• 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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8 Ways to Sabotage Your Social Media Marketing

Rhonda Bavaro

August 1, 2016

Social media can be a powerful tool in your marketing strategy, but it’s only effective if you know how to use it in a focused way that connects with your target audience. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you are a small business owner and unsure how to get started using social media to market your business. Going in with a plan and adjusting your plan as you start to see results will help you reach your goals. Try to wing it and you’ll find yourself spinning your wheels or veering off course. To keep your social media marketing efforts on track, it’s helpful to think about what not to do and how to do it better.

Here are 8 Ways to Sabotage Your Social Media Marketing

#1 Don’t Have A Strategy

Effective social media marketing starts with a strategy and a plan. Your social media marketing strategy lays the foundation and provides the roadmap for everything you are trying to accomplish through social media. This includes knowing your marketing goals and how social media can help you reach them, knowing your target audience and which social channels they engage in, and what types of content will draw your target audience in and result in sales conversions. This subject is covered very well in Sprout Social’s article here.

Focusing on our social media marketing plan, here’s what to keep in mind. Posting inconsistently or sporadically leads to a loss of momentum and a loss of interest from your followers. However, when you post consistently your followers start to recognize you and your brand. This builds credibility and dependability and positions you as a thought leader in your industry. It also allows you to form relationships with your followers as you earn their trust and respect.

So, what are the foundations of a social media marketing plan? You’ll need to decide the following:

  • What to post
  • When to post
  • What channels to post on
  • What tools to use for social media management
  • Who in your organization will carry out the plan

#2 Make It All About You

When you start developing your social media marketing plan it’s easy to fall into the trap of making the majority of your posts about you and your business. After all, you’re trying to build a business so shouldn’t you be posting about your business? The answer is NO. Your goal is to build relationships. People want to do business with people they know, like and trust. Social media marketing is part of a long-term strategy for your business. Build a strong foundation and the business will come in time.

A good rule of thumb to follow when posting on social media is The Golden Ratio, developed by Rallyverse. Your content should be a mix of the following:

  • 30% owned original content
  • 60% curated content
  • 10% promotional content

#3 Only Share Other People’s Content

The opposite extreme of only promoting yourself is only sharing content created by others that you follow. Original content is crucial to building your brand and your credibility online. You have a unique contribution to make in your industry. If you’re only sharing other people’s content your audience doesn’t get to know you. Share your story – your experience, expertise, and perspective. Give your audience the opportunity to get to know you on a personal level and how your specific product or service can meet their needs.

#4 Never Use Visual Content

If you’re only posting plain text on your social accounts you’re missing a huge opportunity to capture your audience’s attention. Content with appealing relevant images gets viewed more often than content without relevant visuals. (Source) So be sure you are including eye-catching visual images and videos as part of your content strategy.

#5 Be All Things To All People

Be the best version of yourself on social media. Represent your brand and stand out. But, don’t try to write for everyone. When you generalize your content to appeal to everyone you end up not connecting with anyone. Know and write for your target audience. That will make it easier for them to find you and the services you offer that will solve their specific problems.

#6 Ask People To Follow You

Nothing says desperation more than “I just followed/liked you, can you follow me back?” The way to get people to follow you is to provide good original content and timely, relevant shared content that your audience can relate to and that solves their problems.

#7 Never Provide Calls To Action Or Engage With Your Followers

Is your content engaging? Does it provoke a reaction? And when your followers comment are you responding to them? This is one of the keys to forming a relationship with your audience. They have to know that there is a real human being behind the brand and that you are truly engaged in your business enough to have a conversation with them.

A note about bad reviews… Don’t ignore them. When you open up avenues of communication with your followers online, they may use them to post their dissatisfaction with your product or service. The best thing you can do is respond and offer solutions to their needs. As socialmouthy.com advised in their article, How to Build Instant Trust on Your Website, “If you delete or ignore anything negative said about your company, you are wasting a great opportunity to make somebody happy and let others see how committed you are to that happiness.”

#8 Overuse Hashtags

Hashtags have revolutionized the way we find and share information on social media. However, there is such a thing as overusing them and exploiting them. Use relevant, focused hashtags and your audience will find you. If you use too many hashtags it appears spammy. Use the wrong hashtags and the spammers will find you. It’s a delicate balance.

Your social media marketing strategy can help expose you to your target audience in exciting new ways. The keys are to start with a solid foundation, develop your plan and then commit to carrying it out. There are many visual content creation apps and social media management tools online to help you carry out your mission. It will take time to build your audience so be patient. Social media marketing is part of a complete inbound marketing plan, so keep that in mind as you’re analyzing your results.

What challenges do you face in your social media marketing efforts? Comment below. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Rhonda Bavaro

Rhonda Bavaro wears many hats at SMA - Operations Director, Inbound Marketing Strategist and Content Writer. She loves helping business owners achieve accelerated growth through inbound marketing and creative content marketing strategies. She enjoys writing about digital marketing, sales, social media, technology, and health.

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