What is Keyword Density?
What is Keyword Density?
268
10-Dec-2020
Updated on 21-Jan-2025
Khushi Singh
21-Jan-2025Keyword density means the frequency with which a certain keyword or phrase has been used in the context of a webpage compared to the total number of words in that particular webpage. It defines the frequency of the keyword in the content and search engines will use it to position the keyword in the context of the page topic.
Best Practices:
Natural usage: Using only keyword phrases in a passage (also called keyword stuffing) can also lower both readability and its impression on a search engine's algorithm.
Optimal range: Two percent is usually held as a benchmark of what not to exceed for keyword density, that is a very basic rule of thumb but it is crucial to aim at producing good quality content that can benefit the user.
Keyword variation: Some search engines penalize websites that over-optimize keywords by making content look unnatural and include such keywords more repeatedly than necessary.
Keyword density is a factor in the SEO but does not in any way dictate how the search engines are going to rank the pages. It should always be understood that the work being done should be built to be functional for the end user, while also being functional for the search engines.
To learn more about optimizing keywords effectively for SEO, you can visit this SEO: Optimizing Keywords guide. It provides insights into keyword strategies, placement, and avoiding pitfalls like keyword stuffing.