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

Author: Robin Renee

Meet Our Project Manager – Jillian Alexander

Posted on by Robin Renee

Loebig Ink Team Member: Jillian Alexander

Jillian Alexander selfieJillian Alexander met Loebig Ink founder Brian Loebig through a previous job in 2005 when Brian helped to create that company’s website. Jillian stayed in touch with Brian throughout the years. When she found herself searching for a career change in 2016, Brian brought her on board with Loebig Ink by offering to train her in Search Engine Optimization. Using what she learned over many SEO trainings in the last three years, Jillian became a manager on numerous SEO projects. Because of her natural ambition and motivation to continue to learn and grow, Jillian has become a successful and valuable member of the team. 

Jillian now defines her role as an experienced Project Manager in Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. She manages SEO projects from keyword research through metatags to reporting monthly on ongoing projects. She also enjoys creating content for social media clients while helping them to promote their businesses in their local communities. Jillian is currently learning how to create Wix websites as well as link building, copywriting, and blog writing. She enjoys working on projects together with the Loebig Ink team and recognizes that especially when learning something new, teamwork really matters.

Jillian grew up in the suburbs just outside Philadelphia. She graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 and likes the continued learning that working for Brian allows. As a military spouse, Jillian needs to be able to maintain her career while moving every few years. That’s why she appreciates working remotely. The arrangement is ideal for this very self-motivated, flexible, goal-getter. Most importantly, it allows her to follow her husband, who is in the Navy, wherever he is stationed. 

Currently, she is living with her husband and their three cats in California between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. In her time away from work, Jillian tries to read as many books as possible. In fact, whenever she is moving to a new duty station, she gets a new library card almost immediately. She enjoys listening to podcasts on subjects including business, time management, and working remotely. This year Jillian has experienced hang gliding, which was the top item on her bucket list! Jillian and her husband were released from an airplane over 2,000 feet off the ground. 

Contact Loebig Ink about your project and you may have the good fortune of working with the dedicated and adventurous Jillian Alexander!

 

Meet Our Lead WIX Developer – Angela Martinez 

Posted on by Robin Renee

Loebig Ink Team Member: Angela Martinez

Meet Angela Martinez, Lead WIX DeveloperAngela Martinez met Loebig Ink founder Brian Loebig through a freelancer website named Elance (now Upwork) eight years ago. Brian wanted Angela’s graphic design expertise for his newly growing business. Soon, Angela became one of the first members Brian took onto his team for Loebig Ink. With her outstanding creativity and visual perspective, Angela is adding a tremendous amount of value and experience to Loebig Ink’s portfolio. She has grown into the Lead Wix Developer responsible for Web Design Project Management, Logo Design, Graphic Design, Social Media Management, as is currently getting into her first SEO projects. 

Angela grew up in Tacoma, Washington and is currently living in Puyallup, Washington. Before Angela met Brian, she was a housekeeper in hotels for 13 years. After having her first child at a young age, Angela decided to start school again. With a full-time job, two children, and finishing school, she has shown marvelous strength through hard work and unselfishness. She graduated as a graphic designer from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 2010. As a creative graphic designer, Angela is professionally trained and competent in a wide range of design software and equipment, including Adobe Creative Suite. 

Though she lives many miles away on the other side of the US from Loebig Ink’s headquarters, Angela has the feeling of belonging to a strong team. Now as an experienced Web Developer, she is at the point in her career where she enjoys teaching new team members for Loebig Ink. Learning from Brian has made Angela realize that she wants to give back with the knowledge she has gained. Angela admires that Brian has the devotion to help make other people knowledgeable in specific areas and to push them toward growth so they can ultimately advance and expand their horizons. “Brian helps everyone recognize that they are much more capable of growing than they think they are,” she says. 

Out of all that she does professionally, putting her creativity into designing custom logos has been Angela’s passion. For her, it’s all about creating impactful visual communications that builds brand identity and engages customers. But favorite project was having the chance to create her daughter’s school’s official logo. One of the most rewarding things about it is that she gets to see it every single day. 

Angela Martinez loves living with her family of four in Washington State. Her husband and her two daughters, who are nine and fifteen, enjoy hiking around the beautiful mountains. Angela loves drawing cartoons, going to her favorite local coffee shop, and she used to Kickbox for many years. She is competitive, easy-going, visual, and a giving person. She describes herself as a West Coast girl who has never been far away. In the future, she would like to take more international trips. She has her eye on Italy. A long-term goal is to move into her own little house at the bottom of Utah after her daughters graduate from high school. 

Contact Loebig Ink about web development and design, logo design, or social media management, and you may get to work with the very talented Angela Martinez. 

Google Ads Setup Best Practices

Posted on by Robin Renee

Google Ads Setup Best PracticesWe share a lot on our blog about search engine optimization. SEO focuses on all the things you can do to maximize the chances that your web pages will come up high in search engine results organically when keywords relevant to your site appear in a search query. To approach internet marketing with a broader scope, paid search advertising is another item in the toolbox of what you can do to show up in search engines when it matters most. Here are some best practices for using Google Ads to reach people through paid search.

Find the right keywords.

Figuring out which keywords you want to use is the first step. What is your business or service about? Make a list of all the words and phrases that you believe are relevant. After you do some initial brainstorming, focus in on what someone searching for your website would be thinking. It’s not only about the terms you and your industry use to describe yourself and your work, but what words would the average person who is seeking you use? After you capture those ideas, use a tool like Keyword Difficulty in SEMRush to get more information. Focus on higher search volume keywords for your campaign.

Find the WRONG keywords.

With paid search advertising, it is not only important to determine when you want your ad to show up, but also when you don’t. This is why you’ll want to create a negative keywords list. Think about the things that someone may be looking for that could be akin to what you do, but not quite it. Would you rather not receive clicks from people looking for “free legal advice” if you are seeking paying clients or “home health care” if you operate a facility? List the terms that would cost you money without leading to successful connections and make sure that information is added during your Google Ads setup.

Know the specific goal of your ad.

What exactly do you want people to do based on your ad? Do you want a customer to come to a brick and mortar location and buy your product? Do you want to increase clients through phone calls? Do you want to lead customers to your website to complete a sale? Getting a clear idea of the goal of each ad will help guide how you write it and what you can do afterward to get even more for your effort.

Craft great ad copy.

Again, remember to put yourself in the mindset of your ideal customer. Google Ads recommends focusing on benefits to the user. Do you want to appeal to someone who wants to find an experienced orthodontist, a family law attorney, or a sports massage therapist? Don’t be coy about what you do; make sure it is front and center. Make sure your ad lets a person know what you can do for them. Be the one who can provide quick, concise, and accurate answers to what the searcher has in mind. Give special attention to your headline.

Use ad extensions.

Ad extensions are extras you can include that call more attention to your message than ad copy alone. These include things like call-to-action buttons, links to more details, location information, and more. Keeping your goal in mind, it is best to enable all the ad extensions that are relevant to your business. Four or more are recommended to help grab the extra attention you want.

Experiment!

The range of responses to small variations in ads can be fascinating. It may well be that a minor shift in wording or the use of a different image can make a big difference in response. Google Ads allows you to try various versions of similar ads. For example, do you want to advertise “sports apparel” or “active wear?” Track the performance of each version over a given period of time and continue on with the ones that work the best.

Make informed bids.

The price you will pay for your Google Ad is determined by factors including the relevancy and quality of the ad as determined by Google and the amount all users are willing to pay to be seen when a given keyword is used in a search. You can set a maximum bid for individual keywords, a daily maximum, as well as a maximum for your entire campaign.

As you proceed, keep track of the profit you make through Google Ads. Through informed experimentation, you can maximize those profits. Try a bid increase, for example, to see if it results in increased profits. Once you gain insight into the best approach for your campaign, utilize automatic bidding and let the silent auction work for you.

The Google Ads home page makes setting up an ad campaign easy. However, the real benefit will come from doing your homework beforehand so you know your market and your intention, and once your ads are set up, remaining flexible and able to adjust as you discover what makes them most successful. Use these Google Ads setup best practices, and you will be well on your way.

 

Resources:

Gabbert, E. (December 8, 2017). “Keywords vs. Search Queries: What’s the Difference?” The WordStream Blog. Retrieved from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2011/05/25/keywords-vs-search-queries

“Google Best Practices,” Google Ads Help. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6154846?hl=en

“What is Google AdWords? How the Google Ads Auction Works,” WordStream.com. Retrieved from https://www.wordstream.com/articles/what-is-google-adwords

 

 

Meet Our Project Manager – Stephen Rabil

Posted on by Robin Renee

Loebig Ink Team Member: Stephen Rabil

Stephen Rabil and family
Stephen Rabil met Loebig Ink founder Brian Loebig through his father, Dick Rabil, who is a member of the BNI Capital Business Alliance chapter. Brian currently serves as its president. Because of that meeting about three years ago, Stephen developed an interest in getting to know the fundamentals of SEO. To that end, he attended a Loebig Ink online SEO class in 2017. Since then, he has taken on SEO projects and has continued to learn and branch out into new areas. 

Stephen has grown into the Lead Account Manager responsible for Web Design Project Management and Social Media Management, as he continues his ongoing work with SEO services. Tasks Stephen handles include planning, implementing, and executing social media marketing to increase customer engagement and brand awareness. He also focuses on overseeing and managing website designs and redesigning projects. As an early stage Project Manager, Stephen enjoys the opportunity to interface with clients daily. His favorite part is finding marketing solutions for clients that help push their businesses to the next level. Stephen is known to always keep client expectations in view as his number one priority. His drive to always seek and discern new marketing strategies helps him know what businesses need. 

Stephen grew up in Montgomery County, MD and graduated from York College of Pennsylvania in 2005. He has worked in several different industries including, sales, insurance sales, banking, and healthcare. Over the course of the last 14 years, Stephen has had a growth journey as a professional, during which he has evolved and changed tremendously. He especially enjoys interfacing with his colleagues at Loebig Ink. He likes the opportunities to gather together with the team to learn from one another, adopt new processes, and incorporate new ideas. Stephen is extremely fascinated by the leadership that Brian has shown him. He points out, “Brian allows me to make mistakes, works with me to get better, and gives me the space to grow.” He credits Brian’s positive reinforcement for helping him show his best self every day.

 The most important thing of all to Stephen is family. Stephen, his wife, and his two sons, who are three and five years old, enjoy spending time outdoors. They are always on the hunt for new activities. As a family, they love to explore their beautiful neighborhood in Washington, DC. Stephen also has a unique hobby; he plays Texas Hold‘em Poker! In the future, he would like to take more vacations overseas. Trips to Europe and Australia, combined with the chance to go skydiving, are on his bucket list.

 Contact Loebig Ink about web design, SEO, or for help managing your social media and Stephen Rabil may be the one to head up a team assembled for your project. 

Majestic.com Definitions

Posted on by Robin Renee

Understanding the Majestic Site Explorer Tool

Majestic.com DefinitionsMajestic.com is a site that helps you understand what is at work behind the scenes of any website. It includes a host of tools such as Keyword Checker, Bulk Backlink Checker, Campaigns, and Custom Reports. It can help guide SEO choices, provide information about how websites are connected, and give you valuable insight into the overall “health” of a website.

Here are the definitions for some terms you will see on the Majestic.com Site Explorer or on a report based on its results. A few are more general terms that you will encounter in many SEO and web development discussions and documents. Others are specific to Majestic. We hope this guide helps you make sense of how the Majestic Site Explorer works and how it can help you.

 URL: A URL is a Uniform Resource Locator. You will often just hear it simply called a web address. When looking for information about a site in Majestic, you will search using the URL (which looks like https://www.website.com), the root domain, or the subdomain. Your results will vary according to which version of the web address you use, so if you plan to track a website’s progress over time, you will want to make a choice and remain consistent.

Root Domain: The root domain (website.com) is the overarching version of the web address that contains the subdomains and folders that belong to a website under its umbrella.

Subdomain: A subdomain incorporates the root domain but contains additional elements. Its purpose is to help organize and navigate to different sections of a website. Examples of the ways a subdomain may appear are www.website.com or news.website.com.

Fresh Index: Majestic’s Fresh Index shows the most recent data for a website you are exploring. Backlinks that have appeared within the previous 90 days will be reflected here, along with other metrics such as Trust Flow and Citation Flow, which are defined below.

Historic Index: In contrast to the Fresh Index, the Historic Index provides all the information Majestic has on the website you are exploring.

Majestic.com screenshot for Travelocity

Referring Domains: Referring domains are websites that link to the website you are exploring. In other words, a referring domain sends one or more backlinks to a target website.

Backlinks: Backlinks are links that point from one website to another. For example, because this article discusses Majestic and provides a link to the website, majestic.com now has a backlink from loebigink.com. Obtaining backlinks from highly regarded websites lends credibility and trust to the target website.

Trust Flow: According to Majestic, “Trust Flow is one of the Majestic Flow Metrics, which is weighted by the number of clicks from a seed set of trusted sites to a given URL, or Domain.” The more backlinks and interaction a site has from trusted sites, the higher its Trust Flow is likely to be.

Topical Trust Flow: Topical Trust Flow is a score between 0-100 showing the Trust Flow within each topic, such as “Recreation / Travel” or “Computers / Internet / Protocols.”

Citation Flow: As explained on Majestic.com, “Citation Flow is one of the Majestic Flow Metrics, which is weighted by the number citations to a given URL, or Domain.” As Trust Flow increases, a comparable Citation Flow indicates healthy backlinks to a website. However, a high Citation Flow combined with low Trust Flow indicates a site may have spammy backlinks that should be disavowed in Google Search Console.

Referring IPs: A Referring IP is an IP address that hosts one or more websites that contain links to a given website. Many websites can be hosted on one IP address.

Referring Subnets: “Referring Subnets” is an abbreviated way of saying “Referring C Subnets.” Gordano.com explains, “A class C subnet uses the first three octets of an IP address to designate the network ID, and the remaining octet for the designation of the Host ID.”

Anchor Text: Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Reviewing anchor text lets you know the actual words that are used on a page to link back to a website.

Alexa Rank: Alexa Rank is a measure of website popularity. A site with an Alexa Rank of 1 would be among the most popular of websites. The Alexa Rank of a website lets you gauge its popularity relative to all other sites.

These basic definitions should help you assess websites using the Majestic Site Explorer tool. By observing referring domains, Trust Flow, Citation Flow, and other metrics over time, you can develop a plan for more significant backlinks and better SEO while disavowing harmful backlinks that could weaken the overall reputation of a site on the internet. Contact us if you’ve got questions about web tools or are interested in an SEO Assessment for comprehensive information about your website.

Meet Our Project Manager/Intern – Marcella Schneider

Posted on by Robin Renee

Loebig Ink Team Member: Marcella Schneider

Marcella SchneiderMarcella Schneider grew up near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in Online Communication and Marketing at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt. When Marcella was looking for an internship to graduate successfully, she came across Loebig Ink through a shared connection at the BNI Capital Business Alliance chapter. In meeting Brian Loebig, Marcella felt an immediate positive vibe. Brian’s passion to build exceptional online presences for businesses, his creativity, and his attention to detail persuaded her to work for Loebig Ink. She is convinced the internship will be a tremendous opportunity to increase her knowledge in Digital Media Marketing and Project Management.

While working at her first internship when she was only 15 years old, Marcella developed the passion to create effective web strategies. As a web campaign planner, she was already presenting marketing plans to create greater visibility for companies around Germany. That’s when she realized the marketing potential for businesses is growing day by day. Through this and other previous internships, Marcella uncovered a deep understanding and knowledge of the creative process in areas including website design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance, and Search Engine Advertising (SEA) campaign effectiveness. She gained an understanding of social media to drive customer awareness, engagement, and loyalty. She gathered and analyzed clients and created marketing plans to help them seek their greatest potentials.

Marcella Schneider enjoys interning for Loebig Ink, where she helps to manage social media accounts and to create innovative web designs. Her biggest interest is in gaining insight into how Loebig Ink’s team creates impactful SEO strategies. Her goal is to help small businesses to archive better online visibility to grow their overall effectiveness in their markets. Marcella will always enjoy picking up new trends, networking, and opening up to inspiration to ultimately expand her horizons.

Marcella’s interests include international travel, cooking, fitness, hiking through Great Falls, and catching up with the latest internet marketing trends. She also cannot wait to enjoy the beautiful beach of Corolla, Outer Banks in the summer, which will always be her favorite place to relax and to get new energy for upcoming life projects. Her current passion projects are photography and blog writing. She loves to share her experience of living in a new country.

In Marcella’s small hometown, everyone knows each other. Early on, she knew she wanted to explore the world and eventually even live across the globe. Right out of high school, she decided to take a big step. She lived as an au pair in the United States for two years, which was when she realized the United States is the country she wants to call home forever. Now at 23 years old, Marcella loves to push herself out of her comfort zone to see what life has in store for her.

Contact Loebig Ink about web design services, social media marketing, or SEO and this enthusiastic intern may well take part in making your project a success!

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