What is keyword stuffing?
According to Google, “keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of packing a webpage full of keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results. The most common practice of this is putting keywords into a list or group or out of context, which gives the user a negative experience on your website. Another shady practice is hiding text through CSS styling or positioning. This can and does harm your site’s ranking, which is why it is so important to focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.
How can I avoid keyword stuffing?
To avoid keyword stuffing, it is important to use keywords in a way that is natural and fits with your content. To do this, keywords should be used in a variety of places, such as the page title, meta description, and the actual content. Creating high quality content that is of value to your audience is another way you can avoid keyword stuffing, but remember that keywords should be used sparingly throughout the text. By utilizing long tail keywords, you can also avoid repeating keywords.
If you truly focus on your audience, what they need, and what they want, you shouldn’t have a problem with keyword stuffing because the content will be of value to them. Quality content is what separates the winners from the losers – not only will it help your site rank well, it will also attract high-quality inbound links, which helps you build trust, credibility, and authority with your audience. It is also important to use keywords in a way that is beneficial to the users’ experience to avoid a frustrating experience on your site. Take the time to avoid “black hat” techniques because shortcuts will only serve you well for a short amount of time, while the consequences of it last forever.
