Optimum SEO Keyword Density ? A Real-Life Case Study

So you've built your website, you know what keywords you want to target (i.e. what words your customers are searching for), and you're ready to write your copy. You've been told that you should use your keywords frequently so that you appear in search results for those words. But what does "frequently" mean?

How many times should you use your primary keyword? This case study helps answer that question.

Some background on "Keyword Density"

In order to understand optimum keyword usage, we first need to have some way of measuring keyword frequency. In the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) world, frequency is actually referred to as density. Keyword density is a measure of the number of times your keyword appears on a page expressed as a percentage of the total wordcount of that page. For example, if your page has 100 words, and your keyword phrase appears 5 times, its density is 5%. So when you hear someone say "keyword density", that's normally what they're talking about. (TIP: You can automatically check the keyword density of your page at LiveKeywordAnalysis.com.)

However, there is another, more complex measure of keyword density which takes into account the text components in the HTML of the page (i.e. the meta tags: Title, Keywords, Alt Text, Description, and Comments). When using this measure, you don't just count the words your visitor sees; you also count the words in your meta tags. For example, if you have 100 words on your home page, 10 words in your Title tag, 20 words in your Description tag, 70 words in your Alt tags, and 10 words in your Comments tag, your total wordcount for the page is 100 + 10 + 20 + 70 + 10 = 210. Similarly, when counting keywords, you don't just add up the number of times a visitor will see your keyword, you also count the number of times that keyword appears in your meta tags. For example, if your keyword appears 5 times in the home page copy, 3 times in the Title tag, 5 times in the Description tag, 30 times in your Alt tags, and twice in your Comments tag, your total keyword count is 5 + 3 + 5 + 30 + 2 = 45. So with a total wordcount of 210 and a keyword count of 45, your keyword density is 45/210 x 100 = 21%. It is argued that this measure of keyword density is more relevant as the search engines measure density in this fashion. (TIP: You can automatically check the keyword density of your page using this more complex measure at GoRank.com.)

As you can see, you need to be very aware of which measure you're talking about when you're talking "keyword density". But let me reiterate; mostly when people talk about keyword density, they're talking the simple measure.

What is the optimum keyword density

And now down to business? What keyword density (of either kind) should you be targeting on your website?

There's a lot of debate surrounding this issue because the search engine companies don't disclose the details of their algorithms (as that would allow people to abuse the system). Instead, people working in the SEO world are left to figure it out based on their experience.

A recent article by respected SEO and Blog expert, Wayne Hurlbert, (see Keyword Density: SEO Considerations) suggests that Google sees pages with a keyword density of greater than 2% as spam. It was this article which prompted me to analyze the keyword density of my copywriting website.

CASE STUDY

The Website: This case study analyzes the website for my advertising copywriting and SEO copywriting business, Divine Write ? http://www.divinewrite.com. For my primary keyword, my site is now on page 1 of Google.com (out of approximately 900,000 search results).

Number of pages on site: At the time of writing, my website contained a total of 53 pages.

Primary keyword phrase: "copywriter"

Average keyword density: Using the simple measure of keyword density discussed above, the average keyword density of my copywriting website is 1.9%. Using the complex measure it's 4.9%.

Keyword density range: Using the simple measure, my density ranged from 0.4% to 7.6%. Using the complex measure it ranged from 1.6% to 17.5%

Some comments on the figures

? The figures and corresponding ranking detailed in this case study may not be directly relevant to every site. There's a lot I don't know about the algorithms and there are bound to be other factors at play which I don't know about.

? With regard to Wayne Hurlbert's article, it would seem that he is referring to keyword density as calculated using the simple method discussed above.

? The range figures are noteworthy because they suggest that you don't need to be paranoid about having some pages with a very high density and some with a very low density.

Conclusion

A simple keyword density of 1.9% can be enough for a first page ranking in Google.com (assuming you have enough quality backlinks ? see http://www.divinewrite.com/SEOCEO.htm and http://www.divinewrite.com/seoarticles.htm for more information).

Happy SEO writing!

Glenn Murray is an advertising copywriter and SEO copywriter and heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com for further details or more FREE articles.

---

How To Stay One Step Ahead of the Google Dance

It's taken you 6-months of hard work, constant changes, reading... Read More

Using Meta Tags Wisely to Attract Search Engines and Visitors

There are certain tricks and techniques in SEO industry, which... Read More

5 Things to Keep an Eye on in the SEO World in 2005...

After the latest PR update at Google and MSN's beta... Read More

How To Weather Google Algorithm Changes

If you spend much time reading the various webmaster forums,... Read More

Top Ten Listing? Hmmmmmmmm

This is my question...I spend a fortune on SEO and... Read More

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy - Navigating the Dark Waters of Website Promotion

Creating a well-designed website is the first step in your... Read More

How to Get the Best Deal on Your SEO Project

If you own or manage a business Website, chances are... Read More

The Reality of Search Engine Submissions

Over the last few months, search engine submissions have changed... Read More

Do You Have a Bad SEO Company, or Are You Just a Bad Client?

I admit it, our SEO services are pretty bad.Speaking of... Read More

Guide to Getting Linked

Getting links from other websites pointing to your site can... Read More

LSI and Link Popularity

When Paypal's official Web site no longer ranked #1 in... Read More

Keyword Targeting Strategy In Your Site

Once the keywords have been decided for the site one... Read More

Meta Tags Help Optimize Your Web Site Rankings

Are you working on getting your web site up onto... Read More

Submit Your Website to Search Engines

Some search engine submissions are free and some pay for... Read More

Paris Hiltons Reputation is SHOT! Hows Yours?

With apologies for the cheap trick of mentioning Paris Hilton... Read More

PageRank for Websites: Is There More to the Web?

Google's PageRank has been around for years, and in the... Read More

Supply & Demand - Stop Attacking Good SEO Companies!

As I read the latest news online about what Google... Read More

Quick Keyword Research that Works!!!

Keywords are terms or words related to particular topic. Keyword... Read More

New Site and Sandbox: How to Get Rid of It

You have put lot of sweat in making your site.... Read More

Linking Strategies to Skyrocket to the Top of Google

If you don't know already, one of the key success... Read More

How To Find Good Keywords

Good keywords are frequently searched for (high demand) but not... Read More

Yahoo!/Overture Site Match: A License To Steal

Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, I'm sure... Read More

SEO - Are You Making The Search Engines Mad?

If you've been involved in SEO (search engine optimization) for... Read More

How To Rank High On MSN Search

The new MSN Search is quickly gaining popularity among internet... Read More

How To See What Pages Of Your Site Google Has In Its Index

There is a lag time between the indexing or updating... Read More

Submitting to the Search Engines and WebCrawlers

When you want your brand new site to be indexed... Read More

Googles Trap, DMOZs Nap, And Yahoo!s Crap

On November 16th, 2003, Google commenced an update (the Florida... Read More

Googled

The Internet may have started as the fervent brainchild of... Read More

Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question

Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding... Read More

Article Marketing: Fox in the Competitor Hen House or Chicken Little?

I recently was asked by an author to remove a... Read More

6 Ways To Attract Search Engines To Your Website More Often

Adding fresh, updated content to your website is the surest... Read More

Your PC can Contribute with Google Compute

Have you heard of the SETI Project? SETI stands for... Read More

The Write to Link Popularity

Incorporating writing as a means of boosting your link popularity... Read More