Key Word Density for SEO

Key word density is an on-page ranking factor in search engine optimization. When optimizing a webpage, you will want to pay attention to the key word density of the terms you are trying to rank for.

Key word density is a measure of how many times a particular keyword appears in the text of a webpage in relation to the total number of words on that page. For example, if the phrase “blue widgets” appears three times on a page with 100 total words, the key word density  for the phrase “blue widgets” would be 3%.

It is impossible to say what an optimal key word density is for ranking high in the search engines, but it is fair to say that keyword stuffing is an outdated method that will only hurt you. You can no longer fill a page with a bunch of keywords over and over and expect to rank high. The search engines will see your page as being unnatural and penalize you heavily.

But you certainly do need to have your keywords appear on the page in order to rank for the terms and phrases you desire. There is actually no optimal key word density in general, but you can get an idea of what works by looking at your competitors’ sites.

If you are targeting the phrase “blue widgets”, then perform a Google search for “blue widgets” and go to the first page that is listed. Figure out what the key word density is for “blue widgets” on that page and write it down. Do the same for all of the top ten listings. This will give you a good indication of what key word density is preferred by Google  for that term.

Once you have an indication of a strong key word density for your term, you will have a new tool in your SEO toolbox to take another step up the search engine rankings.