• 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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How to Improve Your Business’ Email Security

    Despite the rising sophistication of cyber-attacks, it remains the case that email is the primary attack vector used by criminals to compromise businesses. In fact, recent research suggests that as many as one in every one hundred emails sent around the world has malicious intent.

    Many organizations make use of firewalls and secure email gateways to restrict emails that contain unsuitable content, including malicious links and attachments. However, due to the evolving nature of threats, these systems cannot be relied upon to block everything.

    It is necessary then, to take further measures to ensure your business is able to mitigate the risk of email-borne attacks. Here are five key ways for your organization to enhance its email security.

    Enforce Strong Account Passwords

    Despite frequent warnings about the risks of poor password hygiene, many employees are still failing to set strong enough passwords. A recent analysis conducted by the National Cyber Security Centre found that ‚Äò123456′ was the most widely-used password on accounts that suffered breaches. Essentially this shows that having a poor password makes it easier for your account to be compromised.

    It’s essential then, for organizations to enforce a strong password policy. Insist that employees use passwords that comprise of at least eight characters, but the more the better. Additionally, make sure that staff is not using passwords that solely contain words in the dictionary ~ all passwords should be a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.

    If staff have to access many different systems and remembering passwords is becoming a challenge, then consider providing password management tools, which can help to keep track of all of your passwords and even generate new ones.

    Work with Multi-Factor Authentication

    Multi-factor authentication (also known as two-factor authentication and two-step verification) is a security process for email accounts that requires users to provide two separate authentication factors ~ such as a password and a unique passcode generated by a mobile application. In the event that a cyber criminal is able to obtain a user’s password, MFA, provides an additional layer of protection to prevent the attacker from being able to access the account.

    A recent hack on containerization platform Docker resulted in the compromise of 190,000 accounts ~ but the whole thing could have been less severe had the business offered its users the option of multi-factor authentication. Authentication is precisely the sort of security control that reduces the likelihood of accounts being compromised in the event that usernames and passwords are stolen.

    Improve User Training

    It is essential that staff is trained to identify the tell-tale signs of email phishing attacks so that they know what to look out for and avoid opening unsafe links and attachments. Training sessions should be held regularly and be updated to ensure that the information provided is up-to-date and relevant to each organization.

    To help better improve awareness, it is worth considering scenario-based penetration testing assessments.

    “Penetration testing (pentesting) is the process of assessing computer systems, networks, and applications to identify and address security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by cybercriminals.”Redscan

    During such engagements, cyber security specialists replicate the attack techniques used by criminals to evaluate how systems and employees respond to social engineering and other attacks.

    Configure Your Email Servers to Support TLS

    Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a security protocol that is widely used to secure the data that travels between a web browser and a website via HTTPS.

    TLS can also be used to encrypt the contents of emails to ensure they can’t be read by anyone other than the intended recipient.  This means it is its highly effective at preventing eavesdropping ~ the practice of hackers reading and/or tampering with communications. Of the various mechanisms available to encrypt communications between email servers, TLS is the easiest to set up.

    Use Email Authentication

    Email authentication technologies such as SPF and DMARC provide another layer of security protection by helping to prevent email spoofing ~ the practice of criminals using an organization to send fake emails.

    Sender Policy Framework (SPF) restricts who is able to send emails from your domains, while Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) provides directions to the recipient organization on what to do if a message not been properly authenticated – such as to reject or quarantine it.

    Email isn’t the only place where businesses should ensure they are checking their security. Download our free checklist Website Security Tips for Small Businesses and make sure your email and website are secure.

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