Search Engine Optimization Etiquette – Keyword Stuffing

Search engine optimization is defined by Wikipedia as “the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid search results.” Making a website more visible to its target audience is crucial to success and business owners put high value on a highly visible website.

Keyword stuffing is a technique used to overload a web page with keywords. Web designers do this so that search engines will perceive the page as being relevant in a web search because the more times keywords appear on a web page the more relevant the page will appear. This allows web designers to get an edge on honest businesses. As a search engine optimization technique, keyword stuffing is considered to be unethical and search engines may even ban a website that is caught keyword stuffing.

There are several different methods of keyword stuffing. One such method is to simply insert repeating keywords within the keyword tag so that the keywords are not seen by the user but are scanned by the search engine. A simpler method is to insert the keyword over and over again on the web page and simply blend it into the background, making it invisible to the user unless they highlight the text. Known as invisible keyword stuffing, this method is one of the most utilized methods on web pages today.  Placing the keyword text behind an image so it is not visible is another method that is widely used by web designers. Most keyword stuffing techniques are easily detected by major search engines today, making it extremely difficult to get away with.

In order to ensure keyword stuffing is not utilized, web designers should use keywords in regards to SEO. The keywords should be properly used and relevant in the content. While it is alright to optimize traffic to a web page using keywords as much as possible in the text, keywords should only be placed in provided areas of HTML. The last thing a web designer wants is for their web page to be banned from a major search engine like Google or Bing. While SEO can greatly improve a web page’s chances of being found by potential customers, it should never be abused or dishonestly represented. SEOs choose not to utilize keyword stuffing because it is unethical. While there are several different techniques available to an SEO, all techniques used are effective and ethical.