What is Keyword Stuffing?

OK so in previous posts and messages I’ve talked about keywords being a good thing for your page. But if you take this to far you might be penalised for keyword stuffing.

So What is Keyword Stuffing?

Here’s what Google has to say on keyword Stuffing.

Keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google’s search results.

So it’s literally using a keyword or group of keywords too much on each page, either within the text or hidden.

Over-using keywords within the text is likely to make your content unreadable for your reader / potential customers, as well as get your site penalised. So a good rule of thumb is to write your content for your reader, use your keywords if they are relevant to the rest of the page.

Another way people stuff the pages with keywords, is hidden text. Text is written onto the page in the same colour as the background, making it hidden from your reader, but still visible to search engines. For example you could add whole paragraphs of listed words, using competitors names, branding etc. In fact in the early days this happened a lot, and lots the of the sites that led the results because of this some were advert heavy sites pushing their sales at you, some site even had harmful software attached. Now search engines can identify this using their algorithms are set so that this practice will likely lead to your site being penalised. This could be just a drop down the results or more likely your page being removed from its index. So it’s not worth the risk?

Check your own sites keyword density, or frequency either using one of the many free tools on the web or on Pippas web. Bearing in mind that the recommended keyword density is from 3 to 7%, how keyword thick are your webpages?

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I am Pippa and I have run Pippas Web - web design for small businesses for 13 years. I help small business owners find their bit of cyberspace. I provide the technical know-how, so they can get back to running their business. If you like what I write in my blogs, you can sign up to my newsletter for more tips straight to your door. All list members get a copy of "How to get your business seen online in 2021".