There are a lot of myths when it comes to SEO, but one of the biggest questions most people have is whether or not keyword density affects search engine rankings. And how many keywords should someone include in their article for the best results?
So, let us now figure out the reality behind Keyword Density in SEO and how much significance it holds when it comes to SEO and search engine results on the internet.
What Is Keyword Density?
The percentage value of keyword density shows the frequency of a specific search phrase (keyword) compared to the overall text length on a page. Search term density and keyword density are other names for it.
Choosing appropriate keywords for better SEO and direct readers would be best.
For Google to comprehend what’s in a document, it needs text. Previously, a high keyword density was the best search engine optimization trick for making a search term seem relevant. But now, Google has become more intelligent and the old tricks don’t work.
If a piece of writing has excessive keywords, search engines might label it “spam” and make it hard to read. However, when there aren’t enough keywords, it confuses humans and search engines.
Many variables, such as text length, subject matter, and level of competition, determine the sweet spot for keyword density.
Does Keyword Density Affect Google Ranking?
Yes, keyword density may impact Google’s ranking, but it’s often undesirable.
Keyword stuffing occurs when the density of keywords is too high. Nowadays, this black hat SEO strategy does not work. Intentionally increasing your keyword density could lead to a Google penalty.
The guide has further information regarding keyword stuffing.
Additionally, how about on a domain level? Is it good to add important keywords multiple times throughout the website?
Suppose you are going to target the keyword ‘Wedding company in Sarasota’. If you select a domain name like this weddingcompanysarasota.com then there might be a chance of a Google penalty as you are going to use Wedding company in Sarasota everywhere on your site.
Having said that, keyword density does not matter when it comes to overall ranking factors. Incidentally, this has been verified by John Müller in a Reddit thread:
Calculate keyword density
Are you concerned that the keyword density could have been a bit excessive? It is best to perform a brief manual check using an easy formula.
Finding the keyword density in content requires knowing the overall word count and the frequency of your target keyword’s appearances in this text.
After that, you figure it out like this:
(100 / total words) x the number of main keywords in the content = 0.5-2% (Best Case)
Here’s an example to help us out. Suppose there are a total of 1,800 words in your document. There are twenty occurrences of the primary keyword. What can be calculated is:
(100/1800) x 20 = 1.1
Thus, the keyword density is 1.1%. Wonderful!
On the other hand, you may find many keyword-density programs that will calculate it for you. Some examples of such tools include Yoast SEO for WordPress, Page Optimizer Pro, and Surfer SEO.
Just in case, I suggest doing the math yourself—it’s fast and gives you a reliable value—just be cautious since you know its origin.
What Is The Ideal Keyword Density?
Whether or not an optimum keyword density exists should be the real issue. On the subject of ideal search phrase density, SEOs are divided.
Google is more likely to flag a website as spam if its keyword density is high, which will lower its rating.
Let’s take, e.g. Making a post for the keyword “living room decoration ideas” as an example. This is the best SEO style from the Stone Age, and you could write a few hundred words in it now:
Are you in need of some inspiration for your living room’s decor? A plethora of lovely living room décor ideas are available here. Whether designing a large family home or a little apartment, you’ll find inspiration in the living room decor ideas below…”
Is that where you’d put it? No.
Because the user’s goal in searching for this keyword is clear: to see images. No matter how perfect the phrase frequency, lengthy material is useless to the searcher.
Furthermore, the top 10 search results can be for different issues, so comparing your site to all top rankings can be misleading. Instead, focus on competitor websites with similar goals.
What Counts As Keyword Density?
Writing blog posts, landing pages, or category pages mainly involves incorporating your selected keyword into the content.
Nonetheless, you may indirectly or directly affect the keyword density in other text areas:
Headings (H1, H2,…) and meta titles
Describe the image using its title, alt attribute, caption
Keywords used as anchors and link titles
Note: When it comes to keywords, declined/conjugated terms with the same root word are considered the same.
What Is Considered Optimal Keyword Density?
The optimal keyword use frequency in text is a frequently asked question(FAQ). We advise using a keyword density of between 0.5 to 2% in the main text.
However, it is essential to remember that this proportion is always relative.
This implies that no search query can have an ideal keyword density. Consider the keyword density of your competitors’ websites and adjust your own for each of your search queries. We recommend keyword density based on our years of experience.
Note: There hasn’t been any official recommendation about keyword density from Google. In the SEO community, people have a wide range of viewpoints. The majority of them rely on either incomplete information or our biased assessments.
No one rule says how much of a keyword to use. It’s much more important to have a clear idea of the big picture and proper coverage of each topic.
Over 2% keyword density is not a cause for concern.
Do you provide thorough answers to all essential questions on each page? When read aloud, does the text seem natural and easy to understand?
Don’t worry if your keyword density isn’t “optimal”. As long as your content is natural and factual, you’ve done everything correctly.
Conclusion
No matter how hard you try to “re-optimize” your content by adding more keywords, it will not rank.
It all comes down to this: the text has to meet the searchers’ needs. Google considers favourable user signals including more than keyword density—more important than keyword density alone.
Yes, a lot of pages that rank well share a certain term number. But you shouldn’t just look at the number of keywords when you compare competitors.
You should take a look at every page and its content. Who is to say that a top-ranked article is ranked higher only because it has the right number of keywords and not because it is just a great article?
- Our number one recommendation for keyword density is prioritizing completeness and relevancy rather than chasing a percentage of keyword density.
- Use long-tail, synonyms, and secondary keywords throughout the content while carefully placing your core keyword.
FAQ
Does Keyword Density Still Play A Role In SEO?
Yes, in the sense that using too many keywords in a piece of writing is known as keyword stuffing. This could, in the worst case, cause the URL in question to lose its overall ranking. But keyword density isn’t important if you want to increase the rankings. What matters is how good the post is as a whole, not how many times the keyword shows up in the text.
What Role Do Keywords Play In SEO?
What users type into search engines are known as keywords. Thus, search engine optimization (SEO) is rendered useless without keywords. Because of this, it is crucial to do extensive keyword research as the foundation of any SEO plan.
What Is The Best Keyword Density Tool?
Several keyword density checkers are available if you need more confidence in your mathematical abilities or want to save time.
They vary in price from free to rather pricey. Keyword density is checked automatically by the majority of significant SEO tools.
