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77 Link Building Strategies for SEO
77 Link Building Strategies for SEO in 2022
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SEO 101: An SEO Beginner’s Guide to On-Site & Off-Site SEO
SEO 101: An SEO Beginner’s Guide to On-Site & Off-Site SEO
March 3, 2022

Keyword Stuffing: The RIGHT Way to Keyword Stuff for SEO

Last Updated by Timothy Carter on March 2, 2022
How Much Can Keyword Stuffing Actually Hurt Your SEO?

99%+ of website shouldn’t even take stock in the idea that keyword stuffing will ever affect them.

Why?

Because we have tested thousands of sites and found that even sites with a keyword density of up to 12% can still rank VERY well in SERPs.

Do you know what a keyword density of 12% looks like?

It atrocious.

But, in still works.

The keyword stuffing that doesn’t work is when you shove your keywords in an invisible <div> tag.

That’s when you get in trouble.

Ask any professional SEO what they think of keyword stuffing as a strategy and they’ll tell you it’s obsolete, useless, or actively harmful for your brand.

But just how harmful is it?

What are the risks involved?

Table of Contents

  • What Qualifies as Keyword Stuffing
  • Keyword Stuff Has Been Dead for a Long Time
  • How Keyword Stuffing Hurts You
  • Why Keywords Are Still Valuable
  • The Bottom Line

What Qualifies as Keyword Stuffing

According to Google’s own definition, keyword stuffing is

…the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results.

Google goes on to explain that these instances often appear in a list or group, in a context that makes no sense for them, or repeated an inappropriate number of times.

There is no hard parameter the number of times you use a keyword on a given page to qualify it as keyword stuffing. Because Google’s ranking algorithm works at least partially based on the context of various pages, it’s almost impossible to empirically tell. Instead, you’ll have to use your best judgment. If you read a keyword-containing phrase and it sounds “weird” or “off” to you, that’s a good indication that you’ve “stuffed” it into a place it doesn’t belong.

In order to make sure you’re are not keyword stuffing, we suggest you check out our guide to keyword density in SEO.

Keyword Stuff Has Been Dead for a Long Time

To understand why keyword stuffing is harmful in the first place, you have to understand the world of semantic search, which boils down to two important Google updates. The depth of keyword research, length of material, subject of material, detail, wording, and accuracy are all taken into consideration (among other factors). Sites with “fluff” content or content that isn’t relevant or useful are penalized, while sites with more valuable, well-written content are rewarded. Keyword-stuffed content naturally reads as unnatural and non-useful, making it rank lower than its contemporaries.

How Keyword Stuffing Hurts You

Now that you know what keyword stuffing is and why it can hurt you, we can take a look at exactly how keyword stuffing can hurt you. I’ve already mentioned that it can lower the rank for the page or site in question, but how much?

  • Direct penalties. You won’t be blacklisted for stuffing a few keywords onto a page, but your content quality will be graded against how naturally written and useful it is. The more you keyword stuff, the lower quality content you’ll be deemed to have, and the lower your ranks will sink—eventually to the bottom.
  • User experience factors. Keyword stuffing isn’t just bad for Google’s crawlers. If a user reads content on your site stuffed with keywords, they’ll end up with a bad impression of your brand. That’s potentially lost business even if you manage to attract traffic.
  • Lost potential. Inbound links are a necessity for building rank, but people only link to valuable content. If yours is keyword-stuffed, you won’t be able to build the backlinks, and your progress will stagnate.

When combined, these effects have a cumulatively devastating effect on the ranking of your website. You won’t end up on Google’s blacklist, and a few simple content edits should be enough to reverse your momentum, but keyword stuffing will still stifle your progress almost completely for as long as you continue to abuse it.

Why Keywords Are Still Valuable

With all that said, “keywords” as a concept are still valuable—they’ve just evolved as a form of understanding your users. Rather than selecting a handful of specifically phrased keywords to hammer into your content at every turn, in the modern world, you’ll want to find subjects that your average user might like to read about or search for, and build content topics around those subjects. If you’re sufficiently detailed, and you focus on answering user questions completely, you’ll naturally use the type of language Google wants to see in its evaluative processes, and you’ll naturally rank for those queries.

It’s also important to use keyword identifiers for your brand and company in the page titles of your site, so Google understands who you are—the trick is to avoid too much repetition or any situation that might make a user grimace. Again, if it sounds like something a person would say naturally in a conversation, you’re probably in the clear.

The Bottom Line

Keyword stuffing is a dead strategy—not just because Google has told webmasters to stop doing it, but because it genuinely detracts from your overall user experience. You’ll lose ranks, audience loyalty, and potential all at once, so don’t think you can cheat the system by stuffing keywords in a smart or clever way. There isn’t one. Instead, focus on writing the best natural, informative, detailed content you can, and focus on user needs instead of the exact phrasing they use in searches.

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Timothy Carter
Timothy Carter
Chief Revenue Officer at SEO.co
Industry veteran Timothy Carter is SEO.co’s Chief Revenue Officer. Tim leads all revenue for the company and oversees all customer-facing teams - including sales, marketing & customer success. He has spent more than 20 years in the world of SEO & Digital Marketing leading, building and scaling sales operations, helping companies increase revenue efficiency and drive growth from websites and sales teams. When he's not working, Tim enjoys playing a few rounds of disc golf, running, and spending time with his wife and family on the beach...preferably in Hawaii.

Over the years he's written for publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWrite and other highly respected online publications. Connect with Tim on Linkedin & Twitter.
Timothy Carter
Latest posts by Timothy Carter (see all)
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Timothy Carter
Timothy Carter
Industry veteran Timothy Carter is SEO.co’s Chief Revenue Officer. Tim leads all revenue for the company and oversees all customer-facing teams - including sales, marketing & customer success. He has spent more than 20 years in the world of SEO & Digital Marketing leading, building and scaling sales operations, helping companies increase revenue efficiency and drive growth from websites and sales teams. When he's not working, Tim enjoys playing a few rounds of disc golf, running, and spending time with his wife and family on the beach...preferably in Hawaii. Over the years he's written for publications like Entrepreneur, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWrite and other highly respected online publications.

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SEO Keyword Resources

  • Keyword Research
  • Keyword Density
  • Long Tail Keywords
  • Short Tail Keywords
  • Keyword Targeting
  • Keyword Variations
  • Keyword Stuffing
  • Keyword Cannibalization
  • Topics vs. Keywords

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