• 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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Super Charge Your Inbound Marketing & Sales Strategy with Your Blog

Super Charge Your Inbound Marketing & Sales Strategy with Your Blog

When it comes to driving relevant visitors to your site and increasing the ROI of your marketing efforts, creating content that meets your user’s needs is a must. Delivering content that answers questions and addresses pain points for each stage of the buyer’s journey adds brand value and builds trust. Your blog impacts way more than your web traffic. It helps move your visitor from browsers to leads and finally to customers. Blogging is a great way to create persona-centric content to supercharge not only your Inbound Marketing strategy but your sales as well.

Blogging is a powerful tool in all stages of your inbound marketing and sales strategy.  From attracting and covering new leads into customers to continue adding value to your current customer base, your blog can turn into one of your company’s greatest assets. Below are a few ways blogging can help supercharge each phase of your inbound marketing and sales strategy.

Attracting Visitors With Compelling Content

In order to generate leads, you need traffic. In order to generate traffic, you need persona-centric content that is sharable and optimized for search. Your blog is the perfect place to answer questions and share helpful tips your persona is searching for online. Creating content around keywords your target audience is searching for will help grow your site and increase your searchability.  “The average company that blogs generate 55% more website visitors, 97% more inbound links, and 434% more indexed pages.” (Hubspot) The key isn’t just creating content but content that is actually helpful and engaging. But what good is great content if your buyers can’t find it? Google’s Andrey Lipattsev (Senior Search Strategist) confirmed in a Q&A session that links and content and content are the primary ranking factors in Google’s Search algorithm.

What you share and how you share it is more important than how often you publish. Blogs have been rated as the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information. But, in order for your blog to be trusted, you have to earn that trust. This is why really understanding your audience is key. Do your homework, invest in learning, and you will reap the benefits. One tool I find extremely helpful is the empathy mapping tool from Xplane. This forces you to go beyond traditional buyer persona research and put yourself into your persona’s shoes. The better you understand your audience, the more relevant your content will be.

Keys to Attractional Blogging

  • Create content that is persona focused.
  • Optimized for your posts for Search.
  • Make it easy and delightful to share.
  • Create “Evergreen” content.
  • Cover helpful topics
  • Make it engaging for the users.

Blogging Vistors into Leads

Blogging is not just great for attracting visitors. It’s also a powerful way to generate leads. If your content engages your audience, answers their questions, and adds value, they will be more likely to take action. This is where a number of companies fall short. If you are going through all the trouble to research your personas and create content around them, you must have a way for them to take action. Having offers that address each stage go the buyers’ journey and using your blogs to promote those offers is key to lead generation. According to HubSpot’s annual survey, in 2022, 48% of B2B companies are leveraging blogs and 29% report they are investing more in blogging in the coming year.

Every blog you create should have a way for your readers to take action. This means using internal links and CTA’s (call-to-action) to give your reader a clear next step. One thing to remember is your offer needs to match the content. If you are writing a blog post that’s focused on new visitors, having a CTA for a free consultation is probably not a good idea. Ideally, you need to have at least one offer for each stage of the buyers’ journey.

Awareness Stage:

In this stage, your persona has just begun to realize and expressed symptoms of a potential problem or opportunity. They are in research mode and are looking to identify the problem.

Some good offers for this stage include Research reports, eGuides & eBooks, White Papers, and Checklists.

Consideration Stage:

In this stage, the persona has clearly defined and given a name to their problem or opportunity. Now they are committed to researching and understanding all of the available ways to solve their problem or opportunity.

Some good offers for this stage include Comparison White Papers, Expert Guides, Webinars, and Podcasts.

Decision Stage:

Here the buyer is close to making their final decision. They know what the problem is and how they want to solve it. The only thing left is to decide who to partner with. They are researching supporting documentation, data, benchmarks as well as endorsements to make or recommend a final decision.

Some good offers for this stage include Vendor Comparisons, Product Comparisons, Case Studies, Trial Downloads, Consultations, and Live Demos.

By understanding each phase and creating appropriate offers, you can create targeted blog posts that speak to each stage of the buyers’ journey. This will help you to contextualize your conversation and increase the likelihood of converting leads and moving them along the process.

Closing the Deal with Content

Today about 80% of the buying process is done before a client ever talks to a vendor. This means that companies need to be proactive in reaching their base as well as making sure that marketing and sales are in alignment. Using your blog to nurture leads through the buyer’s journey is essential in today’s fast-moving buyer-centric sales process. According to research done by Hubspot, 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog.

By creating content to meet your persona’s needs, you build trust. Trust is key to closing a sale. With the change in buying patterns, businesses have to adapt as well. Instead of selling products, we must instead focus on selling solutions. The sales process begins the first time a visitor reads our blog. The impression we leave of them with the first visitor will set the tone and expectations for the next engagement.

In order to use our blog as a sales tool, we must create transactional content that helps the reader to take the next step. This is where your decision stage offers take center stage. Writing an article about how your specific service solves a solution and following that up with a well-timed CTA can go a long way in turning a visitor into a customer. This issue here is being able to set yourself apart from the rest of the world.

With over 100 million blogs out there, it’s safe to say there is a lot of noise. One way we set ourselves apart is by using personalized marketing. With the help of one of our partners, Brightinfo, we create a personalized experience for both anonymous and returning visitors. This tool allows us to deliver the right piece of content or offer based on the users’ interactions. By helping them find the answers they need, we become more of a trusted source which helps us better position ourselves to close the deal.

Keep ‘Em Coming Back

We discussed how your blog helps drive and covert traffic as well as help your sales process, but there is one more very important way your blog helps your business. Serving your customers is essential if you want to grow your business. Word of mouth is still and will always be the best form of marketing. Creating content that speaks to your current clients, updates them on your new offerings, and engages them in the process will help you turn them into promoters. Too often, we are so focused on nurturing leads we forget to nurture those who have already partnered with us. Don’t forget about the people who got you where you are.

No matter the size of your business or organization, blogging can be a powerful tool. Attract new visitors and convert them by creating compelling content that helps them solve their problems. Help your leads take the next steps with transactional content. Continue to serve your customers by adding value to their experience with more in-depth customer-centric pieces. Use your blog not just as a part of your inbound marketing strategy but as a sales and customer retention tool as well. Your brand’s voice will be determined by the content you produce. 

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