Use of Keywords throughout articles

[ClareO]

Hi everyone,

I have another (very basic) question! It's about the use of keywords throughout articles - is it worthwhile putting keywords and associated phrases in bold and italic and also underlining them at various points throughout my website articles? I have read that this helps google to know what the article is about.

Any comments would be much appreciated!

[ClareO]

Thanks for the answers! This is a tricky one - I think trial and error is key here .

[NickW816]

Hey Claire, I am the owner of an SEO company here in Kansas City and have been in the SEO field for over 5 years. My advice on this is to not overdo it when it comes to using bolds, italics, underlines, etc, BUT it does impact SEO positively if used appropriately and not in excess. It's hard to give a solid rule of thumb when adding bolds etc, but we try to only utilize each type of typographical emphasis only once or twice on a page.

This is something that is worth a test, especially if your content is already long and well-written! Add a couple bolds, italics, or underlines in phrases that contain the keyword or related keywords you are trying to rank the page for a see what it does to your rankings. We have seen this give Google rankings a minor boost to multiple clients website, but a boost nonetheless!

[JamieCMF]

That sounds like old SEO tactics to me- best thing you can do is use the keywords naturally within the text. If you're trying to shoehorn them in or if you're trying to draw too much attention to them, you're probably doing it wrong.

To answer your question- no, underlining or bolding words doesn't have an SEO benefit!