Introduction to Keyword Optimization
There is no such thing as “being optimized” when it comes to keywords and repetitions. The optimization scores you get are measurements based on what an SEO tool thinks gives a domain trust, and not the actual search engines or LLM and AI systems. The idea of a keyword needing to be repeated is from an SEO concept called keyword density, which is a result of SEO tools.
Understanding Keyword Density
Each tool would have a different way to say if you repeated a word or phrase enough for it to be “SEO friendly,” and because people trust the tools, they trust that this is a valid ranking factor or signal for a search engine. It is not because the search engines do not pay attention to how many times a word is on a page or in a paragraph, as that doesn’t produce a good experience.
Evolution of Search Engines
Panda reduced the effectiveness of low-quality, keyword-stuffed content, and Google’s later advancements, BERT and MUM, allowed better understanding of context, relationships between terms, and the overall structure of a page. Google is now far better at interpreting meaning without relying on repeated exact-match keywords.
Importance of Keywords
Keywords are important as they help to send a signal to a search engine about the topic of the page. And they can be used in headers, within text, as internal links, within title tags, schema, and the URL structure. But worrying about using the keyword for SEO purposes can lead to trouble.
Defining Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is when you force a keyword or keyword phrase into content, headers, and URLs for the sole purpose of SEO. By forcing a keyword into a post, or forcing it into headers, you hurt the user experience. Although the search engine will know what you want to rank for, the language won’t feel natural.
Using Synonyms and Variations
Instead of worrying about how many times you say the keyword, think about synonyms and other ways to say things that are easy to understand. Many search engines are getting better and better at understanding how topics, words, sentences, and phrases relate to one another. You don’t have to repeat the same words over and over anymore.
Examples of Search Engine Results
If you Google the word “swimsuit,” you’ll likely see it in a couple of title tags, but also see “swimwear.” Now type “bathing suits” in, you’ll likely not see it in a ton of the title tags, but the title tags will say “swimwear” and other synonyms, even though “bathing suits” is a popular name for the same product.
Using Header Tags Effectively
I don’t have any solid proof of this, but it seems to work well for our clients and the content we create, and it has worked for more than 10 years. If the main keyword phrase is in the H1 tag, whether it is a menu item or a blog post, we don’t worry about placing it in H2, H3, etc. I won’t be upset if the keyword shows up naturally, as that creates a good UX.
Creating a Good User Experience
The theory here is that headers carry the theme and topic through the sections below. If the top-level header has the word “blue” in it, I make the assumption that theme “blue” carries through the page and applies to the H2 tag as the H2 is a sub-topic of “blue.” “H2’s” for blue could be “t-shirts” and “shorts.” If this is true, by having the H1 be “blue” and the H2 be “shorts,” a search engine will know they are “blue shorts,” and I feel very confident users will too.
Avoiding Outdated Tactics
One thing you definitely do not want to do is have a million footer links that match the navigation or are keyword-stuffed. This worked a long time ago, but now it is just spam. It doesn’t benefit the user; it is obvious to search engines you’re doing it for SEO. Sites that stuff keywords tend to use these outdated tactics too, so I want to include it here.
Conclusion
I hope this helps answer your question about overusing specific topics or phrases. Doing this only makes the tool happy; it does not mean you’ll be creating a good UX for users or search engines. If you focus on writing for your consumer and incorporate a keyword or phrase naturally, you’ll likely be rewarded.