Having targeted keywords is imperative to ranking higher on search engines. Keywords help your content become more discoverable by users and increases the chances of traffic to your website. But is there such a thing as too many keywords?
In short, absolutely. But why is keyword stuffing so bad, and what happens if you do it?
I love Stove Top as much as the next person. But keep the stuffing for Thanksgiving, not your marketing efforts.
Keyword stuffing is the act of overloading keywords into written content in hopes of ranking higher on search engine result pages (SERPS). Once upon a time, this tactic actually wasn’t frowned upon and was a way to “rig the system” of SERPS. However, times have changed and search engines realized the importance of quality content. If your content comes off as spammy with too many keywords, Google will penalize you by demoting your web page ranking or removing it entirely. They don’t play.
Knowing each keyword-stuffing tactic will help you avoid playing with fire. It will also help you steer clear of suspicious websites by being able to recognize it.
It’s important to be aware of different keyword stuffing tactics because you could be doing it without even knowing. Here is a list of tactics to avoid:
Keyword Keyword Keyword: Basic keyword stuffing is probably one of the most-used tactics. When a keyword is written over and over again obnoxiously, this is basic keyword stuffing.
Hidden Keywords: This tactic involves making the text color of keywords the same as the color of the web page so they are visibly hidden. But this trick isn’t so slick. Search engines are able to see hidden text when crawling web pages.
Spamdexing: This type of stuffing includes links instead of keywords. If your content is packed with internal links, search engines may think it’s spam and penalize you.
Using keywords is like drinking alcohol: you want to do it responsibly. So how will you know when you’ve used too many keywords? With this handy formula below.
Total Number of Keywords/Total Number of Words=Keyword Density
The rule of thumb for keyword density is to stay at or below 2 percent. To put this formula into action, let’s say you’ve just written about an amazing new product for your online pet store. Your primary keyword is “leash.” Now let’s say you’ve written 1,000 words total and you’ve mentioned “leash” 50 times within your copy. This means your keyword density is 5 percent and you should probably tone it down a little. Spot-checking your written content for keyword density will help you avoid getting penalized by search engines.
Switch out the keyword stuffing for these SEO best practices.
Write for humans instead of search engine algorithms: When you’re writing content, take a moment to ask yourself a couple of questions. What kind of buyer/user am I trying to target? What information would be useful to them?
Aim for at least 300 words: Written content with 300 words or more sends a signal to search engines that your content probably has valuable information.
Place keywords within page elements: A smart SEO tactic is placing keywords in a web page’s title, a subheading or two, or in the metadata description. This all helps boost your search engine ranking.
Keep it Simple: Focus on a single primary keyword that represents what your page’s content is. This helps search engines understand what your page is about.
Keep search engines and users happy by not stuffing your content mindlessly with keywords. Remember, you could be doing it without even knowing, so check your copy before publishing. By creating relevant and useful content with your target audience in mind, you won’t need to cut corners. Focus on how you can implement good SEO practices into your written content and your search engine rankings should improve.