Once upon a time, people stuffed keywords into articles so many times that they were nearly unreadable. This was because the Internet was a very different place in its infancy; the only way for search bots to find interesting keyword content was through keyword repetition. Unfortunately, this “Are we there, yet?”, “Are we there, yet?” SPAM-like technique worked for a time.
There were also other sneaky tactics that could help a company cheat its way to the top; some webmasters hid keywords on their pages, and still others used keywords that had nothing to do with their website just to draw in bigger traffic. Today, thanks to modern algorithm technology by major search engines, these practices are mostly outdated. Keyword stuffing can now get your website penalized, or flagged as SPAM. This is why knowing the appropriate keyword density is so important.
For those who don’t know, keyword density is the number of times that your chosen phrase is repeated on a page when compared to the total number of words. In order to figure out the “right” keyword density you need to know the total number of words in the article and exactly how many times your phrase is used. The rules are always changing, but today may recommend a keyword density of no more than 1%–and even less just to be safe. This is due to Google’s new algorithm update, which emphasizes natural repetition instead of “over-optimization.”
Don’t forget to use your keyword in places such as the title, and the meta tags. You also want to try to use your chosen phrase in the first paragraph of your content or article, as well as the last paragraph. Due to ever advancing algorithms, keywords must fit into content so that they read for humans and not bots. If it is just a random smattering of words that make little sense, you could be penalized and your rankings will drop.
Basically, you want to keep your content reading naturally, so that it can be enjoyed by readers, not robots. Imagine you are sharing information with a newspaper audience or magazine subscribers. If you need help with writing, an SEO firm can provide a solution.
