Sunday, April 05, 2009

Keyword Density Discussion Led by Johnny Ray
I know this is always a debated point and the relevance is questioned by many professionals so I thought I would collect the thoughts of many people much smarter at this than me. How important is it for the exact number of keyword or phrases to appear as a percentage of the total words in the article? Can it be too little or too much? I think we can all agree with a yes, but the question is, what is the best number?
I’ve heard the ideal keyword density for the primary words or phrases can ranges from 2% to 20%. I’ve also heard that the first paragraph and the last paragraph are the most important. And as always highlighted headings and relevant links are paid additional attentions. With the various search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN analyzing keyword density differently with their own unique search algorithm, the process of adjusting is a never ending process.
With many different keyword density tools available to identify the search terms that your competitors are using on their pages, and meta tags or links you can quickly correct your own plan of attack. That is if they are obtaining the optimum search value. But by using the density tool on your competitor's pages you have better information on planning the density on your own pages.
What are your current thoughts on keyword density? If you have relevant sites to share, please do.
Johnny Ray
www.sirjohn.org/seo