How many keywords we should aim to include on each web page?

[Andrea]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me how many keywords we should aim for to include on each web page?

Also, where for example 'widgets' is one keyword. Are phrases such as 'widgets for sale' considered also to be one keyword.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Andrea
No specific keywords, please. Thx!

[edited by: mona at 9:39 pm (utc) on June 9, 2005]

[leadegroot]

3 - 5 key*phrases* rather than keywords is a good target for the average page.

[hp11]

I use to always say two, but no more than three per page. But, as of late, I have had more success with one keyword/phrase per page.

[patoruzu]

Snipped

[thomas77]

we aim to one keyword by two or more pages

[noblehouse]

I have been under the impression that the less keywords the better.

[WiseSEO]

It depends on different factors including the competition in your field and the strength of your pages.

Sometimes you have to create an entire website with hundreds pages to get ranked in top 10 by just 3-5 keywords, and sometimes you can optimize a page for 10 and more keywords at once if they're not very competitive.

But in average I agree that a web page should be optimized for 2-3 main keywords (home page may undertake 3-5 keywords).

[DavidCastle]

I really wonder some times why so many people have this 'infactuation' with keywords. If you place the same paraphrase in your description tags more than twice, you are spamming. But with the new algorythym systems in use, the spiders barely go near your tags, they may find the same expression in say a news page on your site placed over and over again, that is not spamming that is content. And that is what is required. Content is King, updates are the Queen.

[sem4u]

But with the new algorythym systems in use, the spiders barely go near your tags...

News to me...last time I looked there were pulling lots of text for SERPs desciptions from the meta description tag...

[mona]

Also, where for example 'widgets' is one keyword. Are phrases such as 'widgets for sale' considered also to be one keyword.

'Widget' is a keyword. 'Widgets for sale' is a keyword phrase. In other words, anything over one word is a keyword phrase.

Can anyone tell me how many keywords we should aim for to include on each web page?

I agree with WiseSEO. It really depends on how competitive the KW phrase is and what your site is like. But remember that when people find your site, they're going to find it KW combinations you never thought of. So don't waste too much energy with specific phrases unless your site is limited to just a few things. This is one of my favorite articles. Give it read when you have some time - Search Engine Theme Pyramids [searchengineworld.com] Good luck, Andrea.

[oldpro]

instead of focusing on one keyword or kw phrase...ie; "widgets" / "widgets for sale"...study up on LSI (latent semantic indexing). SE's, especially google, are migrating toward this method. Think in terms of word clusters (other keywords commonly associated with your target kw.).

There are resources available on the web to identify word clusters. Also study the semantics of the top ranked sites in the keyword sector you are targeting to get ideas.

Once you identify associated words, work them into the content of your site...along with your primary keyword or phrase of course. You may have 1 or 2 primary keywords, but you could have a dozen or so associated keywords that give weight to your primaries.

Using this method will increase your probability of success more so than attempting to guess the correct density and proximity for a particular sector.