Keyword Density of Articles/Posts

Posted by Robb on May 2, 2011 in SEO, Training |

It’s been a common question for ages and one that plagues new comers in Internet Marketing:

What kind of Keyword density should my articles or blog posts have?

Now everyone has their own theory that seems to work for them and I am about to throw mine into the mix that should explain every theory.

So what percent keyword density should you aim for?

The answer is there really isn’t a number set in stone – now I know you’ve probably read that a million places and it is old news, and it sure is.

But here is the secret or how you should be setting up your keyword density.

Your targeted keyword needs to be the largest keyword density than the rest by at least .5%. The .5% is Ball Park because it’s still a science under testing – but here is the theory behind it.

Keyword density isn’t used to DIRECTLY boost you up in the search engines. What I mean by this is that if you were to try and rank for a keyword with a little bit of competition (top 5 sites have targeted backlinking) and all you did for SEO was the best keyword density, you would not rank number 1. You might rank well, but not number one.

All keyword density is doing is telling Google what your site is targeting – its relevancy.

This is why a lot of percentages work. Popular Google Sniper 2.0 (<- Yes that’s an affiliate link) claims even a keyword density of 1% or less gets you ranked with their SEO methods. IM Guru Paul Prissick claims a keyword density of 4% is how he ranks over authority sites. The rest fall somewhere between the 1-4% mark.

The thing is, these percentages work because they often end up being the leading keyword for your article or blog post, not because you hit 4% bang on or whatever percentage you follow.

Are you starting to catch my drift?

Example

Let’s take an example. Let’s say you were marking for Sharpie Markers (first thing I saw on my desk). You make a site about the best sharpie markers. You have a keyword density for “best sharpie marker” of 2%. However, you also have a keyword density of 2% for the keyword “black fine point”. Google knows your site is between the two but still isn’t specific – 2% isn’t the magic number here as you would need 2.5% to show Google specifically what your site is about.

This is why having the following is considered good SEO:

Keyword in an H1 tag – that’s your title, Google gives value since usually a title will explain what you are talking about.
Keyword in H2 and H3 tag – not totally necessary as Google knows not every article will have subheadings, but further tells Google what the site is about.
Keyword in Bold, Italics, or Underlined – if we are stressing our keyword in some form of format, the keyword must be relevant.
Keyword in domain name – another pointer to tell Google what our site is about but not required.
Keyword density greater than the rest – this is what we are talking about today.

All these methods above don’t get you rank – they give you relevancy! They tell Google what the site is about!

Now when you backlink, you also tell Google what your site is about and if the anchor texts matches what Google has on file – BOOM you begin to shoot up in rank for your keyword. Even if the anchor text isn’t your keyword – Google KNOWS that your site is about your keyword now and still gives you authority for your keyword.

In Conclusion…

Make sure you have a keyword density at least .5% above all other keywords. Usually this means at least 1% Keyword density if you’re looking for guidelines. Don’t go over 4% as Google will see this as stuffing and put you under the magnifying glass. Always remember,