How much does mentioning keywords amongst...

...multiple pages instead of just one, help rank in the SERPs?

[dreamache]

I know when you're trying to rank high for one particular keyword, you make a page specifically for it. It seems logical to me that if you dedicate a number of pages to that keyword however (or at least be sure to make mentions of it as frequently as possible), it will help you in the SERPs. I assume this is true, but I must ask, so is it? :)

If so, I imagine there comes a point in which you might be penalized for excessive content - although I'm sure you would be fine if it were genuinely unique unduplicated content.

Thanks.

[Broadway]

I do this a lot. I divide my site into "topics". Each topic is usually 5 or more pages. In general there is only one main ("most searched for") keyword that is applicable for each topic. Each page is unique content.

It's the shotgun approach. Usually the first page of the topic is the one that turns up highest in the SERPs but not always. Sometimes there is some aspect of one of the other pages that catches the search engines eye and I end up with a higher ranking than if I just had the one page. I would think a lot of people use this approach.