How much repetition of keyword is too much?

[gci1]

I am trying to use relevant keywords for my site but since so many of my keywords/ phrases have the word "sales" in them I am worried it may be overlooked by spiders. Is there a fixed or rough estimate for how many are OK?

Here are some examples of my keywords/ phrases:

sales compensation, sales commissions, sales incentives, sales metrics, sales forecasting, sales forecasts, sales planning, sales pipeline, sales analysis, sales reporting, sales cycle, sales plan, sales reporting, etc.......

[gci1]

To clarify my post, I am talking about META Keywords.

[httpwebwitch]

according to some conservative sources, your meta keyword string should be under 200 chars, but it could consist of the same word repeated 50 times with no penalty.

In fact, meta keywords just don't matter; they are no longer weighed by search engines the way they once were. I assert that it is a waste of your time to concern yourself with the meta keywords whatsoever. Meta Description is more important since it is used as a site descriptor on some SERPs

[mona]

Hi, gci1 and welcome to WebmasterWorld! httpwebwitch is right, meta KW tags carry little or no weight as a ranking factor. I'd recommend spending as much time as you can daily reading through the forums. There is more information then you'll ever be able use! A good place to start is hitting the 'library' links at the top of a forum that interests you. They contain many helpful posts. I'd also recommend Brett's -
Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone [webmasterworld.com]
And one of my personal favorites -
Theme Pyramids [searchengineworld.com]

[gci1]

Thanks for the advice:)

[hfwd]

I think the consensus is that meta keywords are not valued for ranking - but is the reverse true? I'm talking about penalty because of meta keywords stuffing.

If there is one, then meta keywords are a liability with no upside.