Cornonavirus has forced many businesses to adopt a remote working model. However, many more businesses have been forced to close, at least temporarily, such as retailers and restaurants. Even though your business may be closed it is important to approach pausing your website correctly so that you don’t lose the search engine data for your website.
First, do not disable your site. Even a few days of having your website disabled could cause a significant decrease in search visibility. It will be very difficult to bring your site back to the same visibility.
If you have to, limit the functionality of your website. Removing certain features can minimize any negative effects and also disable actions that you do not want the user to take.
Some examples of limiting functionality could be to disable the cart functionality or mark items as sold out in an online store. Additionally, if you are changing functionality you should let your customs know, such as a pop up or banner.
For more information, visit Google’s guidelines on structured data, event changes, and other business resources.
Today’s Tuesday Tips was adapted from a post on searchengineland.com and another on the Google Webmaster Central blog.