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How much does keyword density really matter?

by heavysm
15 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Ive been reading around different seo sites and opinions about on page optimization for a given keyword and Ive concluded that between 1-4% is the norm or most often recommended. I just created an article with a 1% keyword density and in my opinion even that looks weird.

For backlinks and everything else in seo we have to strive for a look of natural optimization for our keywords, but I find repeating the same phrase up to 5 times for a 500 word article a bit much.

How much does keyword density actually matter? Id prefer to write my articles with the keyword mentioned maybe once or twice at most to look natural, but if density does matter...? I can't imagine any article with a 4% density looking normal much less 1%.

So whats the consensus on this? Does density matter and if it does how much is optimal for a single targeted article/page?
#density #keyword #matter
  • Profile picture of the author Laura B
    I don't think it matters much unless it's 0% (obviously) or obnoxiously high, which would be pretty obvious when reading aloud, especially. If it sounds natural to a human reader, it's about right.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    I don't think it is an issue, the Google algorithm is smarter than that. If you write naturally and on-topic you will not only have an expected keyword density but you will also mention a lot of the synonyms and associated lingo that is expected for a page about said topic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Corvinus
    Just write the content that best describe your site, and definitely one of your main keywords will be included in your article, just makes sure that your content is fresh and unique.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sue McDonald
    When you are writing an article it is always advisable to have your main keyword in the title and the first sentence. How many keywords are you using? In an article I would suggest about 5. Did your research your keywords using a keyword tool?

    When you write your article and you stick to your subject it is very easy to include the keywords but I also use between 3-5%.
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  • Profile picture of the author bestitrix
    Also don't forget to put your main keyword(s) on the last paragraph of your article as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author yanivkalfa
    Well i really do thinks it matters Big time actually and if you would been able to stuff some more keywords without getting penalized by google i would do 100% key density.

    You are trying to SEO your website. and unless your top 3-9 google results you website wont be visited by a lot of people so i dont see whats the point keeping your website nice and clean ?

    first get to the position where visitors can actually see your website then worry about how nice it looks - just my opinion.

    And key word density matters A lot. and thats exactly why google does not allow cloaking or keyword stuffing because it fluctuate the google result so much.

    Again its just an opinion with google nothing is set in stone.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheGrooby
      Originally Posted by yanivkalfa View Post

      Well i really do thinks it matters Big time actually and if you would been able to stuff some more keywords without getting penalized by google i would do 100% key density.

      You are trying to SEO your website. and unless your top 3-9 google results you website wont be visited by a lot of people so i dont see whats the point keeping your website nice and clean ?

      first get to the position where visitors can actually see your website then worry about how nice it looks - just my opinion.

      And key word density matters A lot. and thats exactly why google does not allow cloaking or keyword stuffing because it fluctuate the google result so much.

      Again its just an opinion with google nothing is set in stone.

      Keyword density really only matters if you are stuffing and that would only be a negative impact. Otherwise, the impact of your page or site will not be greatly influenced by some magical percentage of keywords. The important aspects to focus on are placing your keyword within the title, H1, and meta areas. Even the meta keywords section is almost irrelevant. Google's algorithm has advanced beyond needing to be told what a page or site is about. It can figure that out for itself.

      Sacrificing your site's quality and overall user experience, to me, is a bad idea and will hurt you more in the long run and when visitors quickly realize that your site is of sub-standard quality. What's the point in getting visitors to a site that ranks high but has hard to follow content? The majority of people will leave and move on to the next site, which probably ranks slightly lower in the SERPs, but provides a better user experience and easier to follow content.
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      • Profile picture of the author yanivkalfa
        Originally Posted by TheGrooby View Post

        Keyword density really only matters if you are stuffing and that would only be a negative impact. Otherwise, the impact of your page or site will not be greatly influenced by some magical percentage of keywords. The important aspects to focus on are placing your keyword within the title, H1, and meta areas. Even the meta keywords section is almost irrelevant. Google's algorithm has advanced beyond needing to be told what a page or site is about. It can figure that out for itself.

        Sacrificing your site's quality and overall user experience, to me, is a bad idea and will hurt you more in the long run and when visitors quickly realize that your site is of sub-standard quality. What's the point in getting visitors to a site that ranks high but has hard to follow content? The majority of people will leave and move on to the next site, which probably ranks slightly lower in the SERPs, but provides a better user experience and easier to follow content.
        Sorry to tell you but what your saying is BS.

        Having 1/2 keywords in your website other then having 20 same keywords in your website will Influence Greatly if you dont realize why . you need to read some more and try some more.
        and i am not talking about % i dont care about the number either but. the difference between having 1/2 keywords to 20 is a huge difference.
        and yea ofc you should use your keywords in the right places. but still the more keywords you have on your page the batter.

        And it wont hurt for the long term. not at all. websites changes. google knows that. you make your website - promote it till its 1 page in google. then change it to look more clean and natural .. there is no problem with that unless you went completely nuts
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        • Profile picture of the author heavysm
          Right now I am aiming at using 3-5 keywords per 500 word articles that relate to my main keyword for a single article.

          So if I have "dog training" as my main keyword I might include "dog obedience tips", "dog obedience", "train my dog" in the same article. Is this pretty much along the lines of what I should be doing?

          Ive already heard of using my main keyword within the first 50 words of my article, so that fits somewhat along the same lines as using it in the first sentence or two.

          Are there any other aspects of using relevant keywords and density in articles that i havent yet mentioned? Im looking for everything that will help me rank as seo is still pretty new to me.
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          • Profile picture of the author TheGrooby
            Originally Posted by heavysm View Post

            Right now I am aiming at using 3-5 keywords per 500 word articles that relate to my main keyword for a single article.

            So if I have "dog training" as my main keyword I might include "dog obedience tips", "dog obedience", "train my dog" in the same article. Is this pretty much along the lines of what I should be doing?

            Ive already heard of using my main keyword within the first 50 words of my article, so that fits somewhat along the same lines as using it in the first sentence or two.

            Are there any other aspects of using relevant keywords and density in articles that i havent yet mentioned? Im looking for everything that will help me rank as seo is still pretty new to me.
            The best thing you can do is write an article about your subject and don't force any keywords into the content. Write naturally, as you would any other time in life, and your keyword and related keywords should present themselves naturally in the course of writing your content. Not only that, but you will eventually begin ranking for related keywords that you had no idea you were even writing about.

            Getting your keyword in the text early, though, does seem to provide a bit of a boost for SEO.

            I used to stress so much over keyword density and I would force the keyword into my content, sounding very unnatural, repetitive, and choppy. Visitors do not like this. Humans are way more important than the robot crawling your page from Google or any other search engine.

            Eventually I simply started writing my content without even considering keyword density and placement and my pages and sites rank as good as ever (Google 1 - 10 depending on the competition). Now, not only do they rank well, but my visitors don't feel like they're reading something a computer pieced together.
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  • Profile picture of the author seoforu
    It is good as long as it looks natural..over stuffing is seen so we should not do that.
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  • Profile picture of the author jazbo
    Keyword density is not a factor in Google algorithm.
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  • Profile picture of the author jzumpella
    Some things I've found that help as well as read include:
    1. Use your main keyword in the first sentence
    2. Bold that main keyword.
    3. Then use it maybe 2-3 more times throughout the article.
    4. Use as many lsi keywords as you can (yes, to answer your question about lsi keywords above). I find using google's keyword tool will help you identify all the lsi keywords for your main keyword.
    5. Also so your article doesn't sound unnatural I find its best to just write it naturally first not worrying about any keywords. Then after its written you can go back and find places where you can insert these keywords without making it look like your forcing it.

    Obviously this isn't an exact science and no one really seems to know what the real answers are to these questions, (seen by all conflicting responses above), so you might as well do everything you can even if it may not help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob141
    I don't think Google cares about keyword density, not sure about other search engines.
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