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
-
Shifting target keyword to a new page, how do we rank the internal page?
I have been targeting one keyword for home page that was ranking between the postilion 6-7 but was never ranking on 1st as there were 2 highly competitive keywords targeted on the same page, I changed the keyword to an internal service page to rank it on 1st, I have optimized the content as well but the home page is still ranking on 11th, how do I get the internal page rank on that keyword
On-Page Optimization | | GOMO-Gabriel0 -
Keyword density or No. of Time keyword used
Now, I know that there is no set figure to be used here, whichever metric you are using and it will depend on the article and what is natural. However, lets suppose for a minute that we are taking a keyword in isolation, and I have a 2000 word article using the keyword 17 times and rank no. 3 in Google SERPS. The no. 1 slot uses the keyword 8 times but only has a 800 word article and only a B grade on the onpage ranker. Of course, there are off page factors as well, but just wondering what your thoughts are on whether you look at density or total keyword usage. It is easy to just write without think about keyword density or usage, but occasionally you end up using the keyword about 50 times, and it is then I have to actually think about it. Other articles I barely use the keyword because the article just writes itself and it works out fine, but these are generally shorter. With longer articles on my best converting pages, I can't help but think about it more and it ends up a little hit and miss.
On-Page Optimization | | TheWebMastercom1 -
Optimizing for two keywords
Hi there, my question is: I need to optimze two pages related to almost the same concept but different orientations. One keyword is "emocional intelligence development" and the other word is "emocional intelligence workshops" I can't mix the two pages in one unique page due to web strucutre reasons. Is it possible to optimize each web for each keyword independently although they have the concept emotional intelligence in common? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | juanmiguelcr0 -
Where aren't on page reports generated for all of my keywords?
I have 39 targetted keywords, yet only 10 on-page reports are generated. My site has about 100 pages. Why don't I see reports for all of my pages?
On-Page Optimization | | mynton0 -
Duplicate lower and uppercase keywords
I get significantly different report cards for the same keywords with and without uppercase letters on the same URL. The only difference between the two sets of keywords is the first letters of every keywords, e.g.: "Air freight" - results in an "F"
On-Page Optimization | | DigiTeamatDSV
"air freigth" - results in an "A" Should I stick to lowercase keywords only - and won't the search engines ignore the case anyway?0 -
How do I PERMANENTLY change an incorrect URL link with one of my keywords?
Hello, I received an “F” grade on my on-page report for one of my keywords. I noticed that the URL linked with that keyword was wrong. After changing it to the correct URL, I received an “A.” However, the change was not permanent. How do I permanently change the URL? I don’t see any “Save Changes” or “Apply Changes” button anywhere. Thank you!
On-Page Optimization | | jampaper0 -
Keyword self cannibalization
Hello, I'm confused about the recommendations for avoiding keyword self cannibalization. I have a niche blog and some of my sticky posts on the homepage contain my site's main keyword in their title. For example, say if my homepage has "dog training" as it's main keyword, then there are going to be links to more longtail pages with titles such as "dog training London", "dog training Liverpool" etc. When I do this SeoMoz's on-page optimization tool tells me that this is keyword self cannibalization. I am building links to the inner pages using the longtail keywords only. 1. Do I need to rename pages with just "london" and "liverpool" etc and remove "dog training" from those links? 2. What is the best thing to do in this situation? Thanks, Kevin
On-Page Optimization | | KMack0 -
Do keywords ride solo or do they have sidecars?
"No man is an island", so say brother John Donne. But, my fellow SEO-ers, is the same true of keywords? That is... deep breath... If I am ranking as number one for a short-tail keyword, like for example: "fruit salad", does that have any sway on the rankings for other longer tail keywords, like for example, "tropical fruit salad london" or "cheap fruit salad", or is every keyword that we would track in our campaigns completely independent with rankings dependant on work done on that sole keyword? Thanks for your advice in advance.
On-Page Optimization | | RobertHill0