What are Keyword Search and Keyword Density?

There have been many instances when I am at a meeting with a client discussing a website project, planning how to create and implement when they would ask – can you make sure that keyword search is enabled so that it climbs the Google ladder. Most of the time, it is a catch phrase that they picked from some website or some news article without much knowledge as to what it really is and what is involved behind this. Here is my stab from various articles that I have found online…

What is a keyword?

A keyword is essentially any word or phrase you use when searching with a search engine. The search engine does its best to match your words with the words on websites. The mathematics involved are complicated (and way over my head), but the first link you see in the search results should be the best match for your keyword, followed by the second best, and so on and so forth.

What is keyword density?

Keyword density is referred to as the percentage of certain word or words or phrase or phrases contained within the total number of words on a web page. Such word(s) or phrase(s) are known as keyword(s) or keyphrase(s). The keywords are, generally, targeted words that the users are most likely to type in the text box of popular search engines, like Google, to reach your website. The rule is simple. The greater the number of keyword(s) or keyphrase(s) in the text, the greater will be the keyword density. For instance, consider an article of 500 words, wherein the keyword “flower” appears 10 times. The keyword density of that article for the keyword “flower” is 2%, i.e., 10/500 * 100.

Why is Keyword Density Important?

Keyword density is an important parameter in your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) campaign. The assumption is that the algorithm of search engines works in a way that favours ideal keyword density, i.e., if a user queries for a keyword, he will be shown the results of web pages that contain the keyword in an optimum density. The more near to the ideal keyword density, the higher the rank of that web page.
It was an over-simplistic method of getting the higher ranks for any website. However, over the years, the Search Engine algorithms have improved dramatically. They deploy different techniques of measuring keyword density and importantly, keyword density is not the sole factor determining the rank of a web page.

What is the perfect keyword density?

The perfect keyword density is varies because different search engines employ different techniques to measure keyword density. Therefore there is no straightforward reply to this question. However, a commonly accepted figure of 2%-4% is generally advised by the marketers to the copywriters. Some strategists still rely on heavier keyword density (10% and even more).
The important aspect that should never be forgotten in the context of keyword density is that your keywords should not appear to have been stuffed in the text, which destroys its context. The quality of the content should not be compromised as the modern Search Engines lay a much greater emphasis on the quality in determining the perfect keyword density.
You can easily determine the keyword density of your text with the help of freely available tools. However, never lose focus on the richness of your content, which is both user-friendly, as well as Search Engine friendly.

A few tips for writing with keywords:

Use keywords in headlines and subheadings.
Use keywords in bullet lists.
It’s okay to use variations of and synonyms for your keywords.