Keyword Stuffing

What is Keyword Stuffing?

Keyword stuffing refers to the excessive use of a particular keyword in on-page content with the core intention to try and rank for that keyword. Google considers keyword stuffing as a spam technique and lists it as part of their spam policies.

Examples of keyword stuffing include, adding lists of phone numbers without added value, blocks of text that list cities, suburbs and regions that a webpage is trying to rank for, or repetition of the same words or phrases where it is unreadable for a user.

Keyword stuffing used to be an effective technique back in the day, when the search engines weren’t to clued up…However it today’s world it is an ineffective, black-hat SEO tactic.

Is Keyword Stuffing Important for SEO?

While keyword stuffing used to work when search engines relied on frequency in the primary keyword being used. However in today’s advancements, search engine’s like Google are much smarter and can detect when a website is stuffing in keywords, in the hope to rank.

Keyword stuffing it considered a spam factor and can lead to manual actions taken against the website.

Is Keyword Stuffing a Ranking Factor?

Search engines no longer rely on the frequency of a term to understand a webpage’s content. Instead, search engines like Google leverage advanced information analysis and retrieval systems that prioritise the quality of your content over how many times you repeat your keyword. In fact, keyword stuffing can harm the performance of your website’s SEO, making it a spam factor rather than a ranking factor.

What To do Instead of Keyword Stuffing?

1. Use your primary keyword in prominent places on your web page: It’s still a good practice to use your primary keyword in prominent places on your web page, such as the page title, H1 and meta description.
2. Write for humans, not search engines: Write your content naturally, and target your keyword and it’s variations naturally. Fixating on your keyword and overusing it where it isn’t natural can make your content hard to read and ultimately diminishes the value of your content to users.
3. Don’t rely on the old frequency metrics: There are still many SEO tools around that provide recommendations on how many times a particular phrase or keyword should be used. With the advancements in search engine algorithms, it’s possible for a page to rank for a keyword even if the term isn’t referenced on the page.
4. Leverage the super powers of semantic and secondary keywords: Semantics and secondary keywords build depth and context to your content. Search engines understand the holistic content of a page and can rank for hundreds or even thousands of keywords. Just focus on providing value and Google will favour you!