Have you ever thought of why we include keywords in our content?
Definitely, your answer would be to increase the online visibility and ranking of your content.
So, this puts me to another question. Why keyword density is important?
Like most others even you too are unaware about the right answer to this question then reading this post would be really helpful to you.
How the Concept of SEO Keyword Density Came into Existence?
It all instigated in 2011 when the online competition became intense and there was a race to rank top in the search engine results.
As a result, the SEO experts introduce keywords and Meta tags that can help your content rank better than the contents of others.
But one problem, which everyone used to experience, was the number of times a keyword must be used in the article or content, and this is what is defined as keyword density.
SEO Keyword Density – Definition
It is defined as the total number of times a keyword comes into the content. It is the ratio of keywords to the total word count of the content.
As such, there is no specified range for keyword density, but SEO experts consider the density of 2 – 3 % safe and ideal for webpage optimization.
While some sources suggested a keyword density of 2 – 3%, there came into existence the Panda Update!
Till then, everyone is asking the same question, does keyword density still matters in SEO.
How to Calculate SEO Keyword Density?
To ensure that your content is rich and incorporates the correct volume of keyword density, it is essential that you know how to calculate it. With the simple formula, you can easily calculate the keyword density.
Keyword Density Formula = keywords used / no. of total words * 100
For example, if your content is 500 words long and the keyword is used 15 times in the content then keyword density is ( 15 / 500 ) x 100 = 3%.
So, while this is the concept of keyword density explained concisely, there are numerous other terms related to it.
If you truly want to become an SEO expert and have a precise understanding of the concept, then it is essential that you know about all such terms.
The Unique Concept of TF – IDF
This concept is unique because it allows measuring the keyword density through an advanced way. Also, known as Inverse Document Frequency or Term Frequency, this is an advanced technique to estimate the relevance of keyword density.
When there are variations in TF-IDF then it would be useful by search engines to identify the relevance of webpage content in accordance with the search query of the user.
Identifying Appropriate Keyword Density in SEO
There are no specific rules for using keyword density in SEO. For this reason, no one can tell you the exact number of times a keyword must appear in the content.
But yes, there are some considerations that can be used to identify the optimization of your content with a keyword search. This can be used to increase content visibility and enhance the overall experience for your audience.
Is Keyword Stuffing and Keyword Density Same?
A few years back, when SEO was still emerging, the practice of keyword stuffing came into existence. It was the practice to cram as many keywords as possible on a page. But it appeared more unnatural and forceful to the readers.
It is because keyword stuffing was performed including lengthy footers at the bottom of the webpage that would contain an innumerable set of keywords and their variants.
Though this practice appears slightly unusual today, it offered high optimization to websites in search engine results in an effortless way.
It was primarily because Google’s algorithms were not sophisticated enough to analyze the keywords stuffed in these pages.
But at present, this is almost a cheap practice that must be avoided at any cost. Presently, Google uses precise factors in its search algorithms to rank signals. Most importantly, if a site or page is identified being keyword stuffed then Google can issue a penalty against it. For such reasons, you must avoid keyword stuffing into your content, as this is likely to generate an adverse effect on the final results.
This brings us to the next question. How many different keywords must be used in the content?
Does Using Different Types of Keywords Affects Keyword Density?
Since there is no specific rule for using keywords or the density of keywords, so this makes the matter even more complicated. The keyword density may vary according to the nature of the content.
But you need to follow some guidelines to decide an appropriate keyword strategy. While most of the SEO experts suggest using one keyword in every 200 words, I would suggest you to keep altering the frequency as per the total content intensity.
Like sometimes I include keyword 3 times in a 300 words article as it is a high-volume keyword. And, even if it is a low-volume keyword still the usage is approximately 2 times in a 300 words article. This works an appropriate method for me.
So, how can I use the Different Keyword Variants?
Targeting keywords is still an important part of the modern SEO practices, and you can avail desired results only if you plan to include the keyword variants in your content.
Keyword variants are small variations of a particular keyword.
For example, a buyer searching for a second-hand mobile phone may search terms like, ‘used mobile phones for sale,’ ‘secondhand mobile phones for sale,’ ‘used phones for sale,’ and more.
These are closely related words having the same meaning but different terminology. But the keyword intent behind these terms is the same. The buyer is looking for used mobile phones or second-hand phones.
For this reason, it is vital to not just target the keyword but to also target the keyword variants. This anticipates different ways in which potential may work to track and show your business during Google search.
Using such variants in the keyword maximizes the potential visibility of the visitors.
But just like keyword density, even the concept of using keyword variants is also slightly complex. As a result, this can result in mistakes if handled incorrectly. Hence, you must exercise good judgment and caution when you select a keyword to be included in the content.
Know how Keyword Clustering is related to Keyword Density!
When the search algorithms of Google are taken into consideration then their relevance is important.
Although you must avoid stuffing your content with keywords, it is also true to some extent that Google algorithms look for semantically related keywords in the web content to identify contextual clues.
This forms the basis of the concept, Keyword clustering.
When search engine spiders of Google crawl and index a webpage, then they encounter numerous keywords on the webpage.
Such programs can contextualize keywords in accordance with the content surrounding them. This implies that Google wants certain keywords to be included in the context of other keywords. This results in keyword clustering, which can be highly effective to increase visibility on the web.
Unleashing the Secrets of Humming Bird Update for Keyword Density!
Hummingbird update is important as it has altered the way Google views relevancy.
Rather than searching for exact match keywords for a query, Google now focuses to understand the intent behind the query and identify pages that closely match the intent.
For instance, rather than just looking for examples of pizza outlets on pages, Google would also look for webpages that demonstrate the qualities that a pizza parlor must have, talking contextually about pizza parlors using conversational and natural language.
This shows that keyword density is not that much important as keyword relevance!
Moreover, it is essential to write about the correct subjects and rely on the natural tone to look after the remaining stuff.
Check My Modern SEO Practice
According to the latest research from SEMRush in 2017, the factors responsible for ranking suggests that the importance of keyword density was a matter of past.
A section of this report talks exclusively about the usage of keywords in the Meta description, title, and other parts of the content body.
A keyword with higher search volume would have a better correlation of being featured on the ranking page. This means keywords with high-volume are more likely to appear in descriptions, title, and body of the webpages.
But there is a major variation in the percentage. For example, 75% of webpages ranking with high-volume keywords, keywords were placed somewhere in the body, while just 35% pages rank for low-volume keywords had such keywords in the body.
So, does this mean that you must focus on keywords or not?
Keywords are still important, but not that much as they were essential historically. In fact, the top-ranked 15% pages don’t have a keyword in their body while the other 85% still do.
In addition to this, the high-volume keywords must be included in relevant places in the content. The more the number of times a keyword is included in the content, the more probabilities are it appearing on the Google search engine crawlers.
Important Points to Remember for Keyword Density:
So on the basis of all such facts and considerations, here are some important points about keyword density that must be considered.
1. Keyword Research is Still Important:
It is essential to conduct proper keyword research to determine the most valuable search targets. This would help you identify the best topics to write content about.
2. Keyword Placement is Crucial:
Another essential aspect to remember is to place the keywords in the right place and right proportion.
The correct placement of keywords matters a lot. Keywords must be placed in titles, heading one, and throughout the body of the content. Make sure you don’t bury the keywords at the end.
3. Include High-Volume Keywords:
Webpages ranking high for high-volume searches have more keywords as compared to those that rank for low-volume searches. This means that you must look for keywords that are more important to be included than searching only for long-tail keywords.
4. Using Natural Language and High-Quality Content are Major Priorities:
Last but not least, it is essential to use natural language and generate high-quality content, which is valuable to the readers. Make sure that the content must not interfere with the quality and language.
Key Takeaways!
I hope my post about keyword density has helped you to a great extent.
Though there are no set guidelines for keyword density from Google, still it plays a critical role in how your content appears, it’s readability and ranking. One thing I would like to mention here is that SEO is too intricate complex and involved more than just focusing on the keywords.
So, just practice what I also do!
Develop a customer-centric SEO strategy that meets your organizational goals as well as able to cater to the preferences and needs of your customers. At the same time, your SEO strategy must balance each element related to keywords. Eventually, you must be able to get the desired results from your SEO strategy and incorporate appropriate keyword density.