What is the optimal keyword density?

[businessezines]

Question of you optimizing gurus...assuming a page is built with 250 - 300 words what is the optimum keyword density for Google? At what point does kw density begin to be considered spam or incur a penalty?

[Quinn]

If you're worried about having too much then you probably have too much already. If the page reads fine and you feel as if you've included as many terms/instances as you could then you're probably ok.

If you're not concerned with how the page reads then you're probably going to have to do a bit of research on it. ;)

[businessezines]

The name of the game is site optimization. I can write non-spammy copy with a wide range of KW density. I just want to know the optimum percentage to target to achieve a top 10 ranking for that KW.

[Quinn]

optimum percentage to target to achieve a top 10 ranking for that KW

Doesn't matter then. You're not going to get a penalty unless the site really is not readable. If you're talking about Google, I wouldn't worry about keyword density at all.

[spiky]

We aim for 6-8%, but a lot depends on how competative a term is and anything up to 20% can get good results and not be picked up as spam if it reads well.

Don't underestimate linkage effects, and OPD inclusion effects of where you will feature.

There seems to be no set answer to this question.

[businessezines]

Spiky,
I have a site that has a 30% keyword density. It reads fine, not spammy, as many of the keywords are in links. Should I be worried with a KW density this high?

[edited by: businessezines at 12:50 am (utc) on Mar. 26, 2003]

[Receptional Andy]

It depends on a lot more than just 'density'. How many words in your keyphrase? How much of your density is included in links, in H1 text, in alt tags? What did you use to arrive at the density of your page?

38% seems to me a little high, but this is very reliant upon context.

[businessezines]

Two words are in the KW I am targeting. 5 are in links, 5 are in different H1 tags, 10 are in the body copy, 3 are in alt tags. I used a keyword analyzer I found from a link on this website - [searchengineworld.com...]

[Receptional Andy]

In retrospect, my post above seems to imply that there is an 'optimal' keyword density, but i'm not sure that this is actually the case.

Your best bet is to see what Google thinks of your current page and refine it accordingly.

(With regard your actual page. In my opinion 5 in links, 5 H1 tags, 10 in the body copy, 3 in alt tags might be too high for a 250 - 300 word page. It sounds like you might be pushing the keyword to the extent where the page is no longer useful to visitors)

[businessezines]

One factor involved here is my domain name, and business name include the keywords I am targeting.

By the way, Google hasn't visited my site in a long, long time. I redid it and submitted it about 3 weeks ago. Any idea when they might come by?

[spiky]

Google should be due an update at the end of the month, but the last one was very delayed.

Try a few versions with the keyword phrases in various concentrations (I use Bretts sim spider keyword analyser for this, edit post and analyse until you get the density chosen) and interlink the pages.

Use descriptive sub domains containing keywords where possible ( I know this doesn't count for much, but it doesn't hinder..)