What
are Keyword Search and Keyword Density?
There have been many instances when I am at a meeting
with a client discussing a website project, planning how to create and
implement when they would ask – can you make sure that keyword search is
enabled so that it climbs the Google ladder.
Most of the time, it is a catch phrase that they picked from some
website or some news article without much knowledge as to what it really is and
what is involved behind this. Here is my
stab from various articles that I have found online…
What
is a keyword?
A
keyword is essentially any word or phrase you use when searching with a search
engine. The search engine does its best to match your words with the words on
websites. The mathematics involved are complicated (and way over my head), but
the first link you see in the search results should be the best match for your
keyword, followed by the second best, and so on and so forth.
What is keyword
density?
Keyword density is
referred to as the percentage of certain word or words or phrase or phrases
contained within the total number of words on a web page. Such word(s) or
phrase(s) are known as keyword(s) or keyphrase(s). The keywords are, generally,
targeted words that the users are most likely to type in the text box of
popular search engines, like Google, to reach your website. The rule is simple.
The greater the number of keyword(s) or keyphrase(s) in the text, the greater
will be the keyword density. For instance, consider an article of 500 words,
wherein the keyword “flower” appears 10 times. The keyword density of that
article for the keyword “flower” is 2%, i.e., 10/500 * 100.
Why is Keyword Density
Important?
Keyword density is an
important parameter in your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) campaign. The
assumption is that the algorithm of search engines works in a way that favours
ideal keyword density, i.e., if a user queries for a keyword, he will be shown
the results of web pages that contain the keyword in an optimum density. The
more near to the ideal keyword density, the higher the rank of that web page.
It was an
over-simplistic method of getting the higher ranks for any website. However,
over the years, the Search Engine algorithms have improved dramatically. They
deploy different techniques of measuring keyword density and importantly,
keyword density is not the sole factor determining the rank of a web page.
Here are a couple of
reasons why keyword density is important:
1. The ideal keyword
density will keep your web page in the good books of Search Engines. Otherwise,
keyword stuffing or keyword inadequacy may lead to negative ratings from the
Search Engines, which gets reflected in the Search Engine rankings.
2. The SEO experts
consider keyword density as an important factor in determining the efficacy of
their SEO campaign. The keyword density is a vital parameter for writing
content of the web pages and the marketing articles submitted to the article
directories.
What is the perfect
keyword density?
The perfect
keyword density is varies because different search engines employ
different techniques to measure keyword density. Therefore there is no
straightforward reply to this question. However, a commonly accepted figure of
2%-4% is generally advised by the marketers to the copywriters. Some
strategists still rely on heavier keyword density (10% and even more).
The important aspect
that should never be forgotten in the context of keyword density is that your
keywords should not appear to have been stuffed in the text, which destroys its
context. The quality of the content should not be compromised as the modern
Search Engines lay a much greater emphasis on the quality in determining the
perfect keyword density.
You can easily
determine the keyword density of your text with the help of freely available
tools. However, never lose focus on the richness of your content, which is both
user-friendly, as well as Search Engine friendly.
A few tips for writing with keywords:
Use keywords in
headlines and subheadings.
Use keywords in bullet
lists.
It’s okay to use
variations of and synonyms for your keywords.
