Importance of Keyword density?
-
Short, Sweet and easy for you guys!!
How important is keyword density???
Cheers
-
Also see Rand's recent update to the search engine ranking factors. Keyword usage in <title>, <h1> and on-page content are all mentioned and measured.</p></title>
-
Well, Google is obsessed with returning the best 'relevant' results they can. That's what makes people want to use their engine, is the quality of the results. I can't point to an article where they say "we're using LSI" but I guarantee you that a building full of PhDs at Google is doing everything they can to increase the quality of the results they return. LSI (or something like it) has to be a component (if not the major driving force).
-
@Mike Scanlin
Are search engines like Google currently using LSI? I tried doing some research on the topic but had trouble finding anything actually published by Google (except in their patent section). Either way, very interesting topic!
-
Hey, the pro term target tool will give you a page grade for a keyword and is a good way to learn about optimising a page for a given term. It's not a perfect science, but it will point you in the right direction.
-
Thank you this is very helpful,
So Keyword density is a myth then?
-
Keyword usage, as EliasAQ describes, is a best practice. However focusing on keyword density (the idea that a keyword ideally must comprise x percentage of the page text) is essentially a myth. This document explains this in more detail: http://guides.seomoz.org/chapter-4-basics-of-search-engine-friendly-design-and-development.
I use keywords in strategic parts of my page but aside from that I just try to write naturally and for the target audience.
Keyword density is important in the sense of never "overdoing" it. Hammering on a keyword over and over is likely to get your page flagged as spam (and scare off your visitors.)
-
HI Wazza1985,
In my experience keyword density is a very important factor. However, it's more important to ensure that your target keywords appear in key places, such as:
- Page title
- H1
- H2
- H3
- Main body text
- Internal and external pointing to your page
- Image alt tags
- etc
Also don't forget that content is for users as well as search engines so forcing keywords into the content to increase density could devalue it.
I hope this answers your question.
-
Thanks Mike very interesting point
-
While it used to be possible to keyword stuff content to game the search engines, that is less true today. I'm a believer in LSI (latent semantic indexing) whereby the SEs understand the meaning of a page even if they keyword isn't exactly present. SEs today know about synonyms and can extract meaning from text, allowing for creative and interesting use of language. Without tedious keyword repetition the content you create will be of more interest and read better to a search user –increasing the user experience.
I take the viewpoint that you should write for humans first, and then review the content to make sure the keyword is present at least a little bit. I would not go so far as to say you should have 1 occurrence of the keyword per 150 words, or any other hard and fast density metric. But that's just me.
Also, I think the external factors (links with appropriate anchor text, and variations of that anchor text) are more important than on-page factors like keyword density. Just my opinion, although I do rank well for many phrases and I ignore keyword density (other than making sure the keyword is present in some minimal fashion on the page that is optimized for it).
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Keywords used to land on specific page?
Hi all, Does anyone know if there's anywhere where I can see what keywords are used in search engines to land on a specific page? I have access to the Google Analytics account and linked it to Moz as a campaign, but I can't find this data. I'm curious about this because a very uncommon word is used in a page title for a page I try to optimize. It's the Dutch translation of 'malicious'. And now I wonder if it's better to switch to a word that's used more often. Or if it's better to 'win the battle' on this (probably) rarely used word. I've used Google trends to see how many people use it, but it says there's not enough data to show the interest over time.
On-Page Optimization | | RaoulWB0 -
Why do some Keywords collapse in SERPS?
I've been working my way up SERPS with some fairly uncompetitive keywords and have been comfortable with them in the 5-10 range. This week I have watch a number of them drop back to the mid 50s. Why?
On-Page Optimization | | Zippy-Bungle0 -
Keyword Optimisation
In terms of on page optimization for Key words, should I be trying to optimise the page for all the keywords in my adwords campaign, which is approximately 200… or just the words that generate the most click throughs, etc
On-Page Optimization | | Hardley1110 -
Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization. Please Help
This has been addressed plenty of times but I cannot find an example that addresses my issue so that is why I am posting this. I am getting the following Self-Cannibalization error for my Homepage and I am trying to fix it but I just don't see it or maybe I do not understand this correctly. http://fake-diploma.com Keyword Fake Diploma Cannibalizing link"How to make a fake diploma", "How to get a fake diploma", "Making a Fake High School Diploma", "Fake Diploma Template", and "Framing your fake diploma" My understanding is that for Self-Cannibalization to occur I would have to have a link on this page pointing to another page using "Fake Diploma" as my anchor text since I want this page to rank for Fake Diploma. I do have the left sidebar which contains my most recent post and my of my titles do include Fake Diploma but I thought that since they were not an Exact Match and are actually longtail keywords that they did not matter or cause Self-Cannibalization. Am I wrong? How do I fix this.
On-Page Optimization | | diplomajim0 -
The importance of the home page and subdirectories
I am getting myself quite confused. My home page and target for one of my main sets of keywords is actually located at: www.domain.net.au/keywords/default.aspx BUT I have loads of external links resolving to: www.domain.net.au/ I had assumed that the best practice for getting the best ranking for the keyword would be to Canoniclise the page to:www.domain.net.au/keywords/ Is that a good assumption ? Or will it only work if I can change all the inbound, external links as well ? Thanks -Mark
On-Page Optimization | | blinkybill0 -
On-page keyword usage
SEOMOZ gave me all zeros for keyword usage. Why? The site is www.grass2greens.com and the keywords are "Asheville Landscaping Edible." The site includes these words in the title page and throughout the body text. I am not really sure, but maybe one cause for these low keyword usage ratings might be redirects or some meta tag issues, but I am really not sure. Any ideas?
On-Page Optimization | | dcaudio0 -
Can you expound why i have to avoid using meta keywords?
I'm using the on page report card and it tells me that i have to avoid using meta keywords.I'm a little bit confused. I thought that it's important to use it all the time so search engine can better index the site. if I use SEO Quake it will tell me in the diagnostic test that I need to input keywords.
On-Page Optimization | | jsevilla0 -
Meta Keywords
Hello Everyone- Quick question about meta keywords. Most SEO's agree that meta keywords are no longer used as a ranking factor in Google. My question is, if a client comes to me and they already have a bunch of meta keywords on their site what would the smart strategy be? 1. Remove all the meta keyword data from the clients site 2. Scale the meta keywords back by only leaving the top keywords in the code? 3. Do nothing Thanks for all your time! Regards, Bill Parlaman
On-Page Optimization | | wparlaman0