• 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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5 Principles to Building a Better SEO Strategy For Your Business

Ryan Shelley, CPBI

September 4, 2015

The SEO landscape is always changing. In order to ensure you are taking the best approach for your business, it’s important to begin with a solid foundation. One built on principles and not trendy tactics. With the digital marketing landscape always changing, if you stick to the essentials your website and your business will see success online.

The goal of any SEO strategy is more about maximizing your ROI. So in order to get the most out of your digital marketing strategy, we’ll address some basic principles. It is essential to start from the correct perspective. This will help you create realistic goals and a more targeted strategy for your business.

1. SEO is a Long Term Marketing Strategy

If you’re looking for a quick fix, SEO is not your best option. It must be looked at as part of your long-term marketing strategy. Yes, there are a few things that are done once and don’t need to be addressed for quite a while, but with so many changes in search marketing you, or your local SEO consultant, need to be on point.

Google changes its search algorithms frequently, up to 500-600 times per year. More importantly for ROI, people are changing the way they use search engines as well. Both mobile search and voice search are on the rise.

Staying on top of the new algorithms and adapting to your users is a long process and needs patience. Don’t force it. Observe, plan, then take action.

2. SEO is Part of Your Entire Marketing Strategy

Search marketing is so often seen as something that’s done on the side or as an add-on to a traditional marketing campaign. In a world dominated by search engines, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In order to maximize the overall success of your marketing you need to integrate SEO with your entire plan.

This helps both the digital and traditional marketing and sales process. Yes, sales. The research done through SEO helps give the business a clearer picture of their buyer persona.  Search marketing drives qualified prospects to the website and landing pages. The data that can be shared with the marketing and sales team about their prospects and how they interacted with the site is extremely valuable. It helps improve the traditional marketing process and gives the sales team in-depth information on leads.

3. Focus On Mobile

The biggest reason? Because Google says so, and they have good reason to. More and more users are turning away from computers and are now using their mobile devices as their primary way to connect and search. Good SEO starts with good web development and good web development thinks mobile first. While the “mobile-geddon” algorithm was said to only effect mobile search, I have a hunch we will find out that it actually impacts way more. Looking at the desktop results of a search, you now see if a site is mobile-friendly or not. This is a clear indicator of how important Google sees this element to be.

Related: Mobile-Friendly Web Design: The beginning to your Local SEO Strategy

4. Think About User Intent

Too many search strategies are rigid and robotic. Search, itself, is far from that. Everything on your site impacts the way search engines view it. They are trying their best to help searchers find the best solution to their issues and as fast as possible. Google’s algorithm is looking at the searchers intent in order to develop better results, faster. So when approaching your strategy, you have to do the same.

User intent can be broken down into four categories. Look at these and determine why your users need to visit your site. Then, build a strategy around their intent.

  1. Navigational: Just browsing, looking for unique content
  2. Informational: Targeted searches for specific problems/question
  3. Commercial: Ready to purchase, but looking for the best option
  4. Transactional: Ready to buy now

5. The Only Constant is Change

As we mentioned earlier in this post, Google’s search algorithm can change over 500 times a year and without notice.  But they aren’t the only ones. As SEO is becoming more and more of a player in all other areas of digital marketing, we must also factor in social media.

Facebook has developed a search engine inside of their platform, and with 1 billion users, yes billion with a B, we have to take notice. This year Facebook dramatically changed the organic reach in their news feed algorithm and we can expect more change as they look to better serve their users and look to grow their company’s dominance of social.

Harnessing the power of SEO is essential to any business looking for real growth online. Having a solid foundation that is built on principle is so important to success. So to wrap it up here’s a quick overview.

  1. SEO is a long-term strategy. Be prepared for the journey and be patient.
  2. Integrate SEO with marketing & sales. Good communication is essential to success.
  3. Mobile, Mobile, Mobile. It’s really important.
  4. User intent sets your approach. Know your users and what their goals are.
  5. Change is constant. Embrace, learn, adapt and grow.
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Ryan Shelley, CPBI

Ryan is passionate about helping companies make a more personal connection online with their customers and prospects. He is a regular contributor to Search Engine Land, the largest and most popular SEO news site on the web. His works have also been featured on the HubSpot Blog, Business2Community and by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.

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