• 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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The Difference Between Good Backlinks and Bad Backlinks

There is no denying the importance of SEO for your business’s online visibility. In today’s competitive market, SEO is more important than ever. However, When it comes to growing your visibility in the search engines, relying on content alone is not enough. 

Earning and building backlinks is key to success in organic search. While this is a crucial part of SEO, many ignore this detail or hope it will happen naturally. But if you are serious about getting the rankings you deserve, you need quality links. So, how can you determine what a quality link is? Let’s take a look at backlinks and identify the difference between good backlinks and bad backlinks. 

What are Backlinks?

According to Moz, backlinks, also called “inbound links” or “incoming links,” are created when one website links to another. On the web, backlinks are used as a form of citation, in which you provide credibility for another site that discusses a topic related to your brand, service, or product. 

Backlinks are crucial when it comes to your organic visibility. They are one of the most important pieces search engines look at when identifying how authoritative your site is and whether or not your site deserves a ranking position. Backlinks are a signal to search engines that others vouch for your content. 

There are a few important aspects to keep in mind when building backlinks. You should know that all backlinks are not created equal. There are some major differences between good backlinks and bad backlinks. We’ve broken them down for you below:

Examples of Good Backlinks 

  • Links from websites with a high domain authority
  • Links from websites with high traffic 
  • Links from websites with high page rank 
  • Natural, non-spammy links that occur without solicitation
  • Links that include anchor text to your website that uses important keywords as the link text

Examples of Bad Backlinks

  • Links from your website to completely irrelevant websites (i.e. a fashion designer linking to a dentist)
  • Links from sites with explicit content 
  • Links from sites associated with spam or unethical practices
  • Links from sites that are unrelated to your industry
  • Purchased, solicited, or unnatural links
  • Links to or from link farms or sites with useless content
  • Broken links 
  • Using too many links in your content

Backlinks: The Key to a Strong SEO Strategy

While there are numerous ways to build backlinks, you should only focus on earning high-quality backlinks to protect your site from link penalties. Link penalties have the potential to reduce your website’s rankings or remove your site from the SERPs completely. To avoid spending time in the Google penalty box, steer clear of bad backlinks and other black-hat SEO tactics. 

At SMA Marketing, we know how difficult and time-consuming building backlinks can be. This is why we have developed a seamless, white-hat link building strategy guaranteed to help our clients rank higher in search. We have a deep understanding of how search algorithms work and what types of links are best for your site. If you need any assistance developing or supplementing your SEO strategy, contact us today!

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