Using keywords correctly is the fastest way to get your website ranked highly by Internet search engines. Conversely, if you use them incorrectly, your page will be punished and demoted in the rankings never to see the light of day again. So what’s the neutral ground? One of the quickest ways to get in trouble with Google’s search engine and harm your website is to engage in the act of keyword stuffing.
What is Keyword Stuffing?
Keyword stuffing is a black hat practice that was popular many years ago. It basically entails taking a keyword or keyword phrase and repeating it as many times as possible in an article on your website. Designers placed keywords in images, but hid the images on the page. The more keywords the better was the thought at the time. Unfortunately, jamming keywords together like passengers on a subway during rush hour made for a lousy reader experience. These Internet marketers didn’t care about the reader though. All they wanted to do was get ranked on page one of Google search. And they did.
That is until Google realized what was going on and changed its search algorithm. Seemingly overnight these keyword stuffed sites were dropped from the rankings and a new era of SEO emerged.
A New Hope
With its Panda and Penguin updates, Google now rewards sites that provide fresh, useful content for visitors. Sites that provide value its visitors in the form of useful, timely content will rank higher than those who are just trying to game the system. While there will always be those marketers who try to find shortcuts and attempt to fool the search engines, their days are numbered. As search engines get smarter and more sophisticated these black hatters’ tricks and tactics won’t work anymore.
How To Properly Use Keywords on your Website
People are still looking for a magic formula to tell them exactly how they should place keywords into their website. Unfortunately, there isn’t one. Some experts recommend having a 2-3 percent keyword density. Others say 1.5 percent while another claims 4 percent keyword density in some instances. So which formula do you follow? However, there are a few guidelines that you should follow when using keywords that will help you rank higher and give your reader a positive experience.
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Use the keyword in the first paragraph. This helps the search engines find your page faster. It also lets the reader know that she has found an article that is relevant to her search.
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Strive for a keyword density between 1-2 percent. This is not set in stone but it is a good guideline. Any more than a 2 percent density, the content seems stuffed, unnatural and often difficult to follow. Less than 1 percent density may not be enough for the search engine to pick up though.
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Use long tail keywords whenever possible. A long tail keyword is more in-depth. Long tail keywords will help you drill down to a specific niche and help you rank higher. Instead of using the keyword phrase “running shoes” try using something like “running shoes for marathoners” instead.
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Give the reader a pleasant experience. With all the talk about Search Engine Optimization and keyword placement sometimes the end user, the reader, gets forgotten. If you focus on giving your reader something of value you (and your website) will be rewarded. Provide valuable, up to date information. Answer a question. Solve a problem. Doing these things will get you more traffic and certainly help with your ranking.
Keywords are an amazing tool when it comes to generating leads for your website. Use them to your advantage, however, don’t take advantage of them.
