Keyword stuffing is the process of inserting as many keywords as possible into the content of a web page in hopes of optimising it for higher rankings in SERPs.
There are a few different kinds of keyword stuffing. All of them will land you in trouble.
Keyword stuffing weakens the UX (User Experience) of your website. Overloading your text with an unnecessary number of keywords can make a website’s content utterly unreadable.
When a user discovers a website’s content is spammy and illegible, they will usually click off immediately. This means less dwell time, a higher bounce rate, fewer conversions and a lower ranking.
Keyword stuffing goes against Webmaster Guidelines, and specifically Google’s Panda algorithm. The Google bots will discover this black hat technique, and when they do it will result in a Google penalty.
Because the Panda algorithm works on a domain level, this means the whole website will be penalised, which will lead to a dramatic fall in the rankings.
Web page owners usually opt for keyword stuffing as a quick fix for optimisation, however this ‘quick-fix’ will hurt you more in the long run. Below are some good ways to avoid keyword stuffing:
Researching into your target market, finding out what is popular, and analysing keyword difficulty are all important elements of good keyword research.
Understanding keyword popularity is vital, because it indicates how often a keyword is searched for.
Assessing keyword difficulty is essential too. The higher this metric is, the harder it is to rank on the first SERP. When analysing keyword difficulty the following measurements are key:
A good way to avoid keyword stuffing is to expand your body of text. This allows you to distribute keywords more naturally, rather than forcing them into every other sentence. It will improve the text’s flow and user experience.
Your ideal keyword density is below 2%. Keyword Density Checkers (such as this one at Visiospark) can help you make sure you stay below this percentage and keep your content sounding natural.
Find one target keyword for each page. This keyword or phrase should be closely related to the content of this page.
Choosing a low competition keyword will allow you to rank quicker but don’t be shying away from higher competition.
And remember, choose a different primary keyword for each page on your website.
Include keywords in the right sections of your page, including your:
Worried that you may be unintentionally keyword stuffing? Get in touch and we can pair you with a team that can scour your site and help you optimise your content.
