Keyword Density and ALL CAPS

[ChristianRubio]

Hello everyone,

New member and first time asking a question!  Having a disagreement about keyword stuffing on a home page.

The client has 14 mentions of their brand all IN CAPS.  So it's sentences like ... BRAND was established in 1968 and has become one of the biggest leaders in the donut industry.  In fact, BRAND has created a strong BRAND community ... etc.  [the lead paragraph is three sentences and four mentions of BRAND]

A design agency that is also in the picture says that this is fine because the word appears naturally in the sentence.  Can you either 1) tell me I'm wrong and explain why or 2) give me some ammo to give to my client to support my argument.

Thanks!

Lisa

[kayintveen_MD]

first of all it looks really spammy to me and probably to customers as well. All though a few months/years back i would say a No No don't do it. But nowadays you see google just no caring to much about stuffen. but from a certain point google just does not add any value to the 20th time a name is mentioned for example.

I would worry more about the looks of it. it looks very spammy to me.

[EGOL]

This question resonates with me..... 

This is a matter of personal opinion... and the opinion of people associated with THE BRAND are often adamant about how their name is used.

To me, making such a show about the brand is like chest thumping.  I often grin when I see it.   I would never put that stuff on my site.  I would rather have my brand recognized by the quality of my service and my product - and put my energy into that.  If I have quality services and products I don't need to make that kind of noise.

But I have experience with a couple of employers who are all about THEIR BIGASS BRAND and if you are on their team you better be SHOUTING about it and liking it (or pretending to like it).   Because if the boss gets a whiff that you ain't all about THE BRAND then you better be lookin' for another job.

So, I think its a good idea to see how deep their commitment is to THE BRAND.  If it is dyed-in-the-wool you better start likin' it or leave.  But, if they are open minded you might be able to help them evolve from chest thumping to a more professional communication style  - in some people's opinion. 

[Bryan_Loconto]

Truly a personal preference deal here!

In regards to keyword stuffing, there isn't much of an issue as Google doesn't focus on  anymore these days. They are frying much bigger fish! However, I don't like the idea of the GORILLA approach where you are thumping your chest with ALL CAPS LIKE THAT (nice analogy EGOL lol)!

Using a site like Craigslist for example, they will remove a post if you use all caps in your title because it is considered spammy to the users. Nobody likes to feel they are being FORCED TO LOOK! Like EGOL mentioned, it makes me cringe when I see things like that. I would highly recommend against it, if at all possible.

End of the day, keep your end users in mind. Don't force feed them. Provide high quality content and a great user experience. You shall prevail!

[sachin-sv]

Totally agree with Kayintveen and EGOL.

You can find this link useful and can show to your client to support your argument.

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2154469/How-to-Write-Title-Tags-For-Search-Engine-Optimization

[donford]

100% Agree With EGOL here.

Brand mentioning is not bad, but if you over do it, or use it when it is not needed it can be annoying. Side note, caps really doesn't have a direct effect on SEO, but can really turn off certain folk.

Other industries do this too, as if to say this X would have sucked but its by X

Example: DVD's, James Cameron Avatar
Example: Games, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa
Example: Books, Stephen King's 900'th novel

Sooooo annoying.

[ChristianRubio]

Thanks for the input guys ... This does help a lot ... it's weird that word stuffing doesn't seem to matter ... to me 14 mentions IN CAPS!!! on the same page is pushing a line that Google wouldn't like.  But yes, it is maybe not the best marketing practice and they are quite, quite wedded to the idea.  It will be all caps or nothing. 

Thanks so much for helping me out and I guess I need to research the hummingbird updates more because it just seems wrong to me that this is mostly ok.

Lisa