What is the BEST way to calculate Keyword Density?
I have found differing bits of advice regarding calculating keyword density in articles and blog posts. Some teach that the keyword you are optimizing for counts as 1 word, regardless of whether or not it's a long tail keyword or how many words are in the keyword. e.g. If the keyword you are using is "make peanut butter bars", every time "make peanut butter bars" is found it would be counted as 1. Then the keyword density is calculated by counting the amount of times the keyword is used and dividing that by the total word amount in the article/post. So if the keyword is used 8 times in a 700 word article the keyword density would be 1.14% (8/700)
The next way I've found people teaching to calculate keyword density is to take the amount of words used in the keyword, multiply that by the amount of times the keyword is used, then divide that by the total number of words in the article. So sticking with the previous example, "make peanut butter bars" has 4 words and say it appears 8 times throughout the article. You multiply the amount of words in the keyword (4) by the amount of times the keyword appears (8) then divide that by the total word count of the article. So if it's a 700 word article the keyword density would be 4.57% ((4x8)/700).
The next way I've found is similar to the last only instead of counting the words in the keyword you count the amount of characters in the keyword, then you multiply that by the amount of times the keyword appears in the article and then divide that number by the total amount of characters in the article. So in "make peanut butter bars" lets assume we only count letters as characters (not spaces)...there are 20 characters and lets say the keyword was used 8 times. In a 700 word article we'll estimate the amount of characters at ~3500. So we multiply the amount of characters in the keyword (20) by the amount of times the keyword is used (8) and we divide it by the total amount of characters in the article (3500). In this example the keyword density is 4.57% ((20x8)/3500).
Those are the three different ways I've found people teaching how to calculate keyword density. It's clear that the keyword example I chose is a poor one because the second and third methods I mentioned come up with identical results. While they often do come up with similar and even identical keyword densities, it is not always the case. Try using the keyword "I love IM" as the example keyword above. Method 2 would give you a keyword density of 3.43% while method 3 would give you a keyword density of 1.6%.
My question for you all is what method of keyword density calculation have you found to be the most beneficial in your sites and IM efforts? What has worked for you all?
The next way I've found people teaching to calculate keyword density is to take the amount of words used in the keyword, multiply that by the amount of times the keyword is used, then divide that by the total number of words in the article. So sticking with the previous example, "make peanut butter bars" has 4 words and say it appears 8 times throughout the article. You multiply the amount of words in the keyword (4) by the amount of times the keyword appears (8) then divide that by the total word count of the article. So if it's a 700 word article the keyword density would be 4.57% ((4x8)/700).
The next way I've found is similar to the last only instead of counting the words in the keyword you count the amount of characters in the keyword, then you multiply that by the amount of times the keyword appears in the article and then divide that number by the total amount of characters in the article. So in "make peanut butter bars" lets assume we only count letters as characters (not spaces)...there are 20 characters and lets say the keyword was used 8 times. In a 700 word article we'll estimate the amount of characters at ~3500. So we multiply the amount of characters in the keyword (20) by the amount of times the keyword is used (8) and we divide it by the total amount of characters in the article (3500). In this example the keyword density is 4.57% ((20x8)/3500).
Those are the three different ways I've found people teaching how to calculate keyword density. It's clear that the keyword example I chose is a poor one because the second and third methods I mentioned come up with identical results. While they often do come up with similar and even identical keyword densities, it is not always the case. Try using the keyword "I love IM" as the example keyword above. Method 2 would give you a keyword density of 3.43% while method 3 would give you a keyword density of 1.6%.
My question for you all is what method of keyword density calculation have you found to be the most beneficial in your sites and IM efforts? What has worked for you all?
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