Keyword Stuffing: 4 Actionable Ways to Avoid It

Even if you haven’t watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S., you may be into stuffed turkeys and animals like Joey (one of the characters).

Even if it’s the case, you need to learn how to avoid keyword stuffing and stay away from this spammy and unethical SEO tactic. 

However, this doesn’t mean that you should ignore the importance of keywords in boosting your content visibility. Statistics show that the average top-ranking page ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1000 other relevant keywords.

Meanwhile, you may think, why shouldn’t you engage in keyword stuffing to rank quickly on search engine results? 

What is important to remember is that relying on keyword stuffing not only doesn’t guarantee high rankings in the long term but will also damage your online reputation. 

Keep reading, as we will talk about this approach in detail and give effective tips on how to avoid it.

Definition and types of keyword stuffing

First, let’s define what keyword stuffing is anyway? 

Keyword stuffing is the process of unnaturally including the same keyword or phrase in your content multiple times. This approach aims to increase the website’s rankings in search engines manipulatively instead of trying to organically gain traffic. 

Now, let’s discuss two types of keywords stuffing in SEO that you should stay away from.

✔ Visible keyword stuffing
This is the process that we basically already described: repeating the same keyword inorganically, trying to increase rankings by confusing or deceiving search engines.

✔ Hidden keyword stuffing
On the other hand, hidden keyword stuffing adds keywords invisible to website visitors but, again, tries to manipulate and baffle search engines. There are several ways to do it, like using text with the same color as the background or hiding the keywords behind images.

One important thing that we all should keep in mind when trying to find tactics on how to avoid keyword stuffing is that search engines prioritize high-quality content that incorporates relevant keywords and provides value to users. Thus, keywords stuffing in SEO is considered a manipulative approach that violates search engine protocols.

So it seems clear as the sky is blue that you shouldn’t engage in this practice.

But let’s discuss why exactly?

Reasons why you should learn how to avoid keyword stuffing

Wait. 

Do you still wonder if a keyword-stuffed page can appear at the top of the search results? Why not implement such practices? 

The quick answer is that overusing keywords can negatively impact your domain authority in the long term. On top of that, websites that engage in keyword stuffing can face serious consequences. So let’s speak in detail about why we should learn how to avoid keyword stuffing․

✔ Poor user experience
As we already mentioned, search engines favor and prioritize pages that deliver a positive experience to website visitors. Thus, keyword-stuffed content is a red flag that shows how those websites are trying to manipulate search ranking instead of giving value to the readers.
On the other hand, following best practices on how to avoid keyword stuffing and managing to create keyword-rich content can enhance user satisfaction in terms of SEO. By keeping the right balance and providing valuable information, your content will be more engaging and relevant to your audience.

 ✔ Brand image damage and loss of credibility

Keyword stuffing makes the content look spammy and untrustworthy to readers. As a result, they will start to associate your website with poor content and will no longer be interested in it. So you need to follow effective tactics on how to avoid keyword stuffing to not harm your brand’s reputation or lose credibility.

✔ Risk of penalties 

One of the possible scenarios when engaging in this practice is facing penalties. And the reason is that search engines detect spammy techniques and have strict guidelines against keyword stuffing. So they can remove the keyword-stuffed pages or websites from SERPs.

Pretty scary, right?

How to avoid keyword stuffing in 4 simple steps

We have already convinced you to avoid stuffing your content with keywords, right?

But the real question is what to do instead?

So, we will give helpful tips on what to do instead of writing keyword-stuffed content. Those tactics may need your dedication and time, but all your hard work will pay off, as your website rankings will eventually improve.

So let’s discuss how.

Step 1: Define your main keywords

Your goal is obviously to have high rankings, especially if you’ve just launched your website while trying to learn how to avoid keyword stuffing. So one of the first steps is to identify your main keywords and then learn how to use them strategically.

At the beginning of this process, define your target audience’s interests and needs. In the next step, consider doing keyword research. By combining both data from analyzing your audience and keyword research, you will be able to create relevant content leading to increased visibility.

There are several tools that can show ranking difficulty levels and suggest keyword alternatives. In that matter, consider using the keywords explorer that Ahrefs suggests to find relevant keywords related to your niche.

Step 1: Sign in to your Ahrefs account.

Step 2: Choose “Keywords Explorer” and write a keyword that you consider (in this case, its “link building agency”)

Step 3:  Pay attention to the main metrics like “Keyword Difficulty” and “Search Volume”. Then create content around keywords with good metrics and chances to rank high.

Ensure that your content is of high quality. So focus on how to use keywords naturally and prioritize content relevance. Remember that it should address the needs of your target audience and be both engaging and informative. 

Later, when it comes to Off-Page SEO, you can use the target keywords in your backlink anchor text as well. Moreover, by considering the importance of backlinks and gaining links from reputable websites, you will enhance the credibility of your content and the authority of your website.

Lastly, remember to find secondary keywords or related long-tail phrases and incorporate them into your content. This way, you  can increase organic traffic to your website and attract a more targeted audience.

This takes us to the next point, where we will discuss the benefits of using long-tail keywords.

Step 2: Place keywords strategically

You need to strategically utilize focus keywords while ensuring a minimal keyword stuffing percentage. During content creation, learn how to use keywords strategically and use them where and when it feels natural. 

But how to do this?

✔ Include the focus keyword in the title

Incorporate your primary keywords naturally in the title of your blog posts. This gives search engines an idea about the topic of your content and increases its visibility.

✔ Use the keyword in the introduction

Introduce your content with a compelling opening paragraph, and when trying to find how to put keywords effectively,  don’t forget to add them in the introduction.  

✔ Sprinkle keywords throughout the content

Naturally, distribute your content throughout the content. The real question is how many keywords to use in your content and keep the keyword density within a safe range. Specialists suggest that 1-2% is a safe range  to stay within, but it increases the visibility of your content as well.  

✔ Prioritize heading tags 

Strategically creating heading tags will effectively structure your content. Moreover, following the best tactics on how to use keywords naturally in these headings demonstrates to search engines that your content is relevant and increases its chances of ranking higher in search results.

✔ Optimize image alt tags

Certainly, you are using images to make your content more engaging and dynamic. So, make sure to optimize the alt tags by including descriptive text that incorporates your target keywords.  

✔ Improve meta tags and meta descriptions 

Don’t hesitate to use compelling meta titles and meta descriptions that accurately summarize your content and include relevant keywords. This way you will improve the visibility of your content on search engine results pages. Also, avoid duplicate meta descriptions and focus on creating unique descriptions that incorporate relevant keywords naturally and in a user-friendly manner.

Remember that strategic keyword placement will enhance the user experience and improve search engine rankings. 

Step 3: Create high-quality content

It never gets old to mention the benefits of high-quality content, as it continues to be the king. Moreover, there aren’t any signs that good content is going to retire. So you need to implement effective tactics to create unique and high-quality content.

Before trying to follow best practices on how to avoid keyword stuffing and creating valuable content, find your target audience to identify their interests and pain points. This knowledge will guide you in producing relevant and valuable content that resonates with them.

Create content that answers the target audience’s questions and provides solutions while following best practices on how to put keywords strategically without overstuffing.

While trying to learn how to avoid keyword stuffing, it’s still important to identify relevant keywords related to your content topic. Use keyword research tools to find keywords that have a high search volume and align with your audience’s interests. Learn how to put keywords naturally and sprinkle them throughout your content where they fit contextually.

Keep your tone natural and conversational. Also, avoid forced keyword placement and prioritize readability and clarity.

Moreover, increase the engagement of your content by including relevant images, videos, and infographics. These not only make your content visually appealing but also provide additional context and information.

Lastly monitor and check how your content performs. Measure metrics like page views, time on the page, bounce rate, and social shares. This data can help you identify what content resonates with your audience and refine your future content creation strategy.

By following these tactics, you can create high-quality and engaging content and reach your goal, which is finding ways on how to avoid keyword stuffing.

Step 4: Implement effective internal and external backlink strategy

You still wonder how to increase your website’s visibility and rankings when trying to find effective tactics on how to avoid keyword stuffing. The last tip that we will give is  to utilize a successful internal and external backlink approach. 

Let’s see how.

✔ Add relevant and contextual internal links 

By including relevant and contextual internal links, you can enhance the user experience. First, start by understanding the key topics and pages that contextually support each other. When trying to add internal links, use descriptive and accurate anchor text. Also, try to place the internal links strategically and naturally within the body of the text in places where they can get more clicks.

In addition, regularly audit your internal links to check their relevance and functionality. Only this way can you make necessary improvements and enhance your internal linking strategy.

✔ Add external links to authoritative and reliable websites 

This is the key component of making your content trustworthy. By linking to authoritative websites, you make your content more credible. Also, by providing different perspectives and additional resources, you enhance the quality of your content without overusing keywords. 

Moreover, when you link to credible websites, you can later build relationships with the editors of those sites and start a collaboration. It can include guest posting or gaining backlinks to your own content, which will also enhance your backlink profile and overall authority.

While linking to authoritative websites can improve your own search engine rankings, you shouldn’t  forget to use those links strategically and organically within your content.

To sum up

To achieve any great results, you need to dedicate time and effort. This is true for increasing your content’s visibility as well. Don’t go on an easy road and engage in keyword stuffing. Instead, implement effective strategies to keep the keyword stuffing percentage at a low level.

In our article, we gave a definition of keyword stuffing, spoke about the bad consequences that it can cause, and provided effective strategies on how to avoid keyword stuffing. 

Good luck with increasing your content visibility and improving rankings. 

Stay tuned for more fresh articles with effective insights.

FAQ about keyword stuffing