Keyword-Stuffing in SEO: Explanation, Problems & Measures

1. What is keyword stuffing?
2. Keyword Stuffing vs. Keyword Spamming - Is it the same?
3. Where does Keyword-Stuffing come from and when is something considered Keyword-Stuffing?
4. Where can keyword stuffing occur?
5. With which tools can you find out if you are doing keyword stuffing?
6. How can you measure keyword stuffing?
7. Is keyword stuffing bad for your SEO?
8. Examples of keyword stuffing
9. With which measures can you avoid or prevent keyword stuffing?
10. 4 Recommendations for Success with SEO Content
11. Conclusion

In the past, keyword stuffing was a common method in SEO. All kinds of tricks were used to somehow include the keywords on the website. In extreme cases, even hidden text was built into the background so that it ranked on Google and Co., but was not visible to the users.

But search engines and their algorithms have evolved greatly in recent years and can no longer be so easily deceived. With each Google update (esp. Panda Update) this is becoming more and more difficult. They are putting more and more focus on the user and consequently the relevance of the content.

If you still pursue this discredited approach today, you risk being penalized by search engines like Google. And you don't want that, do you?!

In this article you will find out what keyword stuffing is, whether it is still worth it today and how you can fix or completely avoid it.

What is keyword stuffing?

Loosely translated, keyword stuffing means "keyword cramming" or "keyword stuffing". The translation already gives a first hint of what is meant. In search engine optimization (SEO), keyword stuffing refers to the unnatural enrichment of keywords throughout the entire website. Throughout the entire website here means that the keywords are found in metadata, link texts and any content. The keywords are thus crammed into the entire website.

Example of Keyword Stuffing (Image source: Seobility)

Keyword Stuffing vs. Keyword Spamming - Is it the same?

Keyword stuffing and keyword spamming are similar, but not the same. If a website does keyword spamming, it uses an even more aggressive tactic where keywords are intentionally and unnaturally placed in the meta description, page titles, content, or source code of a website. In some cases, keywords are even incorporated into the source code that are not visible to users on the website, as the font color and background color are identical.

In addition, it may be that keywords are given that do not match the content of the website. Keywords are used that are supposed to improve the search engine ranking. Popular keywords for keyword spamming are "free", "free" or "free" as these are frequently searched by users.

However, with such methods you risk being punished by Google & Co.

Where does Keyword-Stuffing come from and when is something considered Keyword-Stuffing?

You know that. You have finished a complex Keyword research, write successful content, but somehow this is not reflected in the rankings. This could be due to the fact that your content is stuffed with too many keywords. Keyword stuffing is the result of the evaluation of the so-called keyword density (English "Keyword Density").

Keyword density is a mathematical quotient that results from the number of a certain term and the number of all words in the text. Here, the size of the entire content is important. The total volume of content is considered in relation to the frequency of the keyword. When it comes to perfect keyword density, there is no one, correct answer.

A value of at most three to five percent is considered good these days - and the trend is falling. The higher the keyword density, the more the content tends towards keyword stuffing.

Where can keyword stuffing occur?

Keyword stuffing occurs in the metadata, the link texts and the regular texts on the entire website and in the entire SEO content. The methods of keyword stuffing are very varied.

In most cases you will find keyword stuffing here:

• Meta-Title (Page Title)
• Meta-Description (Page Description)
• Meta-Keywords
• Texts on the website
• unreadable or hidden text
• Link texts, so-called anchor texts
• Alt attributes of the images
• Title tags of the images
• headings
• URL

With which tools can you find out if you are doing keyword stuffing?

Since it would be extremely tiresome to calculate keyword density and the resulting keyword stuffing yourself, there are certain tools for that. There are many SEO analysis tools, but not all can calculate keyword density. There is also no SEO tool that calculates only keyword density.

Mostly they are plugins or add-ons of common SEO content tools. The two most common ones are SEO-Quake from Semrush and the SEO plugin from Yoast.

How can you measure keyword stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is the result of calculating the keyword density. The keyword density can be measured, but keyword stuffing cannot. So there is no keyword stuffing ratio. To illustrate this, let's take a closer look at the term keyword density. As explained above, keyword density determines the ratio of a search term to the total number of words in a text or a complete website.

It is important to note the following: Search engines like Google work text-based. In contrast to human visitors to a website, Google also scans and reads the non-visible area, such as Alt tags, Title tags and all other metadata. The keyword density therefore really refers to the complete website, not only to the visible texts and files.

An example for calculating the keyword density:

Throughout a website dedicated to "technology", 500 words are used. The theme is also the keyword that the content should be optimized for. Since there is no clear number for the optimum keyword density, a rough reference value between 3% and 5% is assumed. So to achieve a keyword density of 5%, the keyword "technology" would have to appear 25 times on the website. The formula would therefore be:

[Number of search term] x 100 / [total word count] = [keyword density in percent]

For the given example this would mean:

[25 times the term "technology"] x 100 / [500 words] = [5 percent keyword density for the keyword "technology"]

Is keyword stuffing bad for your SEO?

Keyword stuffing has no positive effect on your SEO. Not only that, but it can also lead to serious consequences. In most cases, it results in a penalty for the website (so-called Penalty). If Google recognizes keyword stuffing, it leads to a loss in ranking, and as a result a loss in visibility.

Content where keyword stuffing has been detected risks no longer being found in the search. In the worst case, the page is even completely deleted from the index altogether. Especially Google has become good at analyzing and understanding texts. To achieve ranking, the text no longer needs to be overloaded with keywords, but it should provide value and usefulness to the readers.

A high keyword density not only affects your search engine ranking. The website stuffed with keywords becomes unreadable for visitors. The value of the respective content is downgraded significantly due to keyword stuffing. Visitors and potential customers will be repelled rather than convinced by the content.

The user experience also decreases. This ensures that the conversion rate stagnates and that website visitors leave it quickly. The scrolling depth decreases, the bounce rate increases, and the dwell time shortens.

Examples of keyword stuffing

An example of stuffing with keywords would be the following text on a website:

"If you're looking for the best phone case, you don't have to look any further. We offer the best phone case you could wish for, whether for business or private use. With its high-quality workmanship and special details, this is the best phone case for your phone. Order the best phone case here now."

In this example, it quickly becomes clear that the text is stuffed with the keyword "best phone case".

Another example is the homepage of a dating site for butchers.

Here is a small excerpt:

"Because why not just flirt with a butcher or slaughterer? Maybe even marry a butcher with a butcher's shop, you certainly won't starve!

• Butcher looking for a woman
• Butchery saleswoman finds butcher's shop
• Butcher salesperson finds butcheress
• Butcher master finds woman with Professional butcher seal
• Butchery looking for woman
• Butcher's shop looking for woman
• Butcher's saleswoman with DLG seal finds butcher's shop"

It quickly becomes clear that the text is stuffed with the keywords and variants "butcher" and "butchery". In both examples, the keyword density would be far beyond the recommended maximum range and clear keyword stuffing would be present.

With which measures can you avoid or prevent keyword stuffing?

Avoiding a too high keyword density is an important SEO measure. But how do you do that? How do you avoid stuffing your SEO texts with keywords in the future? By producing good and natural content. That means that the content is not stuffed with the keywords.

Of course, SEO does not work without incorporating keywords on the website. A natural occurrence of keywords is completely normal and does not hinder the reader's flow. It is totally normal to put keywords in title tags, alt tags, and headings, you just shouldn't overdo it.

Google also now recognizes synonyms and semantically relevant relationships, so that rankings can occur even if the search terms do not appear in the text at all.

Instead of flooding the content with keywords, enrich your website with lists, graphics, and links. These content pieces provide visitors with real added value and make the content look lively and interesting in a natural way.

Furthermore, the tools mentioned in this article should be used to always have an overview of the keyword density.

Another option is so-called WDF*IDF tools like that of Termlabs.io, Seobility or Ryte. WDF stands for "Within Document Frequency" and IDF for "Inverse Document Frequency". Such WDF*IDF tools thus determine the relevance of a text based on the term weighting. Here, not only the keyword frequency plays a role. These tools compare content of your own website with websites of the best placed URLs on Google and compare the keyword count of your own website with the competing websites.

You will notice, if on-page optimization is one of your SEO goals, this is also possible without keyword stuffing.

4 Recommendations for Success with SEO Content

• Follow the Google guidelines (and possibly also those of other search engines like Bing)
• Stay informed about changes and current studies on the topic of keyword density
• Write your texts for your website visitors and not for the search engine
• Use different keyword variations and keyword synonyms to loosen up the text and increase your chance of ranking for more keywords

Conclusion

Keyword stuffing no longer works and that's a good thing! This has had a positive effect on the SEO industry. SEO is no longer about dirty tricks or scams. The so-called Black-Hat-SEO, which works with exactly these tricks and dirty methods, is quickly recognized and penalized by search engines like Google nowadays, providing absolutely no added value.

It is more about genuine craftsmanship, accumulated experience and knowledge, and well-researched and produced natural content. If you heed this, you will find that with a little patience, the rankings will continue to improve over time.