You know keywords are crucial in successful SEO, but it is a bad sign when something performs too much.
John Miller, Google Search Advocate, recommends using many keywords in your domain names is not a good thing as these domain names interact with spam. So, it makes it hard for businesses to spread the services to craft a much-sold brand identity.
More concerning than domain names, you must be aware that keyword overuse, or keyword stuffing, has always been discouraged by marketers and practitioners in website content.
So now you know there is a factor in SEO known as targeting excessive keywords.
In this blog, marketing specialists from our full-service digital agency will make you aware of keyword stuffing, how it affects SEO performance and the best ways you can perform Keyword stuffing or avoid it.
What is Keyword Stuffing?
Well, keyword stuffing defines Google when you use excessive keywords within website content. You want to manipulate organic search engine rankings. Businesses use this tactic to enhance a web page’s relevance specific to search terms. It consequently leads to better-quality search engine ranking. But you must know that Google’s stand on this matter, which you can view on their spam policy.
Most marketers consider it a short way to boost their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs). But remember that keyword stuffing can have harmful effects. It potentially harms traffic generation and conversions.
Our experts at Creatix9 US says that keyword stuffing has come with multiple adverse consequences. The effects can negatively impact user experience, susceptibility to search engine penalties, low content quality, and dull brand insight.
Here are the examples of keyword stuffing multiple practices:
- Showing the same keyword multiple times within a webpage.
- Incorporating keywords into concealed page elements, such as Meta tags, business domain names, or alt attributes.
- Constructing content blocks designed to enumerate cities and regions on a webpage with the intention of improving rankings.
- Inserting keywords in the text with no font color changes to hide them.
- Adding keywords into the page’s code.
So, when you go to their spam policies page, you will see that Google offers an illustrative example of what to avoid regarding keyword stuffing.
Moreover, it’s worth stating the issue of spammy links or spamdexing, which, although not a direct example of keyword stuffing, follows a similar principle. Spammy links are like many links within content, potentially leading search engines to take it as keyword stuffing.
Is Keyword Stuffing A Ranking Aspect?
Before we discuss it, go to the period of 2000 when this old marketing effort was considered the only possible way for marketers to rank their websites higher in search engines. But when time passes, and new ideas and new policies arrive, this tactic becomes absolute, and the algorithm becomes more advanced. Now, Google imposes penalties on those websites that perform keyword stuffing.
You can take an example of Google’s 2011 Panda Update. In this update, Google degrades all low-quality sites with thin or light content that is useless to the user or provides little value. It also imposes penalties on sites that have used keywords unusually and prioritizes those with meaningful content.
And then, you can view the Hummingbird update in 2013. This update comes with conversational search capabilities on Google. On this update, users can use natural language in their search queries. With this, Google’s algorithm can learn what users want.
So, with this update, there is a significant shift for businesses to craft content mainly for search engines to create content for what audiences want. Thus, the practice of keyword stuffing has now become useless. Google’s search algorithm is now advanced, prioritizing only content quality to deliver value to users.
So now, keyword stuffing no longer holds a way to rank your website. Using this outdated tactic can adversely impact your SEO campaigns, and you cannot generate good traffic.
Finally, the most effective approach is to adhere to white hat SEO practices and craft high-quality content that naturally incorporates relevant keywords into the text.
We suggest you pick any excellent SEO consultant from a top full-service digital agency like Creatix9 US for the best outcomes.
What Other Methods That Business Uses of Keywords Stuffing That Effect Their SEO Performance
Now, let’s move on. You know that search engine marketing experts usually prefer not to use keyword stuffing in website content or in business domain names and are against it. Why? The reasons behind this reason are as follows:
Association with SEO Spam
Business domain names with lots of keywords is basically SEO spam. As mentioned, search engine Google penalizes websites that use keyword stuffing and other SEO spam techniques. These penalties have heavy costs, like low organic search-engine rankings or even complete removal from search results.
Moreover, spammy content increases doubt among readers. Such content destroys brand trust among users. This, in turn, causes potential customers to start seeking alternative sources.
Negative Impact on User Experience
Secondly, when you perform keyword stuffing, it can significantly compromise the user experience. Users will need help to grasp as the content is difficult to understand. When keywords are inserted without thought for the natural flow of language, users will have a disjointed and unnatural reading experience. Your website or page can have high bounce rates, low engagement and low user satisfaction; ultimately, all SEO efforts will be useless.
Limitation of Business Focus
A domain name with lots of keywords showing, mainly those specific to your main offerings, creates challenges when a business wants to shift its focus or diversify its product or service offerings.
Take an example: Consider a business operating under the domain name “top-mobile-phones.com.” While the name is focus on smart phones, the business may face concerns when increasing its product variety to take in other electronic devices, like smartwatches or tablets.
How You Can Evade Keyword Stuffing
To avoid the detrimental practice of keyword stuffing, you can implement these established white hat SEO techniques:
Utilize Keyword Variations
Rather than using the same keyword, you can have a better approach with secondary keywords, long-tail keywords, and easy synonyms.
Long-tail keywords are descriptive phrases that improve search queries and target specific demographics.
You can consider phrases, for example;
- “Walking shoes with arch backing,”
- “Best walking shoes for flat feet,”
- “Inexpensive walking shoes online.”
Besides, you can go for secondary keywords to provide your primary keyword context and depth.
When creating content about running shoes, you can use secondary keywords like “support,” “cushioning,” “structure,” “quality”, “style,” “price,” “comfort,” etc.
With easy synonyms, you can give variety to your keywords.
For instance, someone searching for “yellow trousers” can use phrases like “lemon slacks,” “mustard pants,” or even “bright khakis.”
Preserve Appropriate Keyword Density
What is Keyword density (KD)? It basically tells how often a phrase appears on a webpage about the total word count.
While the ideal keyword density has been a long discussion, many SEO experts prefer approximately 1-2%.
You can get keyword density via a simple formula: Divide the keyword quantity that appears by the total word page count and then multiply by 100. It will give you the answer.
You can also use keyword density tools like SEOBook Keyword Density Analyzer, Semrush On-Page SEO Checker, SEO Review Tools Keyword Density Checker or Copywritely Keyword Density Checker.
Expand Content-Length
Increasing the word count offers a natural means to include more keywords without resorting to spammy practices.
For example, if your content is about 500 words, expand it to 800 or 1,200 words. By doing this, you can incorporate more keywords. You will not need to insert them into every few sentences forcefully.
However, it’s vital to ensure that this addition maintains the quality and value of your content. Avoid merely adding words for the sake of increasing word count. Instead, consider practices such as giving more in-depth explanations, additional resources, and examples.
Prioritize Content Quality
Remember, pleasing search engines is not about hurting high-quality content; informative content is crucial.
Quality content is helpful for SEO rankings and brings up reader engagement and website conversions.
When your writing flows naturally and correctly, you can infuse keywords where necessary without compromising the content’s quality.
You can use the same strategy for titles, headings, and metadata. While keywords can optimize content for search engines in these areas, they should remain clear and logical to readers.
Optimize Thoughtfully
After compiling a list of appropriate keywords, strategically insert them into the text and optimize your content. Ensure to allocate them in an even and organic way. Rather than engage in repetitive practices, maintain relevance.
When done with the optimization, give some time and read your content from a client’s viewpoint.
Here are the questions you must bear in mind:
- Does it still convey consistency? Is there unnecessary repetition?
- Do all the keywords align with your topic?
Before publishing your content, ensure to address these concerns.
Thus, Can You Aim for Excessive Keywords For Your SEO Drives?
So now you know that there are better paths than keyword stuffing or using excessive keywords in content strategy. Always use a clever and balanced approach that is relevant to the clients.
Focusing on fewer keywords can reduce the effectiveness of your content. Instead, choose a few highly relevant keywords that match your target audience. Quality and relevance should come before quantity in keyword targeting.
To summarize, follow these white hat SEO practices to improve your website’s search engine visibility:
- Do thorough keyword research.
- Use keyword variations.
- Keep keyword density appropriate.
- Expand your content.
- Prioritize content quality.
Conclusion
Consider collaborating with a full-service digital agency like Creatix9 US to maximize the effectiveness of your SEO campaigns.
Our SEO consultant is proficient in identifying your website’s most relevant and beneficial keywords.
We use white hat SEO techniques. Our tactics are franchise SEO, link building and content optimization to give you lasting SEO success.
As experts in the digital field, we also specialize in mobile application development comprising iOS and Android application development in the USA. Reach out to us today.