Keyword Density
What is keyword Density?
Keyword Density refers to the frequency with which a given keyword or phrase appears within the content
of your page. If there are 100 words on your page, and the word 'widget' appears once, then the keyword density
of your page with regards the word widget is 1%.
Optimal Keyword Density
Opinions vary as to the optimal keyword density (i.e. the keyword density most attractive to search engines). This 'optimal' figure
also varies over time (as algorithms change) and across search engines. I
have seen people suggest keyword densities as high as 40%. I dare you to try to write content that
does not sound ridiculous with a keyword density this high. Achieving even 5% without offending your users is an aquired skill.
Over time you'll learn to use headings,
bullet points, bold text, etc to maximize your keyword density without inflicitng a terrible experience upon your users.
So what is the 'best' keyword density? - ok, if you're going to tie me down, I'm going to say that my personal
favorite is around 7%. This value is achievable whilst producing quality text for human users and is not liable to fall foul
of the search engine's continued efforts to detect attempts to manipulate them. Several (though by no means all!) renowned experts
in the field share this perception.
Note that with the recent BigDaddy google update, Google in particular is making strides towards
rewarding naturally written content and penalizing deliberately 'optimized' text.
My advice on this is to
apply common sense. As we have stated elsewhere, because of the importance of inbound links, it is vital that
the pages you create appeal to humans as well as crawlers.
| 