Trying to write a blog that’s successful and efficient is often like having to learn a whole new language. Terms you’ve never heard of are now essential to communicating with the people you want to reach.
Search engine optimization, white hat and black hat, backlinks, keywords and keyword stuffing are all things you hear.
Do you really know what any of them mean or how to effectively use them to help you get noticed online?
Today we’re going to answer a few of those questions like what is stuffing and how does it apply to SEO?
Unlike the stuffing you eat at Thanksgiving, this kind of stuffing isn’t a good thing.
In this guide, we’ll tell you what keyword stuffing is and why you need to avoid it at all costs.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization is having content that gets recognized by search engine algorithms so that you rank higher. There are several ways to improve your ranking by considering the hundreds of factors that affect your position in their results pages.
There are good ways and not so good ways to accomplish search engine optimization. Not every effort yeilds the results you’re hoping for and some are even counter-productive.
White Hat SEO
White Hat SEO isn’t just effective with search engines. It’s written with the human visitor in mind rather than focusing solely on algorithms. Content is created to fill the needs of the searcher as well as the search engine.
Blog posts are filled with information that the reader will find helpful, entertaining and educational. It is done in a way that also takes into account the factors that search engines look for.
Keywords and links are strategically placed throughout the content to benefit your SEO strategy without compromising the quality of the content. You design your website and sitemap to be search engine optimized while always focusing on the reader.
It’s a balancing act that takes a knowledgeable and experienced staff or a hired company specializing in SEO service.
Black Hat SEO
Black Hat SEO is a practice that focuses all its efforts on search engine algorithms and doesn’t care about reader satisfaction.
Many people think if they fill their pages with backlinks and stuff their content with keywords that they’ll get noticed and ranked higher by search engine algorithms. This is often referred to as keyword stuffing.
What is Stuffing? Why Shouldn’t You Do It?
Keyword stuffing is when you fill meta tags, page content or backlink text with keywords in hopes of unfairly rating better and showing up higher in the results displayed to searchers.
It’s like cheating at search engine optimization. And while it may work to get you ranked higher to begin with it can actually damage your reputation, your ranking in the long run and your business.
Once search engine algorithms discover what you’re doing, you’ll be considered less reputable and rank less.
How Does Keyword Stuffing Hurt Business?
Search engine users are looking for information. They want to find the most accurate and helpful site for the topic they’re searching.
If your site ranks in the first few results because of keyword stuffing but doesn’t provide visitors with the information they really want, they’ll go to a site that does. Often they’ll never return to your site. You’ll have lost the chance for a customer or follower to see the good things you have to offer.
Search engines want to give their searchers the most accurate and relevant results when they look for information. If you only provide keywords stuffed onto a page either visibly or in tags and link text, without giving the visitors what they want, you’ll eventually be figured out and it will hurt your ranking in the future.
So now you’ve lost ranking and customers by trying to take shortcuts and cheat on your search engine optimization strategies.
Focus on What You Know Best
Your website and blog shouldn’t be designed for search engines. Yes, you need to consider them when coming up with a strategy. When you have quality content and an effective plan you can make your clients happy and climb your way to the top of the results page.
What is stuffing going to do for you if you get penalized in the long run? Stick to quality content and a solid strategy to ensure long-lasting results.
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