Keyword Density

What keyword density do you recommend? I have seen some places say 5% while others maybe 8%. I take it though anything over 10% might be considered spamming?

 

Keyword density is highly overrated...just look at the SERPs. If you focus on writing good content for your users, the keyword density should fall right in place. Ranking is less about how many times the phrases appears on the page, and more about how other people view the page (via linking), so focus on the latter.

 

I have to disagree and say that KW density is important. Yes, if everyone wrote with perfect efficacy things would simply fall into place. However, Utopia doesn't exist and not everyone, including me, is a good writer. As many write like they speak, it is very possible to end up with content that is way over populated with a particual word or phrase. So IMO it should be something (KW %) to be cognizant about so as not to make any egregious error that would be severly frowned upon by a SE.

After I write something, I try to make sure the KW density isn't too high for that very reason. I don't write with that in mind, but I do edit to reduce the % sometimes.

I try to keep between 2-5% - I honestly don't know if there's a magic number, but I do believe too high is asking for trouble = bot label as spam.

 

I agree that KW density does have an affect and I don't think there is a magic number. If you take the top results for your favourite keyword phrase and run them through a KW density tool, you may get a happy average but it will be different sector to sector.

I'd bet the more commercial the term the lower the optimum KW density, though I am far too lazy to test this theory for myself.

 

Thanks. I have just been working on a few new sites and checking the KW density etc. I found this new tool that just reminded me about keyword density.

 

I remember being in New Orleans last year at Google's Meet the Engineer's event, and the Google employee I was talking to specifically said "keyword density is over-rated".

 

Sorry, but a "Google Employee"? When I was in college, I was an employee of McDonalds but that didn't make me an authority on anything McD. No doubt they didn't bring the custodial staff to an event like that, but I couldn't help notice the vagueness of the statement

It may be an over-thought concern by many people, and even "over-rated" to an extent. However, I still don't completely dismiss it. Run a 300 word content page with 10-15% KW density and watch how fast it gets flagged and then tell me it's over-rated ....

 

I havent proven this but technically i believe Keyword density is affected only by words within specific html elements "h1,h2,alt,title,p (and others not mentioned)" all other elements on the page containing words will be ignored.

I base this on the technical fundamentals of html web design, one day ill prove this but just right now ive got content to write!

ps i also believe 10-15% keyword density is the golden mean.

 

It really depends on the engine you are targeting.
Use a lower keyword density for Google, and a bit higher for MSN and Yahoo.
Maybe around 3% for Google, and 6% + for the others.

 

Keyword density seems to effect a site when it gets too high. I look at it as a number to stay below so I don't trip spam filters. I write out content for a person visiting the site and then make sure I have kept the density low, under 7%. Which is usually the case.