Comments on: SEO keyword density: lose this relic and adopt best practices

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:29:05 +0000

Hi, Julien!

The best indicator is what Matt Cutts says in his video (and what I’ve been saying for years.) When you finish writing, print out the sales page (or blog post) and read it out loud. If it sounds keyphrase-stuffed, you’ll want to cut down on the keyphrase usage. Exact match the keyphrase, yes, but you don’t necessarily have to do it a certain percentage of the time to gain relevancy. According to Cutts, just one exact match shows Google that the page is relevant for X phrase.

Google has gotten smarter, and can understand synonym usage and the intent of the page much better than they have in the past. So, pay attention to your keyphrases – and certainly have a great Title. But I would still ignore any kind of keyphrase density range.

I hope that helps!

By: Julien

Julien — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:31:04 +0000

Hi Laura, I know this article has been online for awhile now and I hope this comment finds you well.
I was just wondering what you thought about plugin like WordPress SEO by Yoast.
I have been using it a lot and it uses the keyword density as an indicator of the optimization of the page, giving warning below 1% and above 5%.
I know that you say there is no such things as keyword density right now, and I agree, but text quality wise, would you agree that this range is optimal to tell if a page is relevant for the keyword you are trying to focus on and rank for?

Thank you for your post!

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 01:47:37 +0000

Yes, absolutely! I think you’re onto something Thanks for your comment!

By: Kundan Bhardwaj

Kundan Bhardwaj — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 05:22:38 +0000

Its always been a myth and even now the keyword density should be what % remains unrevealed.

By: Dgraine

Dgraine — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:13:13 +0000

I agree it’s not good to stress over keyword density. Keyword density tools do have a use though in my opinion.. they show what words are being repeated more then others.

By: Tom Pearson

Tom Pearson — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:01:10 +0000

Very good. That presentation could be very useful next time a client needs convincing.

I get asked about keyword density on an (almost) daily basis. It’s getting less and less important but there are so many people who are stuggling to let go.