Buckle up your keyword density seatbelt!
For those of you unfamiliar, keyword density is a combination of the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase appears on a web page, in quantity with other words. The more times the keyword appears on the web page, the higher the overall keyword density (more of the same keyword or keyword phrase concentrated on one page).
Arguably, keyword density can boost your search engine rankings, while others worry about keyword stuffing penalties. Some say that different search engines have separate standards for the number of times you can use your keyword on your site without invoking a penalty.
So what can you do and why will you get a pat on the hand?
I think with all the internet marketing you should do your homework before experimenting with anything new. However, after some pretty extensive research, I think I can clear up some of the most common questions, and then I’ll leave the final decision up to you.
Let’s start looking for “too many” keywords.
I think it’s safe to say that your web page can have an unlimited number of keywords as long as the page contains other suitable keywords to balance those keywords. However, from what I’ve studied, you should target your keywords to five percent or less if you want to avoid Google’s filters.
More importantly, you must have a page that is easy for your site visitors to read. There is no point in creating a web page that involves keyword stuffing. Your web page will no longer be informative to your visitors, not to mention poorly written copy is not a good sales or marketing approach.
Now let’s take a look at keyword stuffing and penalty.
Yes, your site can and probably will be penalized for keyword stuffing (a very exhaustive posting of keywords within a web page copy, dominating the rest of the page content). Keyword stuffing can surely get Google to take a look at the content on your site.
In recent studies, Google seems to be the most sensitive to excessive use of keywords on a page. The price you could pay for keyword stuffing is demotion in search results, loss of Google Page Rank, or worse, perhaps a ban.
The best solution is to consider your visitors and what will benefit them from reading your content. If you write for your guest and not just to rank higher on the first page of a search engine, you will surely be safe.
