logo
banner_slide_img1

Loebig Ink is a small business consulting firm
fueled by coffee, creativity and music to provide
SEO, web design and social media solutions.

Author: Brian Loebig

SEO Blooper #3: Services You Don’t Offer

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Best SEO Bloopers - Optimizing for Services You Don't Offer - funny, red anthropomorphic illustrationWelcome back to our series on SEO and what you can unwittingly do wrong. We’ve reached Blooper #3 – optimizing web pages for services you don’t offer. It is easier than it seems to lose track of everything that is on your website. When you hire someone for SEO services, you can wind up wasting time and energy optimizing pages that refer to an older or different version of your business. Avoid confusion and high bounce rates by aligning your web content to what you really offer, then move ahead to SEO.

It may seem harmless to keep an old service page live “just in case,” but it can do more harm than good. Search engines and potential clients rely on your site’s content to understand what your business actually does. Do you offer home maintenance but no longer handle power washing? It’s time to unpublish or edit that page to reflect the latest information. When outdated services appear prominently, it sends mixed signals to search engines and potential clients alike. Visitors who come looking for something you no longer provide will quickly leave your site, increasing your bounce rate and hurting your credibility.

The same applies if you’re tempted to create content around high-volume keywords that don’t reflect your true offerings. Ranking for something irrelevant might attract clicks, but it won’t bring qualified leads or conversions. In fact, it could make your brand seem unfocused or unreliable.

The fix is simple: audit your website regularly. Identify pages that no longer match your current business model, and either update, merge, or remove them. Replace outdated service descriptions with detailed, up-to-date information that reflects what you do best today. That way when the SEO process begins the target keywords that emerge will naturally be in line with what you do.

Effective SEO starts with authenticity. When your online presence accurately represents your business, your audience and search engines will reward you with trust, engagement, and visibility.

Read our article on the “Best” SEO Bloopers for Bloopers #1, #2, and more. Stay tuned for more videos and blog posts all about navigating the many choices there are to make when optimizing your website. 

SEO Blooper #2: Optimizing, Then Changing Everything

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Best SEO Bloopers - Optimizing Then Changing Everything. Cute green monster graphic. If you had the chance to read our post on SEO Blooper #1, you may be curious about the next blooper on our list. One of the more common missteps we see in search engine optimization happens when website owners or marketing teams jump into SEO before they’ve settled on the direction or final content of their website. A new client comes to us ready to do what it takes to increase their visibility, already armed with a list of target keywords they’re eager to implement. On the surface, that’s great—they’re thinking ahead and excited about getting found online. These are great intentions combined with an enthusiasm that is keyed up for success.

But this situation may be missing one weird trick: Continued alignment of the keywords with the actual content of the website is necessary for strong and sensible SEO. The first vital question we need to ask is, “Does the site already have content that supports these keywords?” If yes, we may be in good shape and our keyword research can help confirm and refine their choices. If no, we’ll need to find terms that reflect what is currently on the site—or discuss and plan based on where the content is headed.

A broader question often goes unasked in the rush to optimize: “Is the site truly about what you want it to be about?” If the answer is “Not yet,” or “We’re going to redo everything soon,” then it is time to hit pause on SEO.

Taking the time for a little planning at this stage is helpful so no one learns the hard way that SEO is not a set-it-and-forget-it magic trick. It’s a strategy that works best when applied to stable, high-quality content. If you optimize a page today for one topic and target keyword then overhaul or rewrite that same page next week, much of your SEO work will be wasted. You’ve essentially optimized a version of the page that no longer exists.

To avoid this blooper, be clear about your direction. Make sure the foundational content of your site—your service descriptions, about page, blog categories, and major calls to action—are well-written, accurate, and aligned with your business goals. Then it is time to begin your SEO in earnest.

Check out our article on the “Best” SEO Bloopers we’ve come across while optimizing hundreds of websites. Learn more about the SEO services we offer and stay tuned for more blog posts and videos featuring our tips for avoiding big mistakes.

Meet Our Intern – Peter Barkanic

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Peter Barkanic playing a back yard gameSay hello to our new intern, Peter Barkanic! He arrives on the team with both a personal and a professional connection. Brian Loebig is a family friend. Loebig Ink has also done digital marketing and SEO for The Estates At Laytonsville, the assisted living community that Peter’s mother-in-law founded. As the current Marketing Director of that community, Peter thought it would be very beneficial to round out his digital marketing knowledge. Reaching out to Brian about an internship was a natural fit.

So far, Peter’s favorite work he’s taken part in at Loebig Ink has been SEO. He is currently shadowing Wendy’s projects and learning to take on steps of the process on his own. He was surprised at how complex and intricate the work really is, often utilizing multiple platforms and factoring in unexpected things such as UI/UX. “The SEO process also reminds a bit of my favorite game show, Family Feud,” he says, “in that you have to guess the terms that are most popular among the general population.” 

He has been enjoying working with Brian and the team and finds the virtual environment supportive and friendly. “They appreciate how difficult the learning curve is for some aspects of digital marketing and are happy to give advice and answer my many questions,” he explains. When he’s not working on a Loebig project, he loves spending time with friends and family, checking out new music, writing poetry, and exploring the vast array of entertainment and opportunities new technology allows. Making a positive impact on the lives of others is of utmost importance to Peter, which he keeps top of mind whether at work or leisure. 

Peter Barkanic grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and attended the College of William and Mary where he majored in marketing and minored in psychology. He was lucky enough to have met his wife back in high school, though they only reconnected and started dating over a decade later near the end of the COVID pandemic. Peter is very happy to now be in a position where he can use all he’s learned in school and beyond in a purposeful line of work. We are very happy to have him on our team! 

SEO Blooper #1: Keyword Stuffing

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Welcome to Loebig Ink’s blog post series on SEO bloopers. Through our years of optimizing hundreds of varied websites for search engine success, we have come across common errors that more people vying for visibility should know about. Creating and maintaining a website is a dynamic process; it is easy to get lost in the proverbial weeds and forget to look at the whole picture when you are (or think you are) ready for SEO. This series will highlight some common mistakes that we’d love to help you avoid. Here is the first installment.

Keyword Stuffing: Why Overdoing It Will Hurt Your Rankings

Best SEO Bloopers! Keyword Stuffing cute illustrationIn the always-evolving world of SEO, some tactics that used to work wonders can now seriously backfire. Keyword stuffing is a very old school approach and it’s one of the worst offenders. This outdated tactic involves cramming a target keyword or phrase into your content so often that the text feels unnatural and forced. At its worst, it sounds outright ridiculous.

Imagine landing on a webpage that reads like this: “Looking for the best pizza in DC? Our Washington, DC pizza place is the best DC pizzeria for pizza lovers in DC.” How awkward and frustrating! This kind of content makes it clear the writer is angling for Google’s algorithm — not for real people. And it turns out that Google is not a fan of this either. Once upon a time long, long ago it was considered a clever way to boost visibility in search engine results. Keyword stuffing is now a major red flag that will easily tank your visibility.

Today, search engines prioritize content that provides genuine value to readers. Keyword stuffing can lead to penalties, lower rankings, and lost credibility with your audience. If your site looks like it’s trying too hard to manipulate search results, it will likely fall to the bottom of them.

What is SEO best practice for using keywords? First concentrate on creating helpful and engaging content that expresses all you mean to convey. Then move on to thoughtful research to find a strong target keyword for each page you plan to optimize. Next, focus on natural keyword integration. The current general guideline is to aim for a keyword density of around 1–2%, which means you should use your target keyword no more than once or twice per hundred words. Most of all, focus on your content so that it flows well, reads naturally, and provides relevant information. Then make sure your target keyword is present, in the first paragraph if possible, and not too often. This process will set you on the right track.

Read our article on the “Best” SEO Bloopers we’ve encountered and learn more about the SEO services we offer that will help you steer clear of them.

Video SEO for YouTube

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Video SEO for YouTube graphic for Loebig Ink, LLCWhen talking with our clients about how to take into account SEO best practices for developing strong content, introducing the element of video is often at the top of the list. Videos give a dynamic element to your website that provides more interest and interactivity to your pages. Most importantly from an SEO perspective, video content has the power to catch the attention of website users and Google alike. With well-crafted YouTube SEO, Google may feature the videos you embed on your web pages in search results, which grabs attention above and beyond a simple link.

Here are the steps you can take to optimize your YouTube videos:

  • Edit the file name. 

This is an easy step that is often missed. If left alone, the file name for your video will be a series of numbers and letters that don’t convey much information aside from (possibly) the date the file was created, such as 33308272022.mp4. Change its name to include something brief and explanatory, ideally including a target keyword that is consistent with your website SEO strategy, e.g., internet-marketing-intro.mp4 or real-estate-tips.mp4. Often, you may want to work with an exact keyword you’ve already chosen for your website, but search YouTube for other ideas for keywords that may be popular on that platform to help inform your decision.

  • Create and optimize the video title.

Put some thought into your title. People prefer titles that solve a problem, explain a benefit, answer a question, or describe a service. Google will respond to a relevant keyword. If you were thinking of calling it “My Second Video” or something equally vague, try something that clarifies its purpose like “How Mindfulness Improves Company Culture” instead. 

  • Create a short video summary description. 

The target keyword rule continues to apply. Just as you used a keyword in the file name and title, use that keyword again toward the beginning of the brief description you write to include with your video. Include popular, relevant hashtags as well to beef up your search-friendly description.

  • Complete your summary with a boilerplate ending.

A boilerplate is a brief bit you should include at the end of every video description that includes all of your basic information. Use this short blurb or paragraph to mention the name of your organization, mission statement, phone number, and clickable web address to make a direct link back to your website. Especially when working with a local SEO strategy, include the location.

  • Choose a thumbnail.

Many a YouTube star put a great deal of focus on their choice of thumbnail. The thumbnail is the first, often reduced-size image from the video that a viewer will see. One will be chosen for you by default, but when posting your video, you have the opportunity to select and auto-generated image or to upload one of your own. Take the time to choose or create one that looks stunning, clear, curious, and/or evocative – one that will compel clicks. 

  • Add details. 

Don’t skip out on the details when finishing up your YouTube SEO. You will see that you have the opportunity to choose an audience. Choose “No, it’s not made for kids.” Otherwise, your video will not be shareable. Add a minimum of three tags, using as many as are relevant to the content. Add the recording date, choose a category, a language, and add closed captions. Captions are not only an aid to viewers, but are crawlable by search engines. Be sure to edit them for accuracy (A service such as rev.com may come in handy.) Allow comments and respond to every one. YouTube’s default should allow embedding, but double-check to make sure so that you can incorporate your video on your site and around the web. As the number of your videos grows, you can create playlists that focus on your various video themes, which will help increase your views and visibility.

  • Work it! 

Once your YouTube video is fully optimized, what else is there to do? Now it’s time to work the video into your website and social media strategy. Get creative! For YouTube itself, seek followers and ask them to view and comment. Summarize or transcribe your video to make a new blog post for your website and embed the video as featured media in the post, then in turn give that new post the complete SEO treatment. Post the full video to social media where you can. Upload a dynamic, quotable, 30-second or less mp4 version to your Google Business Profile and other spaces where short and sweet is key. With these basics, you’re ready to develop your own easily repeatable steps that take each new video and multiply its value manyfold. 

  • Create a workflow.

Once you begin producing multiple videos and optimizing them for search, track your progress on a Google Sheet or other tool to make sure key steps in the optimization process are completed.  Key fields include:

  1. Video title
  2. YouTube URL
  3. Thumbnail set
  4. Date Optimized
  5. User-friendly filename
  6. SEO friendly video title
  7. Brief description
  8. Boilerplate with link(s)
  9. Tags added?
  10. Category set?
  11. Location set?
  12. Shared on social, email, etc.?
  13. Transcribed for blog?

Ask us for a copy of our own YouTube SEO video tracking sheet in the comments below!

8 Benefits of a Google Business Profile

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Eight benefits of a fully optimized Google Business Profile for a “service area” business

Having a Google Business Profile (GBP) is especially beneficial for service area businesses (SABs) that serve customers at their locations or within specific areas. Here’s how it can help:

1. Increased Online Visibility

  • Appear in Local Search Results: Your business can show up when customers search for services in your area, even if you don’t have a physical storefront.
  • Google Maps Visibility: SABs with a well-optimized GBP often appear on Google Maps, helping customers find you easily.

2. Builds Trust and Credibility

  • Reviews and Ratings: Positive customer reviews build trust with potential clients.
  • Business Details: Display accurate business information (contact details, service areas, hours), making your business look professional.

3. Drives More Leads

  • Click-to-Call Feature: Mobile users can call you directly from your profile, leading to more immediate inquiries.
  • Website Link: Direct traffic to your website for more information or to book services.

4. Targeted Reach with Service Areas

  • Custom Service Area Settings: You can define the specific areas you serve, ensuring your business appears in relevant searches without requiring a physical address to be visible.

5. Improved Customer Engagement

  • Posts and Updates: Share updates, offers, or service announcements to keep customers informed.
  • FAQs: Address common questions directly on your profile.
  • Messaging: Enable direct messaging to quickly respond to customer inquiries.

6. Valuable Insights

  • Performance Analytics: Google provides data on how customers find your profile, what actions they take, and what keywords they use to discover your business.

7. Free Marketing Tool

  • Cost-Effective Advertising: GBP is free to set up and maintain, offering significant ROI for local visibility.

8. Competitive Edge

  • Stand Out Locally: Many SABs fail to fully optimize their GBP, so leveraging it effectively can give you an edge over competitors.

Check out our blog on how to fully optimize and manage a Google Business Profile Listing…

remove-button magnifying-search-lenses-tool