• 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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Use SEO Content Best Practices To Get in Front of Your Ideal Client

A well-designed content marketing strategy focuses on solving your ideal client’s pain points. When you align your SEO strategy and content strategy and prioritize writing for your buyer persona, you will find that your target audience grows. I’ll celebrate six years as part of the partners@smamarketing.net in a few weeks. In that time, we’ve endured multiple Google algorithm updates, some more challenging to understand than others. Yet, SEO best practices remain a core part of Google instructions for developer guidelines through each update.

Read about the August 2022 Helpful Content Update here to see SEO best practices prioritized.

Google frequently reiterates its goal to improve the platform’s user experience. This is something that all digital marketers and website owners have in common with the largest search engine in the world.

Our goal is to provide the best experience for our ideal clients, delivering helpful content about our products and services so we can build trust with prospective customers and retain them long term.

SEO Content Best Practices Improve UX for Your Ideal Client

Nielson has studied how website content is read for over twenty years and has released two in-depth studies. The 2020 How People Read Online report covers everything from the eye patterns used most frequently to read a page to the types of words a reader’s eye is most likely to hoover over. While several statistics were updated in the fifteen years between Nielson’s reports, how people read web pages remains unchanged. People skim web content.

Because people skim web content, using SEO content best practices creates the best digital platform for both your reader and AI bots. However, before you start writing, you must first ensure you’re creating content your ideal client is looking for.

Long-Tail Keywords Improve SEO Content

How do you determine the best way to serve your ideal client? By listening to what they are asking about related to your products and services. There are many strategies to gather this information; however, you will need to select a focus keyword for each page on your website.

Keyword research is the foundation of implementing SEO content best practices. By taking the time to identify relevant keywords that your ideal client is searching for and creating the type of content that matches the search intent of the keyword phrase, you can increase the relevant organic traffic to your website.

Using a unique keyword phrase for each piece of content will reduce your chances of keyword cannibalization. The best way to incorporate unique and relevant keywords in your content is to use long-tail keywords. These phrases will allow you to answer pertinent questions and target content around your ideal client’s specific needs.

SEO Helps Readers Skim Content

Now that you know the content you’re writing is important to your customers, it’s time to focus on on-page SEO best practices. Because readers skim as they read web pages, incorporating SEO content best practices such as headers, bulleted lists, graphics, external links, and internal links, increases the readability of your content. As an added bonus, this structure also helps search engines identify the context of your content faster.

Check out: The Do’s and Don’t of SEO Content Writing for more information.

Strategy Changes Based on the Type of Content 

Every piece of content you create for your online presence should focus on communicating an aspect of your business message to your customers. So, whether you’re writing about your product’s features or you are explaining a new add-on service, you need to write to your buyer persona.

Content creation that considers the users’ intent will improve UX in several ways. The web page should have high-quality content that adds value. Additionally, each web page should have an eye-appealing design that will allow readers to quickly consume the most important information.

Nielson’s case study reports that readers have predictable eye-tracking patterns that can be divided into a few categories.

How people read content on a web page depends on:

  • The goal of the search
  • Page layout
  • The type of page content
  • Previous experiences with the internet, site, or brand

Your page must have the correct information related to the search and a clear layout. This begins with your keyword choice, as discussed above.

For example, when someone goes to a storefront to purchase clothing, they don’t need to read a blog post about how to wear a shirt. However, images or a quick video styling the shirt with different pants, sweaters, or skirts may enhance the user experience.

Regardless of how great these elements are, if someone is looking to purchase an airline ticket and your website pulls up in a search query, they aren’t going to be happy, nor are they likely to return. Additionally, if the call to action button is missing making it impossible to complete the purchase of the shirt, you’re going to lose potential customers.

The Types of Content You Create Matter for Potential Customers

Clearly understanding your buyer persona will make it much easier to create relevant content for your audience.

Your content should:

  • Answer questions with in-depth answers in blog posts
  • Help your ideal client overcome challenges they encounter when using your products
  • Teach your customers about your products and services
  • Answer why, how, when, where, and who questions

Consider each page layout and the best way to present the information. Should you include a video or images to ensure the complex answers you’re explaining are clear? Do you need to reference specific sources for additional learning? If so, include these elements in your content to allow potential customers to engage with your brand on a deeper level.

Understanding User Intent Matters for SEO Content

Writing SEO content that ranks in organic search for your ideal client is the goal of every blog post added to a content strategy. We know that our readers are most likely to skim an article and that the design of a web page will impact how content is consumed. We also understand that each web page needs to have a primary keyword.

You need to understand the keyword intent when choosing a keyword phrase. Depending on the author’s word choice, the keyword intent will be very different. For example, the phrase “a layer of dust” can apply to dust on your furniture, powdered sugar on a dessert, or debris after a hurricane.

While you may argue the phrase is incorrectly used in one context, search engines look for volume in search trends. Just because professionals in your industry use a specific term to discuss a product or service doesn’t mean the typical consumer knows or uses the technical term.

Additionally, there may be keywords that are both branded terms and used commonly. Consider how terms such as Kleenex are used to refer to tissues, whether someone buys the generic brand or the original.

As you become an expert in understanding your buyer persona, you need to understand the terms they use to search for your products and services, as well as the search intent phrases they choose for each stage of the buyer journey.

Search intent is the explanation of why someone is looking for your content. There are four categories of search intent:

Informational: Informational content answers questions. Hopefully, the content is thorough and connects with the reader. When the reader values what you offer, you build trust as an expert, and they will return to your website.

Navigational: This content offers directions. It navigates the searcher.

Commercial: While both commercial and transactional content focus on the later stages of the buyer journey, your ideal client is still trying to determine exactly what they want to buy in the commercial stage of search.

Transactional: When using these words, the buyer is ready to complete a purchase.

Integrate SEO Content Best Practices into Your Content Strategy

SEO content best practices are an integral part of creating compelling content for your ideal client. For example, when choosing informational keywords, you will most likely write a blog post that provides helpful insights on a subject related to your business. SEO and content best practices work hand in hand. Each set of SEO best practices has a corresponding content best practice that should follow. 

While the goal of your content creation should never be to write content for search engines, there is a practical consideration in that you are placing content on a website in hopes that a search engine will read it. By using SEO content best practices, you will enhance your user experience and improve the readability of your content for search engines. Learn more about SEO content best practices in The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing

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