keyword density, how important?

[G. Lasagne]

How important is keyword density as a ranking factor, i.e if i have a word at only 1% density and its an important word, would you reccomend bumping it up to say 3%, or is the effect on rankings minimal and therefore not worth comprimising the readibilty of the copy?

 

[nickjohnston]

It certainly affects rankings, and it's something you want to consider. Keywords in the domain name, page title, title tags and file name are also factors.

Above all though, you want to have fantastic content that attracts visitors, and makes them want to share that content.

 

[MASSEY]

It certainly affects rankings, and it's something you want to consider. Keywords in the domain name, page title, title tags and file name are also factors.


Above all though, you want to have fantastic content that attracts visitors, and makes them want to share that content.

This is the way i currently see it,

Keyword in

Domain name ( bonus but not essential)

Page title tag

Meta tag

H1 H2 H3 up to 6 ( all should contain keyword)

2% density for body content

Images in png jpg or what ever format as a bonus should be keyword

Alt tag should have keyword in or so it says on seomoz.org but i have seen conflict to this idea,

Also image title tags should have key word, again i have seen conflict of this

And html files themselves should also contain keyword,

Also keyword should appear in bold at least once a page

And then there is the content trying to attract backlinks.


People please correct me if im wrong

 

[RedEvo]

You could also consider the keyword density of nonsense.

d

 

[fisicx]

If you did everything you suggest the page wouldn't be natural. It's quite possible to rank well with only a single occurrence of a key word on the page. Maybe not for the really competitive keywords but the business areas most of us work in the competition isn't they fierce.

This is the way i currently see it,

Keyword in

Domain name ( bonus but not essential)

Page title tag - definately

Meta tag - not important

H1 H2 H3 up to 6 ( all should contain keyword) - no, H1 only

2% density for body content - only need one occurance on the page

Images in png jpg or what ever format as a bonus should be keyword - irrelevant

Alt tag should have keyword in or so it says on seomoz.org but i have seen conflict to this idea, - no, describe the image, don't force keywords where they don't belong.

Also image title tags should have key word, again i have seen conflict of this - irrelevant, not a ranking signal

And html files themselves should also contain keyword, tiny advantage only

Also keyword should appear in bold at least once a page - makes no difference

And then there is the content trying to attract backlinks.


People please correct me if im wrong

 

[RedEvo]

Or for something less complex, whilst reaching the same conclusion, this.

d

 

[fisicx]

You could also consider the keyword density of nonsense.

I remember that article, an excellent read. Dr Garcia is the father of LSI and really knows his stuff. I suspect though that many will skip over the theory looking for any easy solution - which it isn't.

 

[MASSEY]

If you did everything you suggest the page wouldn't be natural. It's quite possible to rank well with only a single occurrence of a key word on the page. Maybe not for the really competitive keywords but the business areas most of us work in the competition isn't they fierce.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, you see im not saying your wrong,

But i have been looking on seomoz lately and they have sections for keywords they break it down,

the have sections for keywords in alts keywords in h tags,

Why do they factor those in there results page when they crawl your site it strikes me as odd,.

Or are they leaving things open to debate for each user to play around with for better results?

 

[MASSEY]

You could also consider the keyword density of nonsense.

d

Ill have to give that a read tommorow its been a long day looks interesting though.

 

[fisicx]

Or are they leaving things open to debate for each user to play around with for better results?

It's not so much leaving it open as being sensible.
If you have a picture of a duck the then the alt tag should be 'picture of a duck' not 'buy a duck from the duck shop'
The headers should be a title for the section on the page not just another repetition of your keywords.
The seomoz article redevo links to dispels the keyword density myth.

 

[MASSEY]

yes it does, from comparing what you tell me to what that article says i appear to be confusing what helps your raking position and what brings traffic to your site im mixing them up.

 

Originally Posted by MASSEY
This is the way i currently see it,

Keyword in

Domain name ( bonus but not essential)

Page title tag - definately

Meta tag - not important not true

H1 H2 H3 up to 6 ( all should contain keyword) - no, H1 only use as required for headings

2% density for body content - only need one occurance on the page in a pigs eye. and don't forget your synonyms

Images in png jpg or what ever format as a bonus should be keyword - irrelevant not true

Alt tag should have keyword in or so it says on seomoz.org but i have seen conflict to this idea, - no, describe the image, don't force keywords where they don't belong. use keywords

Also image title tags should have key word, again i have seen conflict of this - irrelevant, not a ranking signal as above

And html files themselves should also contain keyword, tiny advantage only don't you believe it.

Also keyword should appear in bold at least once a page - makes no difference not true

And then there is the content trying to attract backlinks.only if the site can be found and is highly ranked unless you is a twitter freak.


People please correct me if im wrong

write for both the search engines and your visitors or you won't have any visitors.

every little helps.

Earl

 

[MASSEY]

Originally Posted by MASSEY
Alt tag should have keyword in or so it says on seomoz.org but i have seen conflict to this idea, - no, describe the image, don't force keywords where they don't belong. use keywords

Also image title tags should have key word, again i have seen conflict of this - irrelevant, not a ranking signal as above

Again more conflict

 

[G. Lasagne]

Earl - Could you answer the few questions in blue mate

Originally Posted by MASSEY
This is the way i currently see it,

Keyword in

Domain name ( bonus but not essential)

Page title tag - definately

Meta tag - not important not true

H1 H2 H3 up to 6 ( all should contain keyword) - no, H1 only use as required for headings

2% density for body content - only need one occurance on the page in a pigs eye. and don't forget your synonyms so what is the reccomended percentage/amount?

Images in png jpg or what ever format as a bonus should be keyword - irrelevant not true

Alt tag should have keyword in or so it says on seomoz.org but i have seen conflict to this idea, - no, describe the image, don't force keywords where they don't belong. use keywords

Also image title tags should have key word, again i have seen conflict of this - irrelevant, not a ranking signal as above

And html files themselves should also contain keyword, tiny advantage only don't you believe it. what does that mean?

Also keyword should appear in bold at least once a page - makes no difference not true, ive never heard this before, are you saying putting words in bold increases there value?

And then there is the content trying to attract backlinks.only if the site can be found and is highly ranked unless you is a twitter freak.


People please correct me if im wrong

write for both the search engines and your visitors or you won't have any visitors.

every little helps.

Earl

 

[matt.chatterley]

How important is keyword density as a ranking factor, i.e if i have a word at only 1% density and its an important word, would you reccomend bumping it up to say 3%, or is the effect on rankings minimal and therefore not worth comprimising the readibilty of the copy?

I wouldn't recommend doing anything that compromises the readability of your copy.

If you have to have a page of mangled rubbish for it to be considered "well SEO-ed" then you need to adjust your criteria and remember - people buy products & services, not search engines!

Yes, density is definitely a ranking factor. No, you should not prioritise it above readability and "well written" content.

 

[fisicx]

Again more conflict

Yup, and there always will be. Stuff your alt tags and headers full of keywords and you will suffer. If the raw text on the page doesn't read naturally then you will lose out on relevance. Read the redevo linked reports.

 

[bdw]

Here's an example of the importance of KW density...

Do a search in Google for the word "computers". You will see that the top result (after Wikipedia) is the PC World website. View the source of their homepage and you will see that the word computers appears only once.

I think what this tells us is that KW density is just not worth bothering about and PC World are getting their position from inbound links using the word computers. That is not to say that you should ignore keywords. For smaller websites they still need to be on the page but I don't think the density is that important (unless it is too loaded - in which case it could be flagged as spam).
.
.

 

Here's an example of the importance of KW density...

Do a search in Google for the word "computers". You will see that the top result (after Wikipedia) is the PC World website. View the source of their homepage and you will see that the word computers appears only once.


.
.

As probably the worlds most authorative site with 96 million incoming links.

One may suspect wiki only has to wisper a keyword to get a good ranking.

The rest of us have to work for a living.

Earl

 

[bdw]

Yes, Google changed something on the algo about a year(?) ago that made Wikipedia the top on very many searches. Hopefully they'll do the same for my website this year
.
.

 

[mattsaw]

I'm doubtful if keyword density has ever been a major factor that Google has lent any weight to.

In my opinion something far more important is the semantic makup of a page, and where keywords and related words are being used is far more important than simply the raw numbers.

For example, key positions on the page such as,

- Page title
- Headings
- Image alt tags
- Page body text
- Bold/italic text

Usage of keywords in these positions lend far more weight to the relevancy of a document than a simple calculation based on the raw numbers.

Using Wikipedia as an example, not only is it an authority site, but you'll find that the pages tend to be incredibly well laid-out with good usage of keywords in all of the above places.

 

[MASSEY]

I'm doubtful if keyword density has ever been a major factor that Google has lent any weight to.

In my opinion something far more important is the semantic makup of a page, and where keywords and related words are being used is far more important than simply the raw numbers.

For example, key positions on the page such as,

- Page title
- Headings
- Image alt tags
- Page body text
- Bold/italic text

Usage of keywords in these positions lend far more weight to the relevancy of a document than a simple calculation based on the raw numbers.

Using Wikipedia as an example, not only is it an authority site, but you'll find that the pages tend to be incredibly well laid-out with good usage of keywords in all of the above places.

I like the way you think

 

[johnmorph]

Keyword density is very much important regarding SEO. You need to take care of the keyword density while you are updating the contents. If you have the higher density and keyword stuffing more than the natural you will have the chance to be spammed. All you need to have is the natural keyword density. I always prefer to have the keyword density from 3-5% of the total words.

 

[bdw]

johnmorph I see you have joined us today and posted 16 times in less than an hour and managed to say virtually nothing. What is your agenda?
.
.

 

[zigojacko]

johnmorph I see you have joined us today and posted 16 times in less than an hour and managed to say virtually nothing. What is your agenda?
.
.

Profile: JohnMorph; Location: Far East in call centre with 15 others
Occupation: Spammer
Mission: Target UK forums to try and con business owners into paying for shoddy seo services and charging loads less than UK companies , generally pissing them off in the process.

To be seen next? Probably never, to vanish from UKBF as quickly as appeared after realising no-one values anything they have to say.