Today our search engine optimization experts here at Big Red SEO in Omaha are going to talk about the idea of “best practices.” Every industry has a set of best practices that they follow, and they’re usually a good thing—after all, they’re the set of rules that tend to get us the best bang for our buck in every area of our businesses. This idea, though, that there can be a “best” way to go about doing things, can lead us to say things like “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and that can be a really dangerous mindset to have in any industry that thrives on innovation.
The Omaha SEO industry is no different. We have to revamp our best practices all the time to stay ahead of developing trends, and we have to know when it’s best to break our own rules to meet and exceed our clients’ goals. In short, best practices are put in place to guide us toward success in most cases, not all of them, and today our Omaha SEO experts at Big Red SEO will go through some good reasons to let go of the handbrake and “go off the rails” of SEO best practices! It may seem weird at first, but trust us, it’s for the best.
Take a Lesson from Indiana Jones
Remember that scene in the Temple of Doom where Indy and Short Round are zipping along in their mine cart and accidentally take the “wrong” turn in the tunnel? They wanted to take the easy way toward daylight and freedom, but instead they found themselves on the rickety track above a lava pit getting shot at! That doesn’t sound like an industry best practice, does it?
But here’s the thing—they made it out and won in the end (and not just because it’s Indiana Jones and he has to show up for the sequel). The lesson we can take from this in the Omaha SEO field is that sometimes what you think is the best way to go isn’t what’s actually going to take you to your goal. Who knows? Maybe the “easy” way Indy and crew wanted to take would have led them to a thousand-foot chasm and the worst ending in cinematic history.
So When Should You Go Against Best Practices?
Again, the trick to breaking the rules is knowing when and why to break them. Take for example the best practice of making sure all of your on-page SEO is tip-top before moving on to external SEO strategies like social and link-building.
First let us say that if you have a website that’s in need of some TLC, it’s definitely good to spend time working on your on-page SEO.
The thing is, though, that there comes a point where your ROI for working on on-page SEO is going to decline. Once the big issues are fixed, it’s often better to move on to other areas of SEO that can lead to bigger returns rather than nitpicking smaller on-page issues that don’t have as big of an impact.
When Your Omaha SEO Optimizes for Other Goals
Here’s another example—SEO best practices dictate that your title tags should be no longer than 512 pixels, or 55 characters. They’re short, sweet, and they’ll display fully in Google’s search engine results pages. Bing, bang, boom, you’re done. But what if you’re trying to optimize your title for social media and you find a title that’s really working well that just so happens to be way more than 55 characters? Should you sacrifice that great title that’s bringing in lots of traffic from social media just so you can get it under the industry-recommended 55 characters?
This is a tricky question to answer, but our Omaha SEO experts say that throwing out the best practice in this case and going with the longer title isn’t out of the question.
There is, however, a trade-off involved that you have to be aware of. That long title may be performing well in social media, but it won’t perform so well in search engines, especially for the ever-increasing number of mobile users with small screens. We’ve all seen those titles in the search engine results that don’t follow Google’s mobile-friendly 55-character rule, but to refresh your memory, they look something like this:
“SEO’s Top 50 Reasons Why Your Title’s Going to Get Cut O…”
For obvious reasons, it’s better for your entire title to show up in the search results than for it to get clipped off with a “…” that hides what’s likely an important part of your message. That’s the main reason why we at Big Red SEO recommend keeping your titles under Google’s 55-character limit, but of course you can use your discretion and go against this best practice if you think the tradeoff is worth it.
Contact Big Red SEO Today at (402) 522-6468!
In short, best practices in Omaha SEO are suggestions of what’s worked in the past that have led to the best returns, but that doesn’t mean that those ways are always going to be the best. It’s more important to maintain an open mind and change things according to your individual goals than doggedly cling to best practices that may not be working the best for you in your situation.
Here at Big Red SEO, we have the experience to understand our clients’ individual needs and change their SEO strategies to meet and exceed their goals. Give our team a call today at (402) 522-6468 to see what we can do to increase your business website’s rankings and traffic!