Bad SEO
There are several shady SEO practices that sadly are still being used and shouldn’t be. Collectively these techniques are often referred to as Black Hat techniques vs. ethical and Google approved techniques which are commonly called …. Wait for it….White hat techniques.
What is Keyword Stuffing?
This refers to overusing your keywords in the misguided hope that it will prove to Google how relevant your site is for those keywords. Repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural, for example:
We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you’re thinking of buying a custom cigar humidor, please contact our custom cigar humidor specialists at [email protected].
OR
Looking for a vintage guitar? Bob’s Vintage Guitar emporium is the place to find almost any vintage guitar that a vintage guitar enthusiast might want to add to her vintage guitar collection. After all, vintage guitars is what we do here at Bob’s Vintage Guitar emporium – we sell, service and customize vintage guitars.
Does this sound natural to you? Of course not … and it won’t sound natural to anyone visiting your website either. Here is a piece of advice directly from Google:
Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.
How do I Use Keywords Appropriately and in Context?
There’s no hard and fast rule but think about this: Write copy with the same tone and style that you would use in normal conversation. The paragraph above about vintage guitars contained a total of 53 words. In that space of words, the keyword phrase was used 8 times for a total of 15% saturation. That’s keyword stuffing – and will most certainly earn you a google penalty. Once that happens, good luck recovering.
My advice? You shouldn’t use your keywords more than 3 times within a block of 500 words. Rather than trying to stuff your keywords unnaturally, use related words that make sense, are relevant to the topic and that result in a more readable flow. The result will be a much better user experience. Remember, Google only loves you when everyone else loves your first.