In a recent Twitter poll, Google‘s Gary Illyes asked SEOs’ about their workload during COVID-19.
Illyes noticed that “when this COVID-19 thing started, some people started to post much less.” At the same time, “Other people started to post much more…”
So, he got curious.
The webmaster trend analyst wanted to know whether it has become more challenging to work with developers. He was also eager to understand whether or not SEOs have to do more work to remain afloat during this crisis.
To figure out why or how this was happening, the Google advocate decided to set up a survey. He discusses some of the surprising findings in the latest episode of Google’s Search Off the Record podcast.
Here’s the breakdown.
An Increase in Workload During COVID-19
In the first poll, Illyes asked, “With this COVID crap, my SEO related workload…”
A significant number of SEOs — roughly 48 percent — reported an increase in SEO related workload. Conversely, 20.5 percent of the participants reported a decrease in workload during the pandemic. Meanwhile, 30.9 percent said that their SEO related workload has stayed about the same.
According to Illyes, this result was unexpected. It could be because more businesses are moving online, and seeking extra help from SEOs, says the Google advocate.
Are SEOs Pitching More Work During Pandemic?
In the second poll, Illyes asked, “With this COVID crap, I am pitching SEO work…”
The result wasn’t conclusive since the response has essentially the same number of polls. About 33.8 percent of SEOs reported pitching more work, while 33.5 percent said they pitch about the same work. Likewise, 32.8 percent of the participant said they pitched less work.
Again, this result surprised Illyes because he expected SEOs to pitch more to stay afloat and get more business during this crisis.
Working with Developers Stayed About the Same
Another part of the survey, Illyes asked, “With this COVID crap, working with developers on SEO projects…”
A large number of the participants — 54.8 percent — said working with developers stayed about the same. Precisely 29.6 percent said it got harder to work with developers, while 15.6 percent said it got easier.
As you may have guessed, Illyes did not expect this result.
“One thing I would have expected that got better is that [SEOs] could work more easily with developers,” he said. “[That’s] because you have an online setting, and developers are more comfortable with an online setting in general.”
Aside from the poll results, the webmaster trend analyst also discussed several other topics in the Google podcast. Listen to the full episode here.
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