Keyword Density

There are a lot of theories about keyword density. Different search engines treat keyword density with varying degrees of importance, so no method is absolute, but there are a few rules of thumb to follow.

Aim for a Keyword Density of 2-5%.

This simply means that for every 100 words of text, you use your keyword between two and five times. Don’t forget to include your headers and meta tags; these will have a higher keyword density and increase your total average. This could mean you actually might use your keyword only once per hundred words in the body of your articles.

Use Keyword Phrases

Don’t limit yourself to just one primary keyword. Have a few secondary keywords and combination keyword phrases. Often you can jumble your keyword phrases to take advantage of the order the words could be entered for search and widen your ability to keep your content fresh looking. You can use a tool to help suggest other keywords and combinations you can try.

Don’t Over-Do It!

Some search engines may actually consider your article spam if you stuff it so full of keywords that you lose the sense or point of the article. If you are making every other word a keyword you may as well just have white and white on text; Google for one will treat it the same.

I know I keep saying this, but too many people are under the false impression that you ‘have’ to maintain a certain density for an article to be productive. Less can be more, if you use your keywords judiciously and to the greatest effect. Readable content beats gobbledygook hands down.

Use Keywords in all Marketing Efforts

Don’t just use keywords in your articles – use them whenever and wherever you promote your site. Press releases, blog posts, text surrounding pictures and video – all of these are ways for you to get your keywords noticed. Don’t forget your domain name and your url.

Put Keywords in Your Links and Ads

Use your keywords to remind people what they are linking to. If you want to attract consumers who have been searching for the words ‘Pet Clothing‘, hook your keywords with a teaser. Make the links read ‘All New Pet Clothing’ or ‘Cheapest, Best Pet Clothing‘.

Use Keywords in Embedded Links

Remember, you can redirect traffic easily if your visitor ends up on a page that is not quite to their liking. If the consumer typed in ‘pet clothing’ but is specifically looking for dog hoodies or cat bonnets, you can embed links in the first few sentences of your page text.

For example, the customer arrives on a generic landing page having clicked through from an ad with the keywords ‘pet clothing’. The first sentence of the greeting reads:

‘Welcome to PetStyles!! Whether you are looking for dog hoodies or cat bonnets, ferret sweaters or footwear for the four-legged, you have come to the right place!’

Each of the words bolded above can hyperlink to the appropriate page, and save you customer the time of looking for a listing or drop down menu to lead them to their destination.

Once you have learned to use your keywords properly (for good and never evil) you can start to expand your scope with linking and other SEO.

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