• 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.

  • Contact

Bloggers’ New Email Marketing Dilemma

When you run a blog or have a website for your small business where you feature your skills and talents through blog articles, it’s a good idea to provide your readers with an opportunity to request to receive emails from you. This might feel like an exhausting additional step to take, or perhaps you believe your readers hear from you enough already. Regardless, email frequency for bloggers is an important strategy to consider when seeking to connect with your readers.

Here’s Why Email Frequency for Bloggers Matters

Email Connects with Readers on a Different Level

When you send an email you individually connect with someone who has asked to hear from you. When readers sign up for your email list they often do so because you offered them an initial incentive, but they continue to receive your content even though they can unsubscribe at any point. Every email reminds your subscribers you offer value beyond your blog articles.

Take advantage of the opportunity to connect with your audience by sending them the thing they already confirmed they want to receive. There is a lot of noise on the internet as well as social media. Even your most loyal fan needs a reminder that you have a new blog post to read.

Additionally, when you use segmented lists, you can personalize your emails to specific sections of your audience, intentionally offering content that aligns with their journey.

By creating email content that offers valuable tips, insights, and behind the scenes peeks into your business or niche that you don’t publish anywhere else you let your reader know you value your relationship with them and don’t want to waste their time or fill their inbox with spam. Knowing the content is unique also offers an additional incentive for the receiver to open and read your email! If you’re only sending out alerts about new blog articles you’re missing an opportunity to develop a deeper relationship.

This doesn’t mean you need to write dozens of emails each week. It’s important to create a consistent strategy that works for you. You can set up an automated system to provide a weekly update of new blog content and a monthly “insider’s scoop” email that you craft.

Frequency Matters

When determining how often you will send emails to your readers, timing and frequency matter. It’s fine to offer your subscribers options so they can have control over their inbox. For example, they can select to receive an email every time you post new content, a weekly summary of blog articles or a monthly email. If you only post a few times a month, you may want only to provide a monthly email. There isn’t a hard and fast “rule” as to how often you send emails, but if you compare the bloggers you read you will likely notice, most people communicate weekly.

One thing to keep in mind when scheduling automated emails is the day and time you send them. If you send weekly blog summary emails on Mondays, as we do here at SMA, then you shouldn’t schedule any other emails to go out on Mondays. For example, let’s say you have a new offer you want to personally notify your readers about. Schedule the email for a Wednesday or Thursday so there is space between communications.

Regardless of the number of emails you send, it’s important that you are consistent with your frequency. If you say you are sending your readers one email a week, then that’s all you should send. If you say you will send one email a month with occasional special communications, then you have more flexibility, but be mindful; occasional is not weekly.

Leverage Email Communications with Automation

So, we know that emails provide an opportunity for a frequent, personal connection with a subscriber, but it can take a lot of time to create high-quality blog content and emails! The great thing is that there are many free tools you can use to schedule emails to send automatically.

Automation allows you the freedom to run several offers concurrently or with different frequency. You could offer a short-term daily e-course teaching a new skill that runs for seven days and also provide an additional ongoing options for readers to receive a weekly email recapping recently published blog articles.

For more information about automation read: What I Learned from Sending 25,000+ Automated Emails.

MailChimp

MailChimp offers a free platform to create and schedule emails that will automatically send to your new readers. This is a great way to connect with new readers when they sign up without having to keep track of new subscribers constantly.

You can set up a one time offer where new subscribers receive a download in exchange for signing up for your monthly newsletter as well as more extended email series.

HubSpot

HubSpot also offers free automated lead generation options. This set up will allow you to create a pop-up collection form for your website to advertise an offer and collect emails. While their platform is more user-friendly, email marketing isn’t free making MailChimp a more attractive option for many bloggers.

Boomerang

This Chrome plug-in is a very low-tech way to schedule email ahead of time. If you want to send an email to a group of subscribers without going through the hassle of building an email in a template, give Boomerang a try. One caution; when you are sending an email to more than one person make sure to BCC (blind carbon copy) the email recipients.

Need ideas on email content? Check out our post Finding Your Email Marketing Voice.

We Can Help

Are you ready to get started sending emails? Are you having a hard time figuring out which content to highlight? We’ve created a content marketing calendar to help you plan. Tying your emails to current blog articles is a great way to make sure your readers see your newest content.

As a small business, we understand that sometimes you need a little extra help to meet your goals. Our content team is available to help you develop an email marketing strategy as well as develop personalized emails. Send us an email for more information.

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