The dangers of keyword stuffing

When it comes to writing content and optimizing it for both search engines and visitors, it is always tempting to take shortcuts. You may want to publish content and get the best ranking overnight and will think about speeding up content writing and optimization by bypassing Google’s guidelines. Will that help you? Absolutely not! This is the most important lesson that I learned when I started working as a content writer in 2008. Among the (in)famous black-hat methods that are popularly used by writers and self-proclaimed SEO experts out there, keyword stuffing is what hurts the most.  Let me explain what keyword stuffing is. Some writers believe that shoving most searched keywords onto a webpage is the easiest way to rank higher for those terms in search engine results. This is strictly a black hat tactic and leads to the utmost terrible user experience. Let’s think logically about this – Who will read a webpage where the writer has used “affordable web design” or “best seo agency” multiple times on the same page? 

Imagine getting crammed inside a minivan. How will that feel like? That’s exactly how I feel when I read keyword-stuffed content. Keyword stuffing not only affects user experience, it may knock off a website from search engine rankings, or worse, the site will soon be removed from search results completely. It would also lead to search engine penalty. In short, keyword stuffing a very dangerous game, and I wonder why many writers continue to rely on this misguided logic when it comes to writing and optimizing content for search engines. Today, I was reading the blog about coworking spaces and why they are popular. All that I could notice in the content was barrage of so-called “searchable” keywords, right from top to bottom. There was hardly any useful information in the blog. I stopped midway through the blog, gave up, and left the website. However, all I could think about was the alarming rate at which their bounce rate would skyrocket each day. Do you know why? Search engine algorithms are designed to pick good quality content that connects with audience. Visitors should be able to find what exactly they are looking for. In other words, the algorithms pick only interesting, plagiarism-free, and informative content. If your content is not written for human audience, it completely goes against the best practices of writing and SEO. It will not get ranked for sure. To put it precisely, the content will be considered as spam and will not get the attention of visitors. When you create poor user experience and send visitors away, your bounce rate will increase, and the conversion rate will dip each day. This will leave a bad impact on your online presence. Even if a writer manages to garner good search engine ranking with keyword stuffing, will a visitor read the content or stay on the site? No! The content will repel people almost immediately. 

There are two ways of keyword stuffing: natural and unnatural. The former is the unnatural way of repeating keyword several times out of context. The latter is a little trickier. Some writers know very well that they should not hinder user experience. Hence, they camouflage spammy text stuffed with keywords. But they cannot hide spammy content from search engine crawlers. This attempt to fool search engine algorithms will only result in penalty. Here is what I am not able to understand - Why go that extra mile and deceive search engines when you can use that time wisely to write good content? So, here is the most pertinent question. Does that mean the use of keywords is bad? No! Keywords are important, but writers should focus on creating information-rich content and use keywords appropriately. Topic, information, and context are equally important when it comes to the selection and usage of keywords.  Instead of focusing on search engine robots, writers should focus on the people who read the content. They visit webpages and invest their time to find informative content. Hence writers should use keywords responsibly and in the utmost well-to-do manner. I don’t believe in the magic number or percentage of keywords that can be used on each webpage. It’s all about using your logic and thinking from a reader’s point of view. I think long-tail keywords are better than short keywords. An alternative is to try and use appropriate synonyms without overdoing. Most importantly, you don’t have to use any shortcuts, or be a grammar Nazi or expert in keywords, to write interesting and informative content.  All it takes is comprehensive research and a clear understanding of what you are planning to write. Once you are ready, you will soon reach the zone to write, and words will start flowing very soon. 

For me, keywords are like salt – adequate quantity will bring out the best, whereas too much will soon ruin everything. 

Rape jokes aren't funny

Metaphors and analogies – we use them a lot every day in our conversations. When we use the right ones at the right time in the right way, they help communicate easily and add clarity and precision. When it comes to clear and meaningful communication, metaphors and analogies are almost hard to beat. There is nothing wrong with metaphors and analogies, by all means, but some of them are distasteful, clumsy, and sickening. Let me give you an example - Some people use the word "rape" to callously to refer to something bad, or they draw parallels between “rape” and anything and everything bad or inconvenient. 

When the word "rape" is flippantly used, it trivializes the real-life experience of rape survivors across the world. Remember how the world cracked up to the ‘balatkar’ joke in “3 Idiots”? It reeked of misogyny and sexism, but it never raised any eyebrows back then.  Cracking such jokes have become the new normal these days, and this MUST stop. In NO contexts can such things be said. Yet, even now, they find their way through the conversations of some people out there.

It is a pity that some people still find it hard to understand why rape jokes and metaphors are a no-no. Rape is a horrendous crime. We should not trivialize it with such metaphors and analogies and disregard the physical and mental trauma that the survivors go through. And if one is saying, "I have the right to free speech!",  that person should take a moment to gauge the impact of that joke on a sexual assault survivor. When rape jokes and metaphors become a part of day-to-day conversations, listeners get conditioned to ignore and normalize sexual assaults. Such conversations perpetuate rape culture and defend the behavior of the abuser as ‘normal’ and ‘regular’. Can we let that happen? NO, we cannot! When someone draws attention to this sexist behavior, the world around feels that he/she is blowing things out of proportion. 

A few months back, an actor who prides herself of being self-made and claims to have a voice of her own made an appalling statement on national television. She compared the demolition of her office space to being raped, and said: “I felt like I was raped, I felt violated mentally and psychologically.” Is it right to proffer an argument and find justification by drawing such analogies? No matter how grievous her pain is, it is never right to compare it with a horrific and heinous crime like rape. We have seen many other instances where both the well-known and the not-so-well-known have used the rape jokes and metaphors to make their point. A so-called superstar once compared his strenuous shooting experience to the condition of a "raped woman". How can they simply belittle the extent and danger of this crime? I am still not able to wrap my head around this. When they try to draw distasteful comparisons between a difficult situation they have been through and a horrendous crime like rape, they are making a mockery of every woman, man, and child who has been a victim of this horrifying and unpardonable crime.  Such analogies and metaphors dial down the intensity and criminality of the crime. They also make the victims hesitant to opening up or seeking help. 

According to the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), India recorded 88 rape cases every day in 2019. 2020 is no different. Hardly a day goes by without reading news reports on rape sexual violence against women and children. Yet, some people irresponsibly use rape analogies and jokes now and then to prove their points. It is high time to raise our collective voices against the use of rape jokes and metaphors. We should stop this right away!