What you need to know

If certain keywords are good, then the more the better, right?

This is the simple logic behind keyword stuffing as a ranking factor.

In the early days of web search, before the advent of SEO, Google used a set of basic signals to rank web content.

The keyword is one of these signals. The more keywords you use, the better the page’s ranking, especially in the early days of search engines.

Keyword stuffing is a widely used technique because it produces results for at least a period of time.

But how does Google treat it now?

This is the history of the statement about keyword stuffing, and then the evidence today.

Disclaimer: Keyword stuffing is a ranking factor

Exactly matched keywords used to be a very important signal. If a keyword appears on the page exactly as the user typed in, the page will have a high chance of ranking.

When people discover that they can rank their website for more queries by repeating different variations of keywords on the page, this leads to a technique called keyword stuffing.

You can get rid of a lot of keyword stuffing. This includes excessive use of keywords in page copies, to entire paragraphs of keywords separated only by commas.

A worse form of keyword filling involves hiding the keyword paragraphs by making the text the same color as the page background. Google can see hidden keywords when crawling the page, but users will not notice any inappropriate places.

Keyword filling is not limited to page copying. Page titles and meta descriptions are full of keywords to manipulate their search rankings.

When people talk about the early days of SEO like the Wild West, this is what they are referring to. Not only will the site not be punished for keyword stuffing, it is more likely to benefit from it.

Then Google Update started rolling out…

The impact of keyword stuffing on search rankings was launched by Google in 2003 Florida Update, This is regarded as Google’s first major algorithm update.

There is evidence that the Florida update is mainly for link spam, but sites that use other spam techniques have also been affected.

Florida has reduced the impact of keyword stuffing on rankings to a certain extent, but it is still not completely immune to the influence of Google’s algorithm.

in 2011, Google launches Panda update The goal is low-quality websites and thin content with little or no added value.

This inevitably leads to keyword-filled pages being downgraded in search results, because these pages tend to add less value to the network compared to pages that are not written into the game search engine.

After Panda, Google strictly recommends not to do any keyword stuffing.

Finally, we can’t talk about the evolution of keywords in SEO without mentioning Google’s introduction of SEO. Hummingbird Update In 2013.

Hummingbird brings conversational search to Google, which means that users can enter queries in natural language, and Google’s algorithms will understand what they are looking for.

The method of writing content has changed since this update, especially because it is related to the unnatural use of keywords. It’s fair to say that Hummingbird triggered a shift from writing content for search engines to writing content for search engines. Write content for people.

Keyword stuffing is purely to manipulate rankings and does not provide searchers with anything of value. Google’s search algorithm is now better at identifying high-quality content, which is an outdated technology.

Keyword stuffing as evidence of ranking factors

There is evidence everywhere in Google search results that keyword stuffing is not a ranking factor.

Today’s SERPs have natural-reading page titles, Meta description Paragraphs that contain actual copies, and articles that are not filled in with unnecessary exact matching phrases.

But this is anecdotal evidence. Let us look at the conclusive evidence directly from the source.

Sites must follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines in order to remain indexed in search, in the title “Irrelevant keywords. “

It wrote:

“‘Keyword stuffing’ refers to the practice of loading keywords or numbers on a web page in an attempt to manipulate the site’s ranking in Google search results. These keywords usually appear in a list or group, or appear out of context (not Natural prose). Filling pages with keywords or numbers can lead to a negative user experience and may damage your website’s ranking. Focus on creating useful, informative content, using keywords appropriately in the context. “

If you have any questions about whether Google will downgrade pages filled with an unnecessary number of keywords, you can get official confirmation in the webmaster guidelines.

Conclusion: Keyword stuffing as a ranking factor

Keyword filling confirmed Negative Ranking factors.

Attempting to manipulate search rankings by reusing words or phrases will only result in the site’s ranking lower in Google’s search results. Be wary of any suggestion that implies the opposite.

Featured image: Paulo Bobita/SearchEngineJournal