• FAQs

          Search engine optimization (SEO) helps businesses drive visits to their website through organic search traffic. Given that the top organic search results receive a third of the clicks, a decline in ranking could be detrimental for your business. Implementing SEO best practices on your website will help to ensure that your web content is seen by as many potential customers as possible. The more visitors you have, the better your chances are of converting those visits into sales!

          Local search engine optimization (SEO) helps local businesses gain visibility by optimizing their local business listings for local search. A business that leverages local SEO will include its address, phone number, local opening times, and exact location in the form of a local citation. The goal is to rank for local searches which are usually performed by people in a specific geographical region looking for a business near them.

          We typically see results within the first 30 to 60 days, but when it comes to SEO, there are many factors at play. It's important to remember that SEO is a long-term strategy and results may not come as fast at you wish.

        • FAQs

          Digital advertising uses the internet to send advertisements to customers who are online through different websites and social media platforms like Google, Bing, LinkedIn and Facebook.

          The price for Google Ads management depends on the monthly ad spend. For accounts with $1,000 in monthly ad spend, the price is $550/month. Between $1,000 and $5,000 a month in ad spend, the price is $950/month. For $5,000 to $10,000 a month in ad spend, the price is $2,000/month. For more than $10,000 a month in ad spend, the price is $4,500/month.

          The price for Social Media Ads management depends on the monthly ad spend. For accounts with $1,000 in monthly ad spend, the price is $550/month. Between $1,000 and $5,000 a month in ad spend, the price is $950/month. For $5,000 to $10,000 a month in ad spend, the price is $2,000/month. For more than $10,000 a month in ad spend, the price is $4,500/month.

        • FAQs

          This depends on the complexity and size of a redesign and if eCommerce is needed. On average, it takes around 14-18 weeks from the web design intensive stage to launch.

          If your website experiences the following issues: it’s not responsive on all devices, has a slow loading speed, the design appears old and tired, users don’t spend long on the site, sales are stagnant, or your business is going through a rebranding - your website needs a redesign to boost your brand awareness and sales.

          Sometimes there’s no need to rebuild a website. Minor edits, refreshing page content and images, or restructuring page layout for SEO best practices can boost traffic and sales.

        • FAQs

          Semantic search launched in 2013 with the release of Google's Hummingbird update. Since then, Google's search engine has become more complex. The integration of machine learning, with RankBrain, and NLP, with BERT, has enabled the search engine to better understand the context of a query and deliver more personalized and targeted results. Semantic SEO is the process of creating machine-readable content using structured data and linked open data to help search engines better understand your content.

          On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. On-page SEO refers to both the content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized, as opposed to off-page SEO which refers to links and other external signals. From meta tags to page content, website structure, and HTML, on-page optimization services are focused on making your website more visible to search engines.

          Structured data refers to any organized data that conforms to a certain format, such as information in a relational database. When information is highly structured and predictable, search engines can more easily organize and display it in creative ways. Structured data involves using a piece of code that is laid out in a specific format easily understood by search engines. The search engines read the code and use it to display search results in a more dynamic way.

        • FAQs

          An SEO agency has experts in different areas of search engine optimization that may be out of the realm of your marketing team's abilities. SEO can be very complex and time-consuming. Furthermore, as search engine algorithms change it can be difficult to stay current on the latest ranking factors and strategies for improving online visibility. You will likely see a greater return on investment and better results from using a professional SEO agency than you would from tackling this on your own.

          As a digital marketing agency, SMA Marketing provides products and services in four areas: SEO, Local SEO, Digital Advertising, and Web Design

          We focus on building authentic, long-lasting relationships with our clients. We’re goal oriented and results driven and believe in doing good and making a difference in the world.

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3 Questions to Ask Your Marketing Agency Before You Sign a Contract

Jared Stanton

June 15, 2018

Every marketing agency worth anything has a fancy website that lists all of their services and accomplishments (I know we do). If I were to ask you to make a list of your top ten favorite marketing agencies based on their websites alone, you might end up with ten marketing agencies that for one reason or another would not be right for you. So, if websites only tell half the story how do you know when you’ve found the perfect agency for you? While nothing is a sure thing, the best way to end up partnering with the right agency is to ask the right questions.

With that in mind here are 3 questions to ask a marketing agency before partnering with them.

What Are Your Strengths?

This should not be a surprise to anyone. You need to discover the areas in which the marketing agency excels. SMA is an agency filled with multi-talented individuals and thus is capable of offering a lot of different services at a high level. However, we obviously believe that there are things we do well and things we do significantly better than everyone else. No one agency is going to be “the best” at every single aspect of marketing. If one of them tries to convince you that they are equally good at everything we suggest you find a new agency.

How Long Until I See Results?

We know that this feels like a clichéd thing to ask but let’s be real. It’s essential information that you need to know before agreeing to partner with a new marketing agency. Even the best content marketing can take time to catch on, but then it quickly becomes an unstoppable force. However, a media campaign or paid social media advertising is known for producing immediate results. Choose to work with an agency that is willing to be honest about their projected timeline and expected results.

What Type of Work Will I Get with My Contract?

This one mght be the most critical question to ask. Countless times we have witnessed a business contract with us for a specific list of services but then expect to get access to all of our services. We offer a wide range of services, many of them overlapping, so as you can imagine this can be a problem. SMA is notorious for doing everything we can to go above and beyond for our clients, but at some point, every agency reaches the limits of how many extras and bonuses they can offer. It is for this reason that we cannot stress enough that you make sure the services you are talking about with an agency meet the needs of your business.

Questions are your best friend. There is no shame in being upfront with a marketing agency. Make sure they are asking you the right questions, as well. During the discovery call, both sides should be discussing your business goals and marketing objectives, so the agency can develop a customized marketing game plan. Good communication benefits all parties involved in the process.

The fantastic team at SMA would be happy to talk to you about all things marketing. Yes, that means even helping you get started with the basics if need be. Don’t hesitate to contact us today.

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Jared Stanton

Jared Stanton joined the SMA team in April 2017. He has worn a lot of hats during his time at SMA but has found his permanent niche running the company’s paid-per-click advertising campaigns. PPC allows Jared to make data-driven decisions in the best interest of his clients.

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