• 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

3 Tips to Prepare for Google’s Page Experience Update

The long-awaited page experience update is right around the corner and it’s time to get your website up to Google’s new ranking standards.

If you want to maximize your website’s chance of ranking at the top of Google’s search results, it’s essential to optimize your website for the new page experience update and be ready to take advantage of the changes expected to begin rolling out in June 2021.

What to Expect From the Page Experience Update

Last November, Google announced that the page experience ranking change will go live on Google Search in 2021. It’s rare for Google to give such advance notice about updates. This proves just how seriously Google expects web developers, SEOs, and content creators to take this update, giving all over six months to prepare.

Google mentioned in a blog post that the page experience update will start rolling out in mid-June, but will not play its full role in search rankings until the end of August.

“We’ll begin using page experience as part of our ranking systems beginning in mid-June 2021. However, page experience won’t play its full role as part of those systems until the end of August. You can think of it as if you’re adding a flavoring to a food you’re preparing. Rather than add the flavor all at once into the mix, we’ll be slowly adding it all over this time period.”

What Will Page Experience Include?

According to Google, the new page experience signals combines Core Web Vitals with its existing search signals including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines.

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This metric measures the time in which the page’s main content ~ specifically, the largest content element ~ loads. It’s best practice to have an LCP of under 2.5 seconds.
  • First Input Delay (FID): This metric tracks the time between when a user first interacts with your web page (click a link, tap on a button, etc.) to when the page actually responds. To provide a good user experience, you should shoot for an FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This tracks the visual stability of the content on your web page. If your site layout shifts unexpectedly, it is considered a poor user experience. It’s best practice to ensure that your CLS score is less than 0.1.
  • Mobile-friendliness: This signal checks if your page is responsive.
  • Safe-browsing: This checks if your site contains any malware or deceptive (e.g., social engineering) content.
  • HTTPS: This analyzes whether your site’s connection is secure via HTTPS or the non-secure HTTP.
  • No intrusive interstitials: This ensures that the main content is easily accessible to the user. An interstitial is an ad that appears when a web page is downloading.

How to Make Sure Your Site is Ready for Page Experience

1. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.

Google transitioned to mobile-first indexing in September of 2020, so by now, this should be a given. As part of the page experience update, mobile-friendliness will have a major impact on your website’s ranking. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to determine whether your website is responsive.

If you find that you are running your site on an outdated theme or using a site builder that isn’t optimized for mobile, you should consider migrating your website to a mobile-friendly web builder.

2. Improve your site speed.

Loading time is one of the elements of the Core Web Vitals. The quicker a page loads, the better the page experience and the better your odds are at ranking.

Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights quickly analyze the content of a web page and generate suggestions to help improve your page speed. For other optimization ideas to help increase your page speed, check out this video on website page speed.

3. Make sure your site is secure.

Poor website security has had a negative impact on SEO rankings for quite some time. Google’s latest update aims to rank sites that offer users the best possible experiences, which includes safeguarding their information online.

Check your Google Search Console to determine if your site has any security issues. You can find that info on the left-side navigation under “Security and Manual Actions”. As soon as you fix the problems, click on “Request Review” to inform Google that you have taken action to improve your site security.

The Secret to SEO Success

The time is now to prepare for Google’s page experience update. Secure your existing rankings and pave the way for new rankings by ensuring your website meets these new standards.

Need some help? If you’re looking to boost your search rankings, contact SMA Marketing today! As Industry experts, we have the skills and knowledge to drive the right organic traffic to your website.

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