E1096: We're talking about keyword stuffing, Google's own definition of it, and why copying what big authority sites do can be a dangerous SEO mistake.

I came across a Search Engine Land article pointing to Chewy's dry dog food page as an example of strong "cosine similarity." But when I looked at the page, it looked much closer to old-school keyword stuffing than smart SEO.

The phrase "dry dog food" appears 88 times on the page. In one block of text alone, it appears 19 times. And according to Ahrefs, the page had a huge spike in estimated organic traffic before falling back down hard.

I'm not saying keyword stuffing caused the entire drop. But I am saying this is exactly the kind of thing Google warns about in its spam policies, and it is not something most sites should copy.

We cover: - What Google says keyword stuffing is - Why repeating a keyword too many times can make a page sound unnatural - Why a high-authority site like Chewy can sometimes get away with worse SEO - Why copying big brands is not always a smart SEO strategy - What I saw on Chewy's dry dog food page - Why "cosine similarity" can become bad advice when taken too far - How many times Chewy used the phrase "dry dog food" - What happened to the page's estimated organic traffic after its spike - Why giant blocks of SEO text at the bottom of pages are usually a bad sign - Where I think your target keyword should actually go - Why I often remove keyword repetitions from pages instead of adding more - How using natural variations can be better than repeating the same exact phrase - Why satisfying search intent matters more than stuffing a page with keywords

My basic rule for keyword targeting: - Put the target keyword in the page title - Put it in the URL slug - Put it in the H1 - Use it near the beginning of the first sentence - Optionally use it in the meta description - Optionally use it in first alt text if relevant - After that, use natural variations when they make sense

The goal is not to hide from Google. The goal is to make the page clear without making it unnatural.

If your page sounds like Google's own example of keyword stuffing, that is not a good sign.

I also explain how I have seen pages improve after removing repeated keyword usage. Sometimes the best SEO move is not adding more keywords. Sometimes it is removing them.

This episode is especially useful if you are working on: - E-commerce category pages - Local SEO pages - Service pages - Affiliate pages - Programmatic SEO pages - Landing pages targeting long-tail keywords - Pages with large blocks of SEO text - Pages that rank but feel over-optimized

The big takeaway:

Just because a major site is doing something does not mean it is good SEO.

Chewy has a powerful domain. Most sites do not. A big brand may rank despite bad optimization, not because of it.

If you want better rankings, better traffic, and pages that actually convert, focus on search intent, clean keyword placement, useful content, and natural language.

⭐️ Google's Spam Policies - https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Keyword Stuffing Intro 00:20 Google Spam Policy's Definition 01:37 Cosine Similarity Controversy 02:44 Chewy Dry Dog Food Example 03:19 Hidden Text SEO Tactic 04:22 Keyword Count And Traffic Drop 05:37 Practical Keyword Placement Rules 06:35 Write For Intent Not Hacks 07:17 Read Google Policies 07:53 Wrap Up

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#searchengineoptimization #seo #seocopywriting #digitalmarketing