If you’ve just started learning about SEO for your local Sydney business, you’ve probably heard the phrase keyword stuffing tossed around like it’s some kind of forbidden spell. Maybe you were told keywords are important, but no one really explained how much is too much, or what too much even looks like. Well. Let’s fix that.
Keyword stuffing is when someone forces a keyword into a webpage over and over again, unnaturally, with the hope of ranking higher on Google. It’s not just repeating a keyword once or twice. It’s hammering it into every crack and crevice of your content, even where it clearly doesn’t belong. The end result is usually content that sounds more like a broken record than something a human would actually want to read.
Here’s a practical example of what keyword stuffing looks like:
“This Italian restaurant in Sydney is the best Italian restaurant in Sydney because no other restaurant in Sydney offers what this Italian restaurant offers.”
Now, read that out loud. Would you ever say something like that in real life? Of course not. It sounds ridiculous. No one talks like that, and no one wants to read it either.
Keyword stuffing doesn’t just happen in the main text. People sometimes try to hide it in:
- Title tags and meta descriptions
- URLs
- Anchor text
- Alt text for images
The thing is, it’s normal for a keyword to appear naturally throughout a page. But once you start using it in a way that sounds forced or excessive, whether it’s in the text, title, image descriptions, or even links, then you’re heading straight into keyword-stuffing territory.
Why Do People Still Use Keyword Stuffing
The funny part is keyword stuffing used to work. Back in the early days of SEO, Google’s algorithm wasn’t nearly as clever as it is now. It pretty much thought:
“Oh, this page says ‘cheap shoes’ a bunch of times? Must be super relevant. Let’s rank it higher.” So businesses loaded their pages with keywords like it was some kind of secret sauce for SEO.
And to be fair, it kind of was, for a while. But then Google wised up. They rolled out algorithm updates that didn’t just ignore keyword stuffing.
They actively punished it, because at the end of the day, their goal is to help users find helpful, relevant, well-written content, not pages that feel like they were written by a desperate robot trying to beat the system.
Google now focuses more on things like:
- The comprehensiveness of your content
- The search intent behind a query
- Whether the information actually helps a real person
- Whether you’ve earned links naturally or forced them using over-optimised anchor text
So even though some people still use keyword stuffing today, either out of habit or in a misguided attempt to win SEO, it just doesn’t work anymore.
Keyword Density (And Whether It Matters)
Now, some people try to avoid keyword stuffing by following a keyword density rule. Basically, this is the percentage of times a keyword appears in your content compared to the total word count.
The formula looks like this:
Keyword Density (%) = (Number of times the keyword appears / Total number of words) x 100
So if your page is 500 words long and your keyword appears 5 times, your keyword density is:
(5 ÷ 500) x 100 = 1%
It sounds pretty simple to understand, however, you should still keep in mind that there’s really no magic number.
Top-rated digital marketing agencies and SEO plugins (like Yoast) suggest keeping your keyword density between 0.5% and 3%. That’s roughly once every 100 to 200 words. But even Yoast admits you don’t need to stick to that religiously.
And according to Google’s own experts, you definitely don’t need to hit an exact keyword percentage to rank well. In fact, obsessing over keyword density can lead you right back into the trap of keyword stuffing.
If it wouldn’t sound natural in a real conversation, don’t write it. That’s the golden rule.
How Keyword Stuffing Hurts Your SEO
There’s rarely an upside to using keyword stuffing on your website. It leads to poor-quality content that no one wants to read. Visitors land on your page, feel like it was written just to trick Google, and leave. That’s not just bad for your user experience but also bad for business.
Worse, Google has made it crystal clear that it values person-first content, in other words, content made for real people, not just for search engines. So if you’re stuffing your content with keywords just to try and rank higher, you’re actually going against everything Google looks for.
And if that wasn’t enough, keyword stuffing can violate Google’s spam policies.
If Google sees that you’ve:
- Overused keywords in your content, titles, or image descriptions
- Used keyword-heavy anchor text across multiple links from other sites
Then you’re risking a penalty.
That penalty could look like a sharp drop in your rankings, or worse, getting pulled entirely from Google’s search results.
Here’s one way to look at it: keyword stuffing is like trying to sneak into a VIP event with a fake invitation. You might get in for a minute, but once you’re caught, you’re out, and of course, it’s not easy to get back in.
How to Spot Keyword Stuffing on Your Own Website
Want to know if your content is guilty of keyword stuffing? Start by reading it out loud. Seriously, just read it like you’re talking to a friend.
Does it sound natural? Or does it sound like you’re trying to cram in as many keywords as you can before someone notices?
You can also look out for:
- Keywords that feel repeated without adding any new value
- Lists of cities or locations crammed into one block of text
- Anchor text that sounds stiff or robotic
- Image descriptions that just feel like a string of keywords, not a description
If it feels off, it probably is. There are also tools out there that can scrape your site and highlight areas like alt text or anchor links. But honestly, your own eyes and ears are the best tools you’ve got. For a quick reference on how to get it right, we highly recommend you check out the Netplanet Digital SEO Checklist.
Work With Netplanet Digital to Create Stronger Content
If you’re a small business owner in Sydney or a factory manager in Parramatta trying to get your head around local SEO, here’s what you need to remember:
Yes, keywords matter. But how you use them matters more. Keyword stuffing won’t get you higher in search results. It’ll hurt your rankings, damage your reputation, and repel your visitors.
If you’d like to review your existing website for keyword stuffing or understand how to write more SEO-friendly content without crossing the line, feel free to reach out to the experts at Netplanet Digital, your go-to marketing agency in Sydney. We know what Google wants. And we know how to help you get it, without stuffing a single keyword where it doesn’t belong. Book a FREE 30-minute strategy call with us as soon as possible.
