There is no doubt that keywords and phrases have always been a key part of a website content optimization strategy. Everyone wants to appear in the results when Internet users search for keywords related to your business. One of the very important ranking factors was the keyword density in the text, i.e. the percentage of the keyword in the text. A happier translation of this term might be keyword frequency.

Find out below if this is still an important ranking factor and if there is a perfect percentage of keywords to use that can positively impact rankings.

Keyword density has long been considered one of the key ranking factors. Many still consider it to be an essential part of the SEO puzzle to achieve a position on the first page of Google . We know that keywords are important to Google and that it is quite logical that certain content can be ranked for a certain term only if it appears in the text.

What is keyword density?

Keyword density refers to the number of occurrences of a term or phrase in relation to the amount of text on a page. It is calculated by dividing the number of keywords by the total number of words on the page and multiplying by 100. For example, if a keyword is used 26 times in a 1,000 word article, then it has a keyword density of 2.6%. There are different claims about the “best” keyword density to aim for. You can hear 2% or 5%, or even 10%.

Is it a ranking factor?

Unlike other “myths” about ranking factors, this one is based on fact – keyword density used to be very important. But we’re talking about the earliest days of search. Nevertheless, the idea that keyword frequency is important for ranking has not been abandoned even today.

Keywords send signals to Google about what types of queries a page should be displayed for. If too few keywords are used, Google may not understand what the page is about. Using too many keywords can be perceived by Google as an attempt to manipulate search rankings, which is not acceptable.

So some people believe that there is a certain keyword density that is “just right” – the right balance between using too many and too few keywords. However, there is no magic number that will achieve good results for everyone. That’s not how Google works today.

The truth is quite simple: keyword usage is important, but achieving a certain ratio won’t help your SEO efforts. In fact, a site page can rank for a keyword even if that keyword never appears on that page. Which pretty much immediately debunks the whole idea of ​​the importance of keyword density.

To answer the question of whether keyword density is a Google ranking factor, we’ll take a look official Google video from 2011 , which is as relevant today as it was then. The video features Matt Cutts, who worked with Google from 2000 to 2015. He was the head of Google ‘s spam email team and acted as a liaison between the company and the SEO community.

Cutts confirmed that there is no ideal keyword density for Google . He said that overusing the keyword can do more harm than good. Mentioning a keyword several times in the text can help ranking, but more than that can cause Google to see it as keyword stuffing .

“…So the first few times you mention a word that could help you rank, absolutely. But just because you’ve repeated it seven or eight times, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to help your ranking.”

If keyword density is not a ranking factor, then what is the right way to use keywords?

Once you’ve identified the keywords you want to use, Cutts recommended writing content long enough to incorporate those keywords into the content in a natural way. Read the content out loud when you’re done writing and cut out anything that doesn’t sound right.

Using synonyms whenever possible can help you avoid using the same keyword over and over. For example, in this part of the text we could replace “keyword density” with “keyword frequency”.

Synonyms are also a great way to keep the reader’s attention and can even help you rank for other terms. Google understands synonyms, which means it’s possible for a page to rank when it’s not optimized for the exact term entered in the search bar.

Don’t obsess over keyword density. Cutts ‘ advice was clear: stop obsessing keyword density. Be wary of anyone who says otherwise.

Use the keyword in your page title, meta description and first paragraph. Then limit the use to a few more times throughout the text.

There is no perfect keyword percentage to use because keyword density is not a ranking factor.

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Source: Searchenginejournal