Keyword Density: How To Avoid Keyword Stuffing

What is keyword stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is a black-hat SEO tactic that some companies use when writing blogs or landing pages to try and trick search engines into ranking their pages. This technique was a valid SEO strategy many years ago and would work to optimise pages before search engine algorithms progressed and became smarter.

Google now praises natural language, with content judged on how helpful it is to users, rather than high keyword density. This was a common feature on websites trying to rank for localised terms, with their city repeated at the end of every keyword or phrase – completely unnaturally. 

Even if the keywords you use are different each time, this old-school tactic can harm your SEO efforts, as well as put readers off due to the poor writing style.

How keyword stuffing can affect your SEO

Google now focuses on E-E-A-T when assessing content – whether it’s a blog or a landing page. E-E-A-T stands for expertise, experience, authority and trustworthiness. In a nutshell, it prioritises high-quality, helpful content instead of over-optimised spammy content. 

If your content doesn’t answer search queries thoroughly and lacks substance, the chances are your content won’t succeed in the SERPs. 

Google has developed several spam policies covering keyword stuffing, ensuring that websites aren’t rewarded long-term for trying to manipulate rankings. In the short-term, the tactic occasionally slips through the gaps, but as soon as Google picks up on the deception, you’ll see your rankings tank. 

Places keyword stuffing can appear

Overusing keywords can appear in more than just the main page or blog, other areas of web pages can be affected by it. Some of these include:

Title Tags: Title tags are the clickable headlines that show up in search results. Keyword stuffing happens when too many similar keywords are crammed into the title, making it look unnatural and less likely to get clicks.

Meta Descriptions: A meta description is a short summary under the title in search results. If too many keywords are packed into it, the description becomes hard to read and less likely to attract visitors.

Alt Texts: Alt texts describe images for people who can’t see them, like visually impaired users. Stuffing these descriptions with keywords instead of focusing on what the image actually is can hurt both accessibility and SEO.

Anchor Texts: Anchor texts are the clickable text links on a page. When keywords are overused in these links, it can make the text look spammy and lead to lower rankings by search engines.

8 ways to avoid keyword stuffing

When it comes to stuffing keywords, there can be many ways to avoid it, so here are some of them:

1) Use your words organically: when you are writing your content, make sure it is written in your own words and tone of voice to reflect your branding and company. This can help to avoid your writing coming across as robotic, spammy and stuffed.

2) Diversify the keyword: if you have found a word or phrase that you want to focus on in your written content, find alternatives for that word or phrase when repeating it. For example, if you are writing about cheap coats, try using phrases such as affordable jackets, etc.

3) Limit keyword density: when it comes to writing content, aim for a balanced number of keywords, such as around 1-2% keyword density. This will ensure you aren’t overloading your blog or landing pages with repeated terms.

4) Pick your metadata carefully: when writing your meta description and page title, make sure it is not packed with key phrases. You must write informative and precise descriptions and titles that are accurate to the content they are for.

5) Prioritise the reader: make sure that when you are writing, you have the reader in mind. Do not stuff your content with buzzwords and phrases when you know the reader will not like it, never mind Google. Ensure your content is informative, helpful and easy to read, rather than focusing on specific words or terms.

6) Optimise LSI keywords: keywords with Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) allow you to diversify your content without filling it with similar phrases that search engines use to understand the context.

7) Make your content longer: this one may sound simple, but adding more information to your content may actually lessen the load of stuffing so it isn’t so apparent or unreadable, just make sure the added content is relevant and helpful.

8) Write alt texts properly: when writing alt texts for imagery, make sure it describes the image properly rather than using it as an opportunity to stuff for keywords. 

Conclusion

In summary, refraining from keyword stuffing is essential to preserving the quality of your content and your search engine ranking. Although it could seem alluring to stuff your content with keywords in an attempt to boost search engine results, doing so will make you less visible to readers. 

Making natural, reader-friendly material a priority and properly employing the right words will guarantee that your content flows naturally and benefits your readers. 

You can efficiently optimise your content without using stuffing by striking a balance between keyword density and diversity in your wording, trying different phrase structures, and emphasising well-written, interesting material. 

If you’re looking for assistance with SEO, copywriting or content creation, feel free to get in touch with our team. 

Did you find this blog interesting? Learn more about how to create a focused keyword strategy in our blog: How To Identify Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords