Targeted Content versus Keyword Density

by Kathy John

While looking for information about writing for Website pages, you simply can't avoid the topic "keyword density." I would like to start with a definition - Keyword density measures the percentage of keywords and key phrases compared to the total number of words in your Web page body.

There are many opinions about what percentage is the so called "magic number." I have seen recommendations ranging from 2 to 18 percent. This disparity can be confusing. Keyword density can make a huge difference in the quality of the text on the page and have a big impact on your conversion rate.

When you are too attached to hitting a percentage, you may be focusing more on the search engines as compare to your website's human audience. If you are doing so, this can detract from the original goal of the web page, which is to convert visitors into paying clients.



A Key Concept: The key concept to remember is "targeted content." While it is important to know the keywords that suit your product or service and use them within the content of your webpage, insisting that those phrases be repeated a particular number of times can make what you are writing dull and unreadable. So what is a writer to do?

First and foremost, when writing content for a Web page, there are several questions that need to be answered like:

What do you want to accomplish with this content? Are you trying to sell a product or get someone to sign up for a service? Do you want your visitors to subscribe to a blog or newsletter? Do you want them to visit a physical location or does your Website cater only to cyberspace? Are you trying to persuade people to see a certain point of view?

Every webpage should have a unique purpose. Once you have figured out your goals, the next question you need to ask yourself is:

Who is your audience?

You have to know about your targeted visitors and make sure that your webpage content should be effective and eye catching. One of the things I like to do once I have figured out my demographic, is to look at a picture of someone I know who fits that image. For example - if I am writing a webpage that sells gift items for young guys, I look at a picture of my mom sitting with my niece and nephew and I write the things that I know will convince her to buy that present for them.

Now that you have figured out what you want to accomplish with your writing and whom you are writing for, it is time to ask another vital question:

How is your target audience going to find you?

We live in an extremely diverse culture. Different segments of the population have many different names for the same things depending on where you live and how you were brought up. For example, you may call it a frankfurter, but someone else might call it a hot dog, frank, wiener, wiener dog, foot long or red hot. You simply should not assume that everyone refers to products and services the same way and it is vital to know the terms that searchers are using when they go to the search engines.

There are several keywords research tools that can show you which terms people are looking for and help you decide which keywords you should target with your copy.

Start Writing - Once you have identified your keywords, your audience and your purpose, it's time to get down to writing. So what should your keyword density be? The important thing is to keep the content on the page about your topic or "on target."

Four percent density is best, but that's a guideline. Often people take that guideline too seriously. Don't worry about it if you only hit 3.5 percent for a particular key phrase. Writing content for a Web page is a delicate balance of using your keywords enough so that the search engine spiders can find and index your webpage and not so much as to make the copy unbearable for your human readers.

The golden rule: Do not sacrifice the user experience in the hope that the search engines will raise your rankings.

The primary mission of the search engines is to help people easily find what they are looking for. The primary mission of your Web page should be to convert visitors into paying clients & the primary mission of the copywriter is to create original, relevant content that can accomplish both of those objectives.

General Guidelines for Keyword Density and SEO:

Put your keyword phrase at the beginning of your page title. Put your keyword phrase near the beginning of your page description. Put your keyword phrase first in your list of keywords. Put your keyword phrase near the beginning of your first paragraph. Include your keyword phrase once in every two or three paragraphs. Don't do it much more than that. Put your keyword phrase in the last paragraph

About the Author

Kathy John is an eminent analyst and writer of Information Technology Industry. He has authored many books on SEO India and Search Engine optimization . Currently he is rendering his services to http://www.profitbysearch.com.