• 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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Why Isn’t My Website Ranking?

Amanda Fallace

October 14, 2021

You have just launched your website. It looks great, it has engaging content, and you are ready to serve an influx of visitors. A few days pass, and you realize your Website isn’t ranking for its target keywords or any keywords at all. Why is this happening?

The basics of a good SEO strategy are somewhat simple: write engaging content that will attract your target audience to read, share, and build relevant links. However, in practice, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is much more of an art than a checklist. Search engine ranking takes a lot of time and skill. This is why it is important to consider investing in or assembling a digital marketing team.

Websites fail to rank for a variety of reasons. When you have just launched your Website, it’s easy to overlook important elements and wonder where you have gone wrong. If you are sure you’re writing content using on-page SEO Best Practices and you’re still frustrated that you aren’t getting any results, consider these possibilities below.

Possible Reasons Your Website Isn’t Ranking

You Haven’t Given It Enough Time

SEO is not an overnight process. It takes time to research, create, and implement an effective content strategy. Then, it takes even more time for Google to identify these changes have been made. Then you have to wait for the search engine to determine if your content adds value to internet users’ queries.

According to an Ahrefs study, only 5.7% of all newly published pages will get to Google Top 10 within a year. The same study found that, on average, it takes anywhere from 2 to 6 months to rank in Google’s Top 10.

SEO requires patience, strategy, and creativity. It’s frustrating to have to take a “wait and see” approach, but when it comes to organic search, you have no control over the timeline as to when your pages may find their way to the first page of a relevant search query.

You Have Tough Competition in Your Niche

Let’s face it. Some industries are more crowded than others, and some of your competitors might have a bigger marketing budget. For example, suppose your competitors publish fresh content three times a week and publish a blog article once every three months. In that case, your competition will cover topics quicker than you are and gain authority sooner.

The more competitive your target keywords are, the more SEO work it will take for your Website to reach the first page. In other words, the tougher the competition, the stronger your Website needs to be in order to rank on the first page.

If your Website isn’t ranking for its target keywords, it could be that Google doesn’t clearly understand the context of your content. Analyze your competitors using SEO software like SEOquake to understand how competitive a keyword is before creating content and building links. Then take time to read the relevant content that is ranking for that term. You may find it’s easier to rank for a long-tail keyword with lower volume rather than a high-volume, highly competitive word.

Your Website Doesn’t Have Enough High-Quality Content

Google’s algorithm is designed to recognize the most relevant and helpful results for any search keyword. If your content is short and simple, it may not be substantial enough for Google to recognize it as a relevant result.

You may want to consider beefing up your content by expanding its length and level of detail. If your content helps visitors learn more about your page’s topic, it will help you rank. People will share content if it’s useful. Content with real value will attract links from people who find it to be helpful.

If you’re facing writer’s block, you can quickly develop blog topics by completing a Google search for your keywords. Look at the People Also Asked questions and answer one or two. Remember, you’re an expert in your field!

You Don’t Have Enough Quality Links

When we think about links, most people think about internal links. This is a key component of on-page SEO. You’ll also need to look for opportunities to gain inbound links to help improve your domain authority.

Google’s algorithm uses two factors to determine whether or not a page is the best result for any search keyword: relevance and approval. Relevance is determined using the topic of the page and the anchor text of inbound links. Approval is determined using the popularity of signals, such as the number of inbound links that point to the page and the value of the pages these links are on.

The more links your Website has and the higher the value and relevance of these links, the more it will be viewed as a relevant page by Google. More quality links can result in first page rankings for your Website.

Implement Changes to Improve Your Website’s Visibility in Search

Aside from the three possibilities highlighted in this post, numerous other factors may be why your website isn’t ranking. There are so many things you can do to improve your search visibility. If you aren’t ranking yet, you may need to give it a little more time, or you may need to make some serious SEO improvements. Either way, consider examining your situation and begin implementing changes that will improve your Website’s visibility.

Having trouble developing an effective SEO strategy? Don’t just hire any SEO agency. Hire SEO Experts with proven results!

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in November 2018, and has been updated with fresh content.

Amanda Fallace

Amanda is SMA's Lead SEO Strategist working from her home office in Port Orange, FL. She is passionate about SEO and the Inbound Methodology. As a Florida native, she enjoys spending her spare time at the beach with her beloved dogs, Bentley and Kona.

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