I hope you must be aware of the term keyword and how it helps you in your relevant search. In other terms, keywords are the words you type in the search engine to help you reach the relevant website from which you seek information.
When optimizing your website for search engines, keywords are very important and are the core of any web content, search engine optimization elements, and titles. Keywords should be developed and carefully selected before launching the content on the internet and mobile platforms. For the success of any website, it must be optimized for the top rankings of the top search engine result pages.
Any normal user tends to go to the website that appears among the top rankings of the leading SERPs. The sites that are placed at the low ranks are often ignored. Search engines have robust algorithms and tools the rank the website based on various parameters that include content, backlinks, Meta tags, headings, Alt tags, CSS-based design, and valid coding.
Negative Impacts of Keyword Stuffing on SEO
However, many webmasters try to manipulate the search engine rankings by stuffing the web page with keywords. Keyword stuffing refers to the practice of loading a web page with keywords or numbers to manipulate the ranking of the site in the Google search results.
Some examples of keyword stuffing include the list of phone numbers without substantial added value, repeating the exact words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural, and many other means. However, filling the pages with keywords or numbers results in a negative user experience and can harm the ranking of your website. It is essential to focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.
The unwanted stuffing of keywords is widely condemned by search engines and could lead to a penalty. Also, if your webmaster is trying to fill the page with unwanted and needless keywords, it will not improve your chances of ranking higher.
Maintaining a Balanced Approach to Keywords
Many content creators have resorted to keyword stuffing. Still, Google officially denies keyword stuffing as the practice of loading web pages with numerous keywords to control the ranking of the website on the SERPs.
As per the major search engine, Google, the keywords stuffed in the web content unnecessarily are irrelevant keywords often appearing in groups, lists, or out of context. This thing annoys your targeted audience.
This mechanism often breaks the concentration of the reader and interrupts the flow of content. And when it is known that the attention span of the internet reader is very minute and when their attention is diverted, it is not easy to get it back.
Keyword stuffing is referred to as the black hat SEO method for manipulating the search engine. They also call it the practice against search engine guidelines. One may get penalized for manipulative SEO tactics of keyword stuffing.
The Importance of Natural and Relevant Content
Few other examples of keyword stuffing are the invisible text, unnatural repeating of keywords, spam indexing, and Metadata stuffing. It is imperative to avoid keyword stuffing, for it does not read for a human. This means that the people will land on the page and will not like or approve what they see and leave the site. This damages your user experience and hence your SERPs rankings. The search engines, including Google, when they see this traffic trend of people bouncing from your website and heading somewhere else, will decline the value of your page.
Also, there will be damage to the search intent if the page is not what the internet user was expecting or looking for. Keywords stuffing results in a negative user experience and can harm the rankings of your website.
If Google determines that there is the unwanted stuffing of keywords in your web content, they can downgrade your page, or they can remove the page in total. Trying to get back up the rankings after Google has penalized you can be a tough job. So it is advisable to avoid keyword stuffing altogether.
Here are some of the things to take into account to avoid keyword stuffing
- Write like a human: The web content must sound human and read by humans. Make it engaging, exciting, in sync with what the user wants to know.
- Do effective keyword research: The better and in-depth your keyword research, the more keywords you will have to use, the better the search results and the better your page will rank.
- Write good copy: A good copy of authentic and captivating content requires, no keyword stuffing in your website.
- Increase the number of words: This will give you more space for keyword density.
- Keyword density: It is known that 0.5 to 2.5% keyword density is considered safe, and it is important to keep this at an appropriate level.
- Avoid repeating exact keywords: It is important to create engaging content that connects with the readers. Repeating one single keyword throughout the content is a clear sign of keyword stuffing that might invite penalties.
- Use LSI keywords: These are the related keywords to the topic or your target keywords. Including them will help signal to search engines that your content is authentic, relevant to the topic or keyword you are targeting.
The driving force for your blog content is your readers and not SEO keywords or keyword stuffing. It is essential to avoid keyword stuffing, and at the same time, it is important to put your targeted keywords in your content. However, most webmasters fail to strike a balance and end up getting penalized by search engines.