On Page Keyword Density and Placement - Applying the Tools to the Job
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There is no magic keyword density formula. There are only some guidelines to consider when deciding how heavily to place keywords on a web page. Google has the strictest requirements regarding keyword density. No more than 2% of a web page's words should be the targeted keywords. Any more will be considered spamming.
On the other hand, Yahoo! and MSN Search have much higher keyword density tolerances, perhaps as high as 5% of total words. That difference leaves quite a distance between the optimum limits for Google and the levels permissible in Yahoo! and MSN. A prudent webmaster will recognize that a trade off will be necessary, while ensuring that the copy reads well for potential customers and clients.
The ideal compromise is to maximize the keyword levels for Google, without writing copy that doesn't read well. Use the keywords only where they make sense when reading the copy. Poorly written copy might draw some extra visitor traffic but is unlikely to convert that traffic into sales.
A website owner should be certain that the page's most important keyword is included in the page title. Each web page should have a unique title, providing an extra keyword boost to that page. Titles are a very crucial part of the various search engine algorithms, and are an important way to prominently display the most sought after keyword on the page.
A good plan is to have a well-linked site map connecting the various supporting page to the main targeted page. The links to the targeted page should contain appropriate anchor text, emphasizing the main keyword. Each supporting page should be part of the overall theme, and provide additional keywords for the focus page. It is especially important to have as many theme related pages as possible, in highly competitive situations.
Try to get your linking partners to use link anchor text that contains your targeted keywords. For highly competitive keywords, strong anchor text from as many incoming links as possible is vital for your pages to appear in the search rankings at all. While it's highly unlikely that all inbound links will contain the same link text, be sure it's not all identical in wording to avoid triggering any link text filters.
While it is debatable whether placing keywords early in the on page copy is helpful in Google, higher placement does appear to have some benefit in Yahoo! and MSN Search. Those search engines give some additional weight to bolded keywords as well. With keyword placement, early positioning is probably a good idea, provided the text flows well to the reader. Keywords sprinkled appropriately throughout the copy provide the best of both worlds.
Bolding keywords appears to help rankings in Yahoo! and possibly MSN Search as well. The practice seems to have less influence in the Google search placements, however. Larger size fonts provide similar results. Enclosing the most important keywords in h1 and h2 tags to add extra keyword density works with all search engines, provided the tags are used sparingly. Overuse could result in a loss of search rankings.
Adding a blog or forum component to a website significantly increases the overall site total of keywords. The additional keywords help to enhance the overall themes of the site.
With its regular, almost daily postings, a blog will add huge numbers of well themed keyword rich pages to the site. The frequency and freshness of the postings gives the site very favorable treatment in the search engines. The naturally attracted incoming links, a hallmark of blogs, are often accompanied by keyword anchor text and theme related sending pages.
Adding a forum to the site lets the forum's own visitor traffic add unlimited keyword laden pages to the website. The additional pages move a site further along the road to authority site status, with the many keyword rich incoming links provided by referring forum members.
Conclusion
Keywords are the reasons that people discover a website. Through searches for information, visitors are led to a website. It's important that a site provide as many opportunities to be included in those search results as possible.
By using the many tools at a webmaster's disposal, a site can rank well for its most important keywords. By watching the density of the keywords on the page, and maximizing their effectiveness, a site can take full advantage of the various search engine algorithms.
Proper keyword placement, both on and off the page, will provide an additional keyword boost as well.
Take care of your most important keywords, and they will take care of you.
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