Content and Keyword Density Optimization

Search engines search for text, and if there isn't any meaningful text on your site then no one is going to find it. If your site is basically e-commerce and is just product information and a shopping cart, this can pose a problem. Try to provide all the information you can relating to your product. If you sell widgets, talk about how the widgets are made, what you can do with the widgets, free widget recipes, etc. Free content is a really great way to keep your customers coming back as well as being a good search engine strategy.

Keyword Density:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page. In the context of search engine optimization keyword density can be used as a factor in determining whether a web page is relevant to a specified keyword or keyword phrase.

In the late 1990s, which was the early days of search engines, keyword density was an important factor in how a page was ranked. However, as webmasters discovered this and the implementation of optimum keyword density became widespread, it became a minor factor in the rankings. Search engines began giving priority to other factors that are beyond the direct control of webmasters. Today, the overuse of keywords, a practice called keyword stuffing, will cause a web page to be penalized.

Many SEO experts consider the optimum keyword density to be 1 to 3 percent. Using a keyword more than that could be considered search spam. 

Keyword Optimization:

The basic theory to keyword optimization is that each page should be as focused as possible on one or two keyword phrases, so the search engine will think it's highly relevant to those terms. Ideally you would create one page for each of your keywords and devote that page just to that keyword.

Here's a way to think about this—when Google is going through your site it is looking to try to figure out what each page is about. It does this by looking at a) the title tag, b) the <h1> tag, c) other on page elements like body text and d) incoming text links. So ideally you would to choose one keyword or phrase for each page (ie blue widgets) and make all those elements have the text “blue widgets”. So the <title> would be “Blue Widgets”, on the page you would write <h1>Blue Widgets</h1>, you would mention blue widgets in the text several times, and you would link to the page on your other pages and/or from other sites with the link text of “blue widgets”.

But you also have to keep your site readable and useful, so you have to create a balance. But the point is you want to convince Google that your page is more about Blue Widgets than any other webpage out there. Aim for 300-400 words on each page with 10-15% keyword density—but this is a rough guide, as Google changes its algorithm often and there is much debate on what is ideal.

Site Structure:

Don't use frames and don't use splash screens (intro pages that basically look pretty and say “click here to enter site”). Both are annoying to both users and search engines. Your homepage will naturally probably have the highest PageRank because your incoming links will mostly be to your homepage. Be sure to spread that around by linking to as much of your site from the homepage as possible. Also be sure to interlink your site well, so each page has a number of incoming links to it from other pages on the site.

Tools and Information:

• Search Engine World Tools – keyword density checker, ‘simulate a search spider’ tool, etc.

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