I read somewhere that you should repeat at least 3 times your targeted keywords in the body of your website.
I was wondering if there is an upper limit on how much you can repeat your keywords before they start hurting you with the search engines (i.e. the search engines discard them as spam).
Anyone here knows????

www.bruceclay.com

Use the tools on that site for each site you're working on, and the answer will suddenly become quite clear.

A really simple way to think about keyword density is to just write your content for your visitors. If the copy reads well for a human being you've used the right amount of keywords.

The point being not to worry so much about keyword density. Yes it's a ranking factor and no it's probably not going to make a big difference one way or the other.

When I write my own pages I use my keywords in the copy when it makes sense to mention them. I really don't think much about them at all. But if I happen to be writing a page about 'honda automobiles' it's only natural I would end up using the words honda and automobile a few times. I'll still use car if automobile sounds awkward because I've used it a couple of times in a paragraph already and I'll also mention accord or civic instead of always saying honda.

If it doesn't read well for human beings it doesn't matter how much traffic you get from a search engine or any other source.

As for how much is too much. I don't know if there's an exact answer, but if you keep it under 10% you're probably safe, though 10% might already be pushing the envelope a bit. The number though is really just a guess on my part.

The ideal amount would be 2 % of your total words. Try using this tool to check :
http://www.live-keyword-analysis.com/

There is no "ideal" amount. Just because some "tool" says 2% why do you think that is "ideal"??

You could write a page that had 1000 random words that included 20 of your chosen word. Now how ideal would that be???

Search engine algos have gone beyond 1995, they don't rely on a word count any more.

I didn't say it based on some "tool". I just mentioned it as in some SEO experts think it would be best if it's 2%. "Ideal" means what people think the most suitable amount it should be. Of course different people view their "ideal" amount differently.

If you are going to consider densities it would have to be compared to competing pages. If another website had x% you would need (x+1)%. You can't just say aim for 2%, it's meaningless. I've got a page with 100 words on it and one is a made-up nonsense word that appears nowhere else on the internet. Searching for it I rank #1 at 1% density purely because it doesn't occur anywhere else.

I would forget magic numbers and just write compelling content.

Ok. So why the link to one such "tool" then ?

BTW any SEO "expert" drivelling on about "keyword density" you can pretty much ignore.

common sense should tell you how pointless it is;

A page with 2 words on it (both the same) is 100%, if the two words are different that's 50% for each word.

some say 2%, i think 5-8%. it differs from person to person...

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Ok. So why the link to one such "tool" then ?

BTW any SEO "expert" drivelling on about "keyword density" you can pretty much ignore.

common sense should tell you how pointless it is;

A page with 2 words on it (both the same) is 100%, if the two words are different that's 50% for each word.

That "tool" link is just for anyone's conveniences. If you find it useless and pointless, then, don't use it. I'm just trying to help if anyone is looking for such tool. That's all.

Originally Posted by dwirken

some say 2%, i think 5-8%. it differs from person to person...

Yes true.
It used to be up near 10% but thats too high.

4-5% is acceptable these days.

Yeah maybe 10% is high. I know it was just a guess on my part. I never really pay attention to keyword density though. I couldn't tell you the density of any of my pages. I think if you just write a page for people and write naturally you'll find you end up near 5% density.

And you really don't need to find an ideal density to get pages ranking well.

yes indeed..

when i'm writing content i don't mind density... i try to reach 5-8%, but most of the time it ends up to be 3% or something... don't bother density your visitors need to read it your visitors need to click your ads.. so keep THEM satisfied with quality

I always feel that keyword density of 2-5% is the best. Anything more than 10% would be deemed as keyword stuffing. Be careful with your use of keywords.

Here you are read this thoroughly then see if you still think keyword density is important

The Keyword Density of Non-Sense.

BTW the writer goes by the handle of Orion at many forums

oh my god...

someone actually made up a FORMULA for that?!!?!?!?!??!?!

I never heard of keyword stuffing before, but I guess that it sounds about right

Interesting tools. I just checked some pages on my site and I am between 1 1/2-5%. So, I guess that is on the low side. And, I always thought I used the words 'photo' and 'classified' way too much but I needed to use them to get my message across. Apparently, I didn't overuse them. I am nowhere near 10%!