Keyword density is an SEO term that is used to describe the amount of times a specific word or phrase appears on a webpage.  There is no specific rule as to what an ideal density should be but many search engine optimisers agree that anything under 5% is generally okay although 2-3% is much better.  If this is all a bit confusing to you we will try and explain things a bit better and let you know how you can check the keyword density of a website in the easiest possible way.

The Importance of Keyword Density

As mentioned above, keyword density is generally measured by a percentage.  The higher the percentage the more weight the search engines will give your website for a specific keyword and the more likely you are to rank higher in the search engines.  A keyword can be included in the text, in the image tags, in captions and even in the advertising.  Although there is a lot more to an SEO strategy than writing keyword optimised content it is still an important part of the process.  When writing content you should aim to include your keyword in a 2-3% density.  Anything over 5% can be classed as spam and could lead to your website being delisted in the search engines.

Working Out Keyword Density

To work out keyword density you can use a simple equation:

The number of times the keyword is repeated / the total number of words on the page x 100

So for example if you have an article of 100 words and have a one keyword phrase such as snowboarding.  If you repeat this word three times you have a 3% keyword density.

Is It All About Writing For the Search Engines?

In a word… no!  If you are only looking for search engine rankings you might as well spin an article and make sure your keyword is included a few times.  Whilst you may (and I say may lightly as the search engines are clever and getting cleverer by the day) receive a few visits from the search engines if you go down this route, you are likely to have an incredibly high bounce rate, as no reader will stick around to read content that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t give them what they are looking for.  SEO content needs to be primarily written for a reader but also written so that it is easy for the search engines to crawl and understand in order for your webpage to rank for the keywords you are aiming for.

The Keyword Density Tool

The Keyword Density Tool enables webmasters to optimise their pages to the keyword density that they are aiming for.  All you need to do is enter your website address into the tool and the tool will tell you what one word, two word and three word phrases your site is currently optimised for.  By using the tool, webmasters can see which phrases have a high keyword density and which have a low keyword density; they can then optimise their page content to appropriate levels.