to make adjustments to your business to serve the public’s needs. Take a look at the behavior of the search term “open-air restaurants” and how starting March 2020 it has gone up. There are moments where the graphic goes down, probably due to the increase in COVID-19 cases. However, the demand is there.

Source: Google Trends. Search Term: Open-air restaurants in California

A Strong Foundation with SEO

On the other hand, if you don’t count with the budget for PPC, you can still focus on growing your organic presence. SEO is always a good investment as the cost is little compared to the results you can get in the long run.

Partner Up With A Strong Digital Marketing Agency

By partnering up with a strong digital marketing agency, you’ll be able to get a clearer picture of where your industry stands and is headed in 2020, and what are the areas you should be focusing on.

Hite Digital can help you find the answers you’re looking for. We’ve struggled with COVID-19 but at the same time have adapted and learned to work through it, getting excellent results for our clients. For more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our digital marketing experts.

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