COVID-19: Resources For Small Businesses

Effective Web Solutions: Response To COVID-19

Here at Effective Web Solutions, our clients’ and employees’ health and safety is our top priority. After watching the COVID-19 situation unfold here in Washington State over the last few weeks, we’ve taken the following measures to do our part to help protect our community:

Meetings By Appointment Only. In order to follow the White House’s and CDC’s recommended guidelines in response to the COVID-19 virus, we are only meeting with our clients during scheduled appointment times. This allows us to stagger any client visits to our office as well as allowing time for sanitization of surfaces and doorknobs between client meetings. We are also available to meet with clients through Zoom conference calls.
Telecommuting. In an effort to protect both our employees’ and our clients’ health, we have encouraged our employees to work from home if they are able to do so. This practice limits our clients’ exposure to other people during this time of CDC-recommended social distancing.
Sanitization. We are following the CDC-recommended guidelines concerning disinfectant and sanitization in the workplace. We routinely clean and sanitize frequently touched surfaces including workstations, countertops, light switches, and door knobs.
Adaptability. We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and how it affects our clients and our employees. We will adjust our response as we receive more information and guidance from authorities such as the CDC.

Information For Our Clients

As of March 17, 2020, Effective Web Solutions was notified by Google that they are working with a limited team due to COVID-19. This affects our Google My Business service that we provide to our clients. Certain changes with Google My Business will take longer to process than usual. We will continue to update our clients with any other information we receive.

“As a precautionary health measure for our support specialists in light of COVID-19, we’re operating with a limited team. Thanks for your patience, as it may take longer than usual to connect with us.”
Google Support Team

Resources For Small Businesses

While a lot of uncertainty surrounds the current situation in the United States concerning COVID-19, there are resources available for small businesses such as our clients. The following collection of links will help you form and manage your business’s response to the current COVID-19 pandemic:

Stay Informed. Keep up-to-date with the latest developments concerning COVID-19 by visiting the following links: Centers For Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.

Stay In Touch. Make sure to provide relevant information to your customers. You can pin important posts to the top of your Facebook and Twitter pages to ensure your customers see important notices. If you need help managing your social media accounts, you can take advantage of our new support system by submitting a ticket here.

Consider Hosting Online Events. If an upcoming event for your business has been affected by the COVID-19 response in your area, consider holding an online event through your company’s Facebook or Instagram.

Prepare A Customer Service Plan. Anticipate the needs of your customers. Come up with a list of frequently asked questions concerning your company’s response to COVID-19 and consider drafting an auto-reply email message or frequently asked question (FAQ) page for your website.

Apply For a Grant. As a response to COVID-19, Facebook is offering $100 million in grant money to 30,000 small businesses in 30 countries. For more information, visit Facebook’s Small Business Grants Program page.

Need Help With Online Communication During COVID-19?

We here at Effective Web Solutions are dedicated to providing our clients with as much support as possible during this time. If your company needs help with managing social media, contact us today to discuss your options.