What is keyword stuffing and how to avoid it
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 5:19 am
At Posicionamiento Web Salamanca we explain what keyword stuffing is and how to avoid it . It is a negative practice that leads to the abuse of keywords in the text of a post or a web page. It goes against the trend promoted by search engines today, which consists of the fact that the content they index has to provide value to the reader, but those who carry it out only seek to appear at all costs in the first places, running the risk of being penalized.
How keyword stuffing affects
Optimization and content creation techniques to achieve web positioning are constantly changing and what works at one point may stop working in a matter of months, in extreme cases even weeks. Something similar happened with the excessive use of keywords or Keyword stuffing in the content published on a website, since not long ago it was feasible to use this method to quickly sneak into the top positions of the search engine, but things have changed for the benefit of the user.
Companies that use content marketing as part of their online marketing strategy have had to learn what keyword stuffing is and how to avoid it, in order to avoid the punishment or penalty that Google and other search engines can apply when using this practice considered Black Hat or negative SEO.
Now, instead of stuffing a text with keywords in order to be cameroon telegram phone numbers on the first page of search engine results, there is an obligation to offer quality content that provides information of interest and value to the person who clicks on a result. It is a way to avoid deceiving the user.
Post: Learn about the importance of local SEO for SMEs
How does it affect positioning?
We explained that a while ago it was possible to include the keyword as many times as possible in a text to reach the top positions in the search engine. This was the case until they realized that these sites did not actually provide any value. Instead, they only sought good positioning and generated traffic to try to sell a product or service, which ends up ruining the user experience.
Since then, search engines have begun to penalize those who manipulate positioning in this way, considering it to be an unethical practice. Therefore, those who use it, instead of achieving their objective, may obtain the opposite effect and see the ranking of the site affected.
Keyword stuffing is easy to identify when you arrive at a website. It can appear in the form of lists with similar words, in paragraphs where the same phrases are repeated over and over again without the context making sense, the exaggerated use of bold, and even within some advertisements this practice appears.
However, there is one thing to consider. While there are those who apply this method intentionally, there are also those who do it without knowing that it is wrong. That is why it is important to learn how to measure the density of keywords included in the content to avoid penalties .
Nowadays, content is still king in SEO, but good content means delivering good texts to users that contribute, solve a problem, inform or entertain. For Google and other search engines, the focus is on people, those who browse the Internet, therefore, offering the best experience should be the goal of any marketing specialist.
Post: Google's Guide to its SEO Systems
How to avoid keyword stuffing?
It is clear that to achieve good positioning you must apply the appropriate SEO strategies for your business, this includes identifying the correct keywords and using them in the content without exceeding the density.
What do we mean by density? It's the number of times the main keyword appears in the text, and it's measured according to the length of the text. The usual recommendation is that this figure should be between 2% and 4%, but some people say that it's better not to go over 3% (like our Chief SEO Consultant and CEO of the company, JesusLopezSEO). As we've said before, it's all about common sense. There's no exact formula, but if you have a text of 800 words, repeat your exact keyword a maximum of four times and use other resources to support it.
You can support keywords by using synonyms that are spelled differently, use bold in a limited percentage of text – highlighting too much text results in over-optimization of the content – and include a variety of long tail keywords .
The placement of the primary keyword is also important. It should be in the title and subtitles of the content, in the URL, meta tags, and alternative text for images.
But the most important part is that the text is written in a natural way and that the use of keywords is coherent, that it is natural. This is seen as one of the best practices for content creation by Google, and if you want to position yourself in this search engine you must follow its guidelines.
How keyword stuffing affects
Optimization and content creation techniques to achieve web positioning are constantly changing and what works at one point may stop working in a matter of months, in extreme cases even weeks. Something similar happened with the excessive use of keywords or Keyword stuffing in the content published on a website, since not long ago it was feasible to use this method to quickly sneak into the top positions of the search engine, but things have changed for the benefit of the user.
Companies that use content marketing as part of their online marketing strategy have had to learn what keyword stuffing is and how to avoid it, in order to avoid the punishment or penalty that Google and other search engines can apply when using this practice considered Black Hat or negative SEO.
Now, instead of stuffing a text with keywords in order to be cameroon telegram phone numbers on the first page of search engine results, there is an obligation to offer quality content that provides information of interest and value to the person who clicks on a result. It is a way to avoid deceiving the user.
Post: Learn about the importance of local SEO for SMEs
How does it affect positioning?
We explained that a while ago it was possible to include the keyword as many times as possible in a text to reach the top positions in the search engine. This was the case until they realized that these sites did not actually provide any value. Instead, they only sought good positioning and generated traffic to try to sell a product or service, which ends up ruining the user experience.
Since then, search engines have begun to penalize those who manipulate positioning in this way, considering it to be an unethical practice. Therefore, those who use it, instead of achieving their objective, may obtain the opposite effect and see the ranking of the site affected.
Keyword stuffing is easy to identify when you arrive at a website. It can appear in the form of lists with similar words, in paragraphs where the same phrases are repeated over and over again without the context making sense, the exaggerated use of bold, and even within some advertisements this practice appears.
However, there is one thing to consider. While there are those who apply this method intentionally, there are also those who do it without knowing that it is wrong. That is why it is important to learn how to measure the density of keywords included in the content to avoid penalties .
Nowadays, content is still king in SEO, but good content means delivering good texts to users that contribute, solve a problem, inform or entertain. For Google and other search engines, the focus is on people, those who browse the Internet, therefore, offering the best experience should be the goal of any marketing specialist.
Post: Google's Guide to its SEO Systems
How to avoid keyword stuffing?
It is clear that to achieve good positioning you must apply the appropriate SEO strategies for your business, this includes identifying the correct keywords and using them in the content without exceeding the density.
What do we mean by density? It's the number of times the main keyword appears in the text, and it's measured according to the length of the text. The usual recommendation is that this figure should be between 2% and 4%, but some people say that it's better not to go over 3% (like our Chief SEO Consultant and CEO of the company, JesusLopezSEO). As we've said before, it's all about common sense. There's no exact formula, but if you have a text of 800 words, repeat your exact keyword a maximum of four times and use other resources to support it.
You can support keywords by using synonyms that are spelled differently, use bold in a limited percentage of text – highlighting too much text results in over-optimization of the content – and include a variety of long tail keywords .
The placement of the primary keyword is also important. It should be in the title and subtitles of the content, in the URL, meta tags, and alternative text for images.
But the most important part is that the text is written in a natural way and that the use of keywords is coherent, that it is natural. This is seen as one of the best practices for content creation by Google, and if you want to position yourself in this search engine you must follow its guidelines.