If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think too much about how many keywords you’re using in your articles. After all, it’s just a list of words that help people find your content… keep in mind that sarcasm doesn’t translate well through the written word, so, this is me making a point that you really need to pay attention to it especially if you want to squeeze all the SEO potential you can out of your content marketing efforts.
But like anything else in life, using too many keywords can actually hurt your SEO performance. And if you’re not careful, it could even damage your website’s traffic and reputation.
Here’s what you need to know about keyword stuffing and how it can affect your website.
Table of Contents
What is keyword stuffing?
Keyword stuffing is the act of filling a web page with an excessive amount of keywords in order to manipulate search engine rankings or trick users into clicking on a link. It’s considered a black hat SEO tactic, which means it goes against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
In the early days of SEO, keyword stuffing was a common practice because it worked. Search engines were not as sophisticated as they are today, so they would rank websites higher if they used more keywords. This led to pages that were full of nothing but keywords and very little content.
These days, keyword stuffing is no longer effective and can actually hurt your website’s performance. Search engines have become much better at detecting when a page is stuffed with keywords and will penalize it accordingly. In addition, users are much savvier and can tell when a page is stuffed with keywords. They’re likely to leave the page immediately if they see too many keywords, which will hurt your website’s bounce rate.
How to avoid keyword stuffing?
Simply, the best way to avoid keyword stuffing is to focus on creating high-quality content, period. Not worrying about the number of times a target keyword appears in your content, and just writing to inform or move to action.
Here are a few tips for avoiding keyword stuffing:
– Don’t repeat the same keyword over and over again. Not only will this make your ad difficult to read, but it may also get disapproved by Google.
– Be creative with your keywords. Try using long-tail keywords or synonyms to avoid repetition.
– Use keyword tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest to find similar keywords that you can use in your content.
How do you determine if you have too many keywords?
The internet is a vast and ever-growing place. It seems like every day there are new websites, blogs, articles, and social media posts. So how can you make your website or blog stand out from the rest? You need to use keywords. Keywords are words or phrases that people use when they are searching for information online. By using keywords in your content, you can ensure that your website or blog will show up on search engine results pages (SERPs). But how do you know if you are using too many keywords?
One way to determine if you are using too many keywords is to check your website’s or blog’s Google Analytics data. In Google Analytics, you can find out how many times each keyword has been used on your website or blog. You can also find out how much traffic each keyword is generating.
What are the benefits of having a high keyword density?
One of the benefits of having a high keyword density is that it will increase your chances of ranking on search engine results pages…as long as it’s not overdoing it. Having a high keyword density also increases your website or blog’s chances of being found by prospective clients, customers, and visitors.
Basically, this helps search engines and users understand what a particular page is about. After all, if you are using a certain keyword as a central focus point, you are likely to create content that is consistent with that keyword. Generally, it is advised to have one focus keyword that functions as the primary keyword for your content.
Make sure to also incorporate a variety of secondary keywords or supporting keywords, as they’ll help improve your principal topic’s overall clarity and potential traffic. It will also be important to be aware of using too many keywords with a low overall word count, as this could make your content look thin and thus less likely to rank properly.
What are the risks of having too many keywords?
Having too many keywords or too much keyword density can have a negative effect on your website’s or blogs ranking in search engine result pages. While having a high keyword density is beneficial, there are also risks involved.
So I’m sure you’ll be able to find at least a few example cases in which you recognized the following. We all have witnessed content that includes the same exact phrasing over and over again, often in ways that feel awkward or inappropriate. Ultimately, this renders the article less compelling, and it can even lessen the importance of the text.
This is often referred to as “Keyword Stuffing”. Keyword stuffing is an SEO technique that uses too much repetition of keywords in order to trick Google into thinking your page is relevant to the search term.
Google and other search engines do not like this type of content because it might make users think there’s a lot of spammy stuff on the site. If search engines think your content or site is bad, they won’t show it in SERPs, which means you won’t get organic traffic.
So, is there such a thing as having too many keywords? (…and is there a best practice?)
That’s a question that has been on many marketers’ minds as they try to optimize their websites to rank well in search engines. Search engines like Google don’t often lay out crystal clear instructions, but it’s important to remember that having too many keywords on your website can actually backfire and drastically decrease traffic, clicks, and engagement. We call this the proper use of keyword density. You can overstuff relevant keywords, which may get your blog posts removed from SERPs for that query because the algorithm thinks you’re playing dirty.
Set the keyword density to no more than 5% of the overall words used. This is a sensible starting point for keyword density and should keep you and your website out of harm’s way. You may have to get more deliberate with your articles to make the most of those few keywords that you’ve found to target.
Another thing you can do is break up the content into multiple pieces to help not only spread out the number of keywords you’re trying to fit in a single piece but you’re also giving each important keyword its own content which Google and other search engines will reward you for. Especially if that content is flushed out and information-rich!
Conclusion
We hope this helped answer your questions about search queries, keywords, and content optimization.
What we suggest is you keep it simple.
Worry less about the keyword count and more about the content quality and traffic will flow in time.
If you’re looking for help with your marketing content or SEO and are looking to increase your site’s search volume, contact us today to chat!
Adam
For 15+ years now Adam has helped business brand, plan, and grow.
With a background in media buying and specializing in data-drivenmarketing he founded the Painted Brick Digital Agency to act as your in-housemarketing and advertising department.
“Cookie cutter doesn’t work in a world that is constantly evolving.”
