Keyword Density and Rankings

Outranking competing pages isn't limited to where you place keywords on your page; it's also about how many times those terms are used. The relationship of a keyword phrase to the total number of words on a page equals a keyword density number.

Don't assume that a higher keyword density is always better. A page that uses all 500 words of copy to repeat "crystals" over and over again will be penalized . A 100% keyword density for one phrase is useless to a human visitor; search engines notice this, too.

Some search engine marketers spend hours on keyword density analysis; others spend none. Luckily for the marketers who want to focus on this detail, there are programs that instantly reveal the ideal formula for your pages, without spending hours of manual analysis time.

The Keyword Density Analyzer, part of Bruce Clay's SEOToolSet, analyzes the competitors of your choosing for a specific keyword or phrase. Looking at the top competing pages for "precision crystals," Figure 10.5 shows the recommended configuration based on how the competitors are currently ranked. I think this kind of tool is similar to being Superman with x-ray vision ‚ only here, you're seeing into your competitors ' web pages.

Figure 10.5. Bruce Clay's Keyword Density Analyzer tool within the SEOToolSet shows marketers an ideal page configuration for keywords based on well-ranked, competing web pages.

Mimic the average configuration of top-ranked pages. Scale your configuration to match pages on the higher end of the spectrum once you study how far the average configuration takes yours. As with other optimization tactics, there's a tipping point to this scale, and adding too much density won't catapult you to #1, but instead will drop you out of a premier ranking.

One tool isn't necessarily enough. Each evaluates keyword density using different criteria. Results can vary wildly. Consider using more than one tool; Keyword Count (http://www.keywordcount.com) and Keyword Density & Prominence (http://www.jimworld.com/tools/keyword-analyzer) are both free.

Search engines evaluate sites using a range of criteria, including site architecture and link popularity, which have nothing to do with the number of keywords on your site. Keyword density is merely one influential factor. Therefore, remember to balance your time among other search engine marketing tasks .