In the past, keyword stuffing was used to obtain top search engine rankings and visibility for particular phrases. The more keywords you used, the more Google would rank your web content. However, this tactic is not only obsolete but has been confirmed as a negative ranking factor. Search engine optimization (SEO) strategists can help you avoid excessive keyword repetition and penalties.
Keywords are words or phrases commonly searched on search engines like Google, Bing, Baidu, etc. They are beneficial and essential because your website can appear when visitors type the words into search engines. With search engine optimization, you can optimize your web pages to rank in Google’s organic results.
It can be confusing writing for SEO. Often we try to rank higher for our target keywords to please Google’s algorithm. As a result, we might try to trick search engines into ranking our content higher by keyword stuffing. However, this can devalue your content, decrease your rankings or get your website banned or penalized.
This article will teach you more about keyword stuffing and why it is bad.
The Importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO uses content principles and technical improvements, such as bots/crawlers, to boost your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). It helps to increase your website’s visibility when people search for products or services related to your business on Google, Bing, etc.
Search engine optimization greatly influences digital marketing, online businesses, and general content. The better your page’s visibility, the more you attract prospective clients to your firm. This is why modern-day companies allocate a part of their marketing budget to SEO.
Knowing that quality and quantity play a big part in SEO is essential. You need to write more content, use various keywords, avoid keyword stuffing and use more links.
Understanding Keywords
Keywords are the foundation for SEO. You cannot optimize your content for search engines unless you know what people are searching for and their expected results. Then, your page can rank high on SERPs with the right amount of keywords in the right places.
However, avoid stuffing your keywords as much as possible. Instead, do your keyword research, use various keywords and fit them in naturally. Doing otherwise would result in keyword stuffing.
What Is Keyword Stuffing?
Keyword stuffing is an SEO technique considered spamdexing, in which keywords are loaded into a webpage to increase a page’s ranking on search engines and drive more traffic to the site. This was a widely used technique because it yielded results to users for some time.
If a keyword appeared on Google the way a user typed it, the page would have a high chance of ranking. As a result, people would repeat different variations of a keyword on their webpage’s meta tag, visible content, or backlink anchor texts. This is all to manipulate their search rankings on search engine result pages.
Keyword stuffing is no longer helpful as search engines have implemented algorithms recognizing keyword stuffing. This is intended to reduce and eliminate unfair tactics and penalize websites found using keyword stuffing. Now, search engines focus more on unique and valuable content, making keyword stuffing useless.
Types of Keyword Stuffing
There are two main types of keyword stuffing that search engines can pick up, namely, visible and invisible keyword stuffing.
Visible keyword stuffing includes:
- Adding keywords that are out of context
- Unnecessarily repeating keywords and phrases in your content
- Using keywords that are not related or relevant to the topic
- Inserting blocks of the exact keywords
Concealed keyword stuffing includes:
- Stuffing keywords in a webpage’s code, meta tags, comment tags, or alt attributes.
- Hiding keywords from readers by using matching texts and background color.
Why Is Keyword Stuffing Bad for Your SEO?
There are many reasons why keyword stuffing is bad for your search engine optimization strategy. Let us consider a few.
- Keyword stuffing is an outdated SEO strategy that content marketers use. The overuse of keywords is now deemed as spamming. This is not only detrimental to your Search Engine Optimization strategy, but search engines can temporarily or permanently ban your website.
- Again, search engines are now smarter in detecting visible and concealed keyword stuffing. So stuffing your keyword can directly lead to lower rankings for your website.
- Also, filling your web pages with keywords or numbers is problematic as it results in a negative user experience for your readers. Nobody is interested in reading content full of repeated words that add no value.
- Stuffing your articles with repeated keywords doe not educate or engage your target audience. On the contrary, this practice can drive them away from your business.
Ways to Avoid Keyword Stuffing
It is better to focus on creating useful and valuable content that uses keywords appropriately and in context. Here are a few tips on using keywords safely and avoiding keyword stuffing.
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Avoid Repetition
There is no specific number of times you should include a keyword in your content. However, your keywords should not be repeated unnaturally.
Focus on a single primary keyword and only use them where relevant. That way, search engines can understand what your content is about and increase your chance of ranking higher on SERPs.
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Create Longer But Informative Content
Create only contents that are informative and useful to your target audience. Unfortunately, many digital marketers and content creators focus more on robots crawling their websites than those reading their content.
So ensure to create valuable content that addresses and meets clients’ needs. In addition, if your content covers the topic in detail, it will most likely get attention from search engines. So the longer your content is, the more space you have to place relevant keywords.
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Include Keywords Naturally
By creating well-aligned content that meets the needs of your target audience, your keywords will flow naturally throughout your content. Also, add your target keywords to all the right places across page elements. For example, you can add them in places like page titles, H1, subheadings, introductions, conclusions, meta descriptions, etc.
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Use Secondary Keywords
Don’t hesitate to use secondary keywords, synonyms, and long-tail variations in your content. Long-tail keywords deliver more context and can let search engines know if your content provides any answers to essential questions.
Also, using secondary keywords can confirm that you are writing relevant and high-quality content for people and not machines.
Get the Help of Search Engine Optimization Strategists for Your Digital Marketing Service Needs!
Keywords are the foundation of your SEO strategy. So make sure you get rid of keyword stuffing to avoid penalties. With the above explanations, you will understand why keyword stuffing is not the best way to rank high on SERP and boost your visibility.
If you need any help with your digital marketing needs, our experts at EverCovert will be happy to assist. Get in touch with our digital marketing service team today.
