Website Marketing Club

Search Engine Optimization and Keyword Density

Oct 28, 2009 Advertising

One of the hottest topics in the world of SEO has been keyword density. Does keyword density really exist, and what kind of effect does it have on your rankings? What’s the perfect keyword density to use on your website, and how do you determine what it is? Understanding the ins and outs of this highly debated topic will improve your website’s SEO.

When someone mentions keyword density for SEO, they are talking about the percentage that a particular word is found within the content of a page. A single word keyword used 5 times in 500 words has a 1% density. However, keep in mind that a 4 word key phrase used 5 times in 500 words actually has a 4% density because of the number of words used.

In the earlier years of SEO, many people believed that trying to achieve an exact density was the true key to improving their rankings. Many people began trying to estimate exactly what they should try to shoot for, with some people estimating perhaps 2-3% and other estimating very high numbers such as 8-10%. After all of this time, what’s the true answer for the keyword density you should shoot for?

In reality, there is no specific keyword density that is a magical solution for your SEO. If you hit a 2% density, there is no green light that turns on in the search engines that says “page 1 ranking”, and the same holds true for any other density. Therefore, a smarter strategy than worrying about keyword density is just worrying about including the keywords to some extent, and in a natural way.

When you include your keywords naturally, you aren’t trying for a specific keyword density. You also aren’t forcing your keywords into a spot where they don’t belong. Instead, you just ensure that you talk about your topic and reference the keywords and phrases where they make sense.

It’s also important that you don’t overdo this work with keywords, and that you take a more moderate approach with your SEO. People take the concept of keyword density way too far sometimes. The result is content that looks like spam to the search engines, and also looks like spam to your visitors who become quickly turned off and click on the back button.

Additionally, don’t forget that besides the actual article content on a webpage, there are other areas where keywords can be included. The best example of this is the anchor text used in your navigation links, however there are other opportunities such as your footer, any sidebars your META tags and more.

By now, the SEO debate for keyword density has been solved. The answer is to stop trying to pursue exact percentages. Instead, focus on natural inclusion and avoiding excessive usage of your keywords. In this way you’ll please both your visitors and the search engines and your rankings will improve.

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