What % should be keywords ?

Hi,
Id like to know how much % of keywords should be present in a page to get into the top search results.

 

There's no magic number.

 

Keyword density is a myth, not applicable to today's big 3 from what I've found. I usually end up in the 4% range most cases. Just write your page and don't worry about density, your readers will appreciate it.

 

You can get pages ranked well without having the keyword on the page at all. It's a bit harder but still doable.

Write for your users/visitors.

 

usually, 2%-7% is good.

 

I have usually heard the same, between 2% and 5%, but I think as long as it is original content you should be fine.

 

The average as of last week, is between 3 and 5 percent. The best rule of thumb is to add your keyword or phrase at least twice in the first paragraph and last paragraph and once in every other paragraph.

 

My thoughts exactly...

 

3-7% ... is good. make sure title, keywords and description are relevant to each other and contents.

then link exchange .....

 

it totaly depends on your topic.

the 3-7% is solid.

Some topics require more, some less.

Sometimes it needs to be more in your headlines, sometimes more in the content.

Some tpics require it(the keywords) to be in anchor text in your insite links, others require that it isn't.

The most important factor in any web page is to moake sure that your content effectively and efficiently "sells" the idea you are trying to convey.

try to write your copy without your keyphrases. Then add them into the copy afterwards wher they fit in naturaly.

Also try to target no more than 3 topics per page.

I have found that in some cases, when i target a page for a certain phrase it won't even show up. But, it ends up "nailing" another one of at least equal value on accident.

Alawys take a look at your competition and take que from them. If your copy can't fit like that, then just do it your way, it might work out.

 

I've also been shooting for 3-7%, but I have been doing so only because I've been told that this is the percentage to shoot for. Does anyone actually have any written evidence of this? Whenever I speak to someone at work about it, I get the response, "Well, no one actually knows exactly...." As this seems to be the case, then WHERE THE HECK DID THESE NUMBERS COME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE! I'm starting to think that I should submit this to Mythbusters....
JP

 

I'm getting a top 20 ranking with 3% keywords (site 1) and a top 5 with 6% (site 2), however you cannot automatically assume that an increase in % will pull you up the rankings... I started with a 5% keyword saturation with site 1 and ended up on page 7. Content is absolute... but not always, it is a little bit of everything formula, for example site 2, is a single page site with 138 word count... and that’s in the top 5. So the lesson here..? wish I knew… imagine the money I’d make with an ebook!

Here’s how I achieved all my clients rankings… listen carefully, “find what your competitors are doing and do it better” (I wasn’t the first to say, nor will I be the last), but it is excellent advice.

In point form:

1) Select good keyword
2) Perform google search on good keyword
3) See who is first, figure out how they did it, check their keyword saturation (nice keyword density tool), check their links (gain same links), their site age (not much you can do here, but you could always try and purchase an older site?), their page rank (contention issue here, I’m not sure if it makes that much difference, however every site that ranks above one of my customers site has a higher PR), their anchor text (think it’s pretty safe to say this is an important point, perhaps your competitors don’t know this yet??), their linking areas (don’t want to be in bad neighborhoods) and then do it better (read : don’t copy it verbatim, but just do it better; (smarter))

 

Exactly, KW density is so 2003!
Seriously though, don't worry about it, just include keywords in your metas, titles, heading, alt, bold etc and mention it in the body text when relevent you'll be fine.

 

Keyword density is a factor in yahoo and msn.

 

It's a factor in all search engines, I just think it's more important to include it the tags than it is to worry about the density of the body text.

 

I thought Google ignored metatags. Is is worth the effort for the SE's?

 

Yes, I have pages ranking in MSN (and possibly Yahoo) for keywords in metatags. Obviously not for competitive phrases, but 5 phrases bringing in 5 searches per day all ads up at the end of the month.

 

2-3% in my opinion

 

Good thread. I had this same question. I can't help but at some point the content will suffer if the author is devoting too much of his/her energy into key words and not enough into the actual subject matter. I mean, what is the point of having a robust site with great content if you are writing to the spiders and not the audience.

I apologize if that seems naive. Just a "n00b's" point of view.

 

I think that's why keyword density has been dopped by most search engines as a defining factor in ranking a page. It still helps a bit to have keywords in the text but it certainly isn't going to give you any magic boost.