• 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

SEO 101: What is Structured Data?

If you’re familiar with Ryan’s Hack My Growth videos, you’ve likely heard about structured data, Schema.org, and possibly JSON-LD. But what exactly do these terms mean? Keep reading to find out. 

According to Ahrefs, “structured data” is a general term that refers to any organized data that conforms to a certain format. Structured data refers to kinds of data with a high level of organization, 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.

Schema.org, often referred to as “Schema,” is a semantic vocabulary of tags (or microdata) that you can add to your HTML to improve the way search engines read and represent your page in SERPs. According to their site, Schema.org “is a collaborative, community activity with a mission to create, maintain, and promote Schemas for structured data on the Internet, on web pages, in email messages, and beyond.” Schema.org makes it easy for SEOs to find, create, and add structured data to their websites.

Learn how to use Schema.org for structured data here.

There are four main semantic annotation formats you can use to structure data on the internet:

  • JSON-LD
  • RDFa + GoodRelations
  • Microdata
  • Microformat aka ŒºF

Schema.org can provide you with the Schema you’re looking to add in any of these formats, but JSON-LD is the format that Google recommends.

Types of Schema

There are hundreds of schema markup types. Using Schema.org, you can find markup data for:

  • Articles
  • Local businesses
  • Restaurants
  • TV episodes and ratings
  • Book reviews
  • Movies
  • Software applications
  • Events
  • Products

Benefits of Schema

Adding Schema markup to your HTML improves the way your page displays in SERPs by enhancing the rich snippets that are displayed beneath the page title. Here are two examples of webpages that appear when using the search query “chili recipes.”

schema-markup-example

Martha Stewart’s webpage includes a piece of Schema on her website that pulls information from other sources to make her listing “richer” regarding the amount of content that is displayed. Her listing includes an image and a 3.4-star rating, a Schema markup commonly referred to as an aggregate rating. Having rich snippets show up for your products in the SERPs is a great way to increase click-through rates and draw more attention to your listings, especially if you have great product reviews.

On the other hand, Cheapism’s webpage does not contain any structured data markup. It is displayed the same as any other standard webpage listing, which may be far less appealing to users.

Structured data gives Google and other search engines more details on your content which helps them better understand your intent and match it with more targeted users looking for what you provide. While having structured data is not a necessity, it can help your site earn a featured snippet, which appears at the top of the SERP, before organic listings. This can lead to more visibility from the people you are trying to target – the people most likely to convert.

featured-snippet-example

Give Your SEO a Boost with Structured Data

SEO is more than just ranking and driving traffic. It’s about driving traffic that engages and converts readers to users. In order to help ensure your site shows up for the right users, it’s important for search engines themselves to understand your site, its content, and the context in which it’s presented. Using structured data and schema can help you better inform the search engines about your content and get your webpages to rank higher in the SERPs.

Need help implementing structured data and schema on your site? Contact us today!

New Call-to-action

Search by Topic

  • All Resources
  • SEO
  • Digital Advertising
  • Content Marketing
  • Web Development

Get Up-To-Date Digital Marketing Tips and Tricks Delivered Straight to Your Inbox!

SMA Marketing Digital Marketing Agency Giving Back to Kiva Making Loans