Improve Search Engine Ranking with Correct Keyword Density
by Herman Drost

If you are serious about improving search engine rankings, you
need to check the keyword density of your web site. In order to
do this you must integrate proper keyword phrases within your
meta tags and web copy. 

What is Keyword Density? 

This is the ratio of a keyword or keyphrase to the total words
(depth) on a page. It is one of the most critical aspects of 
search engine optimization. To improve search engine ranking, 
your keyword density must not be too high or too low. 

Try to aim for a keyword density of 1% to 7%. To achieve 1% you
would need to insert your keyword or keyword phrase once for
every hundred words. If you only used your keyword once in one
thousand words, this would result in diluting your keyword
density. 

Don't try to stuff all your keywords together, separated by
commas. Search engines may see this as spam, penalizing your
rankings. 

How To Improve Your Search Engine Ranking 

The best way to achieve good rankings, is to research the
appropriate keywords or keyword phrases related to your web 
copy before you even begin building your site. 

If your site is already built and on the Internet, you may want 
to consider reviewing the keywords and making the necessary
changes to your meta tags and web copy. Don't expect a high 
search engine ranking if your site is not targeted to the right 
audience.

If your site has a lot of graphics or flash and is short on
content, you should consider redesigning it. Search engines 
love content rich pages so use images and flash sparingly. 

1. Use Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com) or the Overture 
suggestion tool 
(http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion) to
research your keywords. These tools will show you how many times
a particular keyword was searched for each month. Using keywords 
in your web pages that nobody searches is pointless. 

2. The best keywords to insert into your web pages are those
that are very popular (high number of searches when using the
tools above) but that are used by a low number of competing 
websites. 

3. Select two or three of your most important keywords related
to your business and try to use them 3-7 times for every 100
words in your web copy.   

4. Incorporate these keywords or keyword phrases in your title,
description meta tag, keyword meta tag, alt tags (words that 
describe your images) comment tags, heading tags and the main 
text of your web copy. 

Search engines will spider the heading tags in your web copy
first (H1, H2, H3) because these stand out from your main text. 

5. Write your web copy so that it not only satisfies the search
engines but also is compelling enough for your web site visitors
to read (don't make it sound weird to read or obvious you are
just writing for the search engines). Repeat your keyword phrase
or combinations of them every few sentences. 

6. Write at least 250 words (or longer) for each of your web
pages. Search engines will spider the text near the top of the
page, rather than at the bottom. Therefore, include your 
keywords in the first 250 words on your page. 

7. To avoid making your text hard to read, split your paragraphs
into 2 or 3 sentences or make use of bullets. 

8. Avoid using words that may be popular but that are not 
related to your site (i.e. sex). This will not improve your 
search engine ranking and will only frustrate your visitors 
who are searching for relevant content. 

9. Keyword density analysis - use a keyword density analyzer to
check the keyword density of your web pages. This will tell you
if you have used too many or too few words in your web copy. 

http://www.keyworddensity.com 

10. Realize that not all search engines treat keyword density
the same. Some will only place significance on keywords in your
title, meta tags and web copy. Google (the most important search
engine) places the most significance on keywords in your web
page text. 

Conclusion: 
Achieving optimal keyword density throughout your web pages will 
dramatically improve search engine rankings and consequently 
boost your web site traffic. Try it..you will be pleasantly 
surprised! 


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Herman Drost is the author of the NEW ebook "101 Highly Effective 
Strategies to Promote Your Web Site" a powerful guide for 
attracting 1000s of visitors to your web site.
( http://www.isitebuild.com/web-site-promotion )
Subscribe to his "Marketing Tips" newsletter for more original
articles. mailto:subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more
of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles 
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