Keyword Density for Search Engine Optimization
Everybody involved in the world of SEO has their own opinion about keyword density. Some people think that keyword density doesn’t exist while other people believe in specific, exact densities to achieve high rankings. So what is the real truth about this topic, and how can it potentially improve or damage your positioning in the search engines?
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.
When SEO first began being widely practiced, the common belief was that a specific density was necessary for high search engine rankings. Therefore all of the SEO practitioners out there began trying to find the specific percentage that worked the best. Some people were thinking that it was in the 2 to 3% range while other people thought that you could use much higher percentages, in the range of 10%.
The truth is that there is no exact percentage that you should be trying to use when it comes to SEO. The search engines do not have a piece of their formula that says 3% density = first page rankings, or anything of the sort. Instead of focusing on exact percentages, you should worry about natural, normal inclusion of your targeted keywords.
This means that as you prepare your content you should keep a focus on including your keyword phrases wherever they make sense to be used. You might have a general guideline for yourself, such as trying to include the phrase every 100 words, or once per paragraph or so, but you should not worry about hitting a targeted percentage.
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.
Another important thing that you’ll want to remember is that besides your content, other areas of your website can be affecting the level of keyword density that you have. For example, the terms used in the links within your menus show up in the search engines, as does the description you enter in your META tags and the title you have at the top of the browser.
Keyword density has proven to be more fiction than fact. Yes, you want to include your keywords and include them often enough so that you get “credit” for them. But there is no such thing as a perfect keyword density for SEO, and you shouldn’t force keywords in to try to meet any precise figure.
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