Forget about Keyword Density
I know, this is a well-discussed topic but believe it or not I have to deal with this misconception daily. People still try to repeat the keyword phrase a set number of times to make sure a search bot will understand it. Here’s the news, search engines have become much smarter now - they don’t need that much effort from your part to understand you.
Why is the concept of keyword density so dangerous?
First of all, it prevents people from creating quality content for their websites making them stuff their pages with key terms.
Then, it creates an illusion that web content is meant primarily for search engines and only then for people.
What to focus on instead?
Naturally, on unique quality content. But in order not to sound too general here are a few tips for you to optimize your pages for search engines (and still appeal to people):
- Include your key phrase in the page title and H1 tag (headline);
- Add the page text summary (or introduction) in the very beginning of the web page mentioning your key phrase;
- Use only grammatically correct phrases (we know people tend to use short phrases that are not always correct and you can come across such word combinations while doing your keyword research but don’t use them, don’t make your pages look too “seoish”);
- Use your keyword synonyms (If I were a search engine, I’d include synonyms as one of the parameter of the natural and useful content);
- Use your keyword derived terms (that might mean more long-tail referral traffic and also make your content richer and more varied).
- Make sure your page is “scannable” – the visitor will immediately get an idea what it is about (add bold fonts, lists and headlines). And yes, you should use your key phrase (or related terms) in headlines and bolded text (so that both people and bots could quickly associate the page with them).
Any other tips? Share your opinion on keyword density and content optimization.
54 Responses to “Forget about Keyword Density”
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RT @scottpolk: @lorenbaker RT: SEO Poll Do You Care about Keyword Density? Take Poll and Comment: http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8 Plz RT!
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@lorenbaker RT: SEO Poll Do You Care about Keyword Density? Take Poll and Comment (get a link too) : http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8 Plz RT!
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?Nos olvidamos de la densidad? http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8
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RT: @lorenbaker: SEO Poll : Do You Care about Keyword Density? Take Poll and Comment: http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8 Please ReTweet!
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RT @lorenbaker SEO Poll : Do You Care about Keyword Density? Take Poll and Comment (get a link too) : http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8
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RT @lorenbaker: SEO Poll : Do You Care about Keyword Density? Take Poll and Comment (get a link too) : http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8 Please RT
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RT @lorenbaker: SEO Poll : Do You Care about Keyword Density? Poll and Comment (get a link too) : http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8 Please ReTweet!
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SEO Poll : Do You Care about Keyword Density? Take Poll and Comment (get a link too) : http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8 Please ReTweet!
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@jagadeeshmp KD does NOT play a good role for SEO. If you dont want to listen to me then read it from Smarty http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8
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Forget about Keyword density? http://tinyurl.com/btdhu8
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Keyword density as a number is a useful way to assess whether the page in question has given a keyword enough prominence. So I agree that the actual density value doesn’t matter, but I think comparing the relative wights of keywords on the page is useful.
Marios Alexandrou’s last incredible blog post..Rankings Don’t Matter Except…
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I admit that I still care about Keyword Density - but my life doesn’t revolve around it. It’s one tool in the tool box, and I rarely actually check the actual number these days. I can eyeball it most of the time relative to the number of paragraphs I have in a document. I also think that related and similar words are going to have more and more importance as search engines improve.
Mike Lesiuk’s last incredible blog post..Recession Strategies, A boom industry in 2009
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Great post. Just started learning SEO the last 6 months after getting started in SEM for the last 3 years.
Is there any sites you use to help you come up with derived terms keywords?
Duane Brown’s last incredible blog post..The Importance of Doing Non-Client Work [Game Index]
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Thanks Anne - I still monitor keyword density for broad match terms to help build the on page keyword strength. Dave Naylor’s Keyword Density tool still has a ton of value.
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The truth is that it’s a delicate balancing act. you do have to use some of your keywords to tell the search engines what your site is about but if you over do it then it will sound ridiculous to your human visitors which is of course not a good thing.
Gerald Weber’s last incredible blog post..When the Ban Hammer Comes Down on StumbleUpon
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Well, this SEO tip is not that related to keyword density, but I guess it fits here: using images it`s also great - it really helps visitors to get the point of the post (an image is worth a thousand words!) and you can use keywords on the alternate text for the image. Sure, one may not stuff the alt text, it has to be as natural as the text itself.
Frank Marcel’s last incredible blog post..Canonical Tag - Acabe com o Conteúdo Duplicado
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I don´t like to “optimize” a web page by keyword density numbers, I agree is far better to write your content naturally and just place your keywords in the important tags. Using synonyms is a very powerful tip to make your content look natural, and make it relevant for the search engines.
Latam SEO’s last incredible blog post..Set Geographical Target in Google Webmaster Tools
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If you’ve been using various synonym for your keywords throughout the copy, the actually density for the primary keyword doesn’t tell you much.
But I’m curious, is there a semantic keyword density tool?
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I know exactly what you mean - as soon as a client reads some SEO article talking about keyword density they get more concerned about keeping search engines happy than their users.
I may just have to send them to this page!
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I too think kw density is still important, but as @Marios points out, its a useful way to assess whether the page in question has given a keyword enough prominence and the actual value is less important.
When it comes to kw insertion strategy, I think this post on seomoz is spot on, http://www.seomoz.org/blog/rewriting-the-beginners-guide-part-4-continued-keyword-usage
Cheers
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Me, too, Ann. Well, almost daily. I have never, ever cared about keyword density, whatever way you try to measure it.
David Leonhardt’s last incredible blog post..Don’t Trust SEOs Bearing Pretty Packages
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I do stuff in keywords in the post if-and-only-if its part of my meta description. And by stuff-in I mean >5% and <15%
Raju’s last incredible blog post..27 Stunning Yet Free Premium Wordpress Magazine & News Themes
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Although I never measure keyword density, clients persist in thinking it important, particularly those looking to hire a “SEO copywriter”. There’s a danger if you insist that there is little value in repeating a keyword in copy that you’ll do yourself out of a job. Ho hum.
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Here’s a great article about keyword density.
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No, I don’t care about keyword density. Content is the king
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Thanks Ann for the tip! I think too what content is a King! and it must be natural.
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Hi Ann, I don’t even think about SEO when writing an article. I think the best way to achieve that goal is concentrate instead on writing a great article everyone will want to link to.
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Keywords density myths ruin good articles and websites. Too many people and SEOs still think this matters.
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Did the poll and looked at the results.
Strange results… only 38% care about keyword density.
I always write my copy to be interesting and humourous, but I am always aware of keywords and not overdoing it.
Thanks for the reminder and organising the poll.
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really worth advice mate… share again a nother
richest indonesian’s last incredible blog post..Reaching New Heights - part 1
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I don’t matter about keyword density too. I think that the distribution of keywords in a page is more important.
Obs: Content is king but do not govern alone!
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I especially liked the part where you should add an option to leave a comment for the broken link. something i’d like to see more often on 404 pages. …
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I am really interested in your post. It is helpful for my site.
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I recently optimised my companies website for the keyword vending machines. I didn’t go overboard, just added the keywords where relevant.
The result - the site dropped down the list like a stone???
I guess Google is just more complicated than we think.
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Thank you very much. Very informative
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Having no main keyword on a page is like writing a thesis without a subject. You need your page title, url, metadata, incoming links all to match the subject of the page…and what is that subject called, A KEYWORD. So of course keywords matter.
As for density, if you wrote an article about the New York Yankees – you would naturally use the term New York Yankees 2, 3, 5% of the time…this is without even thinking about it. If you are writing well conceived pages, with good subjects and interesting topics…your keyword density is going to build itself. But to suggest that it is bad to have 3% density is simply wrong….that is just common sense and good writing, and the SEO benefit is simply an add on.
Using the right keywords is part of normal, everyday business writing – trying to claim density is unimportant makes no sense.
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I believe SEOmoz’ article Perfecting Keyword Targeting & On-Page Optimization has already put an end to this issue.
Also, their Term Target PRO tool gives an excelent insight for keyword optimization on a given page.
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They contradict themselves in the same sentence on that page.
FIRST they say: “…it’s true that more usage of a keyword term/phrase can potentially improve targeting/ranking…”
THEN they say: “..there’s no doubt that keyword density has never been the formula by which this relevance was measured.”
Huh? Talk about contradicting themselves.
When you have MORE USAGE, you have DENSITY….they are synonyms, so what exactly did they “put an end to”??
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Frank Marcel Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Considering Term Target tool’ analysis, I believe this “usage improvement” is not about repeating over the text/content to raise density, but simply putting the keywords on key-places: title, url, H1 tags, image-alt attribute.
You got to keep the focus on usage, not density. There’s a slight difference.
At least, that’s what I understood. Anyone?
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Sorry for all the CAPS Frank, must have been the 4th cup of coffee as I was posting that last reply.
I think we are splitting hairs here, but if you are writing good articles - you are mentioning your subject often. Maybe not X% of the time as some of the density recommendations used to say, but ignoring the power of keywords is a bad idea.
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Frank Marcel Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
LOL! Than we agreed! =)
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Agree with you Ann…
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Well, Keyword sensity? I think i pro it. I’m a professional in SEO! I don’t like guiding!
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Great post. Just started learning SEO the last 6 months after getting started in SEM for the last 3 years.
Is there any sites you use to help you come up with derived terms keywords?
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Many thanks for the tips. Every little bit of info helps.
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Another fantastic tip from a beautiful seo guru.
Thank you, Ann. Your resource is very helpful place and you are doing great job.
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Sites will be much better when people realize that keyword density is not that important anymore. I myself hate reading a text that repeats the seme keyword dozens of times.
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i love to say that this is really nice post. thanks for sharing
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Sites will be much better when people realize that keyword density is not that important anymore. I myself hate reading a text that repeats the seme keyword dozens of times.
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I don’t matter about keyword density too.
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Density can not be anything but part of the optimization. Optimization is a set of techniques.
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