I need to post on here a lot more often — just finding the time to do so is not easy these days.

I wanted to pass along some information about percentage amounts when it comes to keyword density — all search engines are different and what one sees as spam, the other is OK with.

Now, there is no given rule for the % of keywords you use in an article, but it’s best to follow these rules of thumb:

For Google: Keep your keyword density down to around 2%.

MSN and Yahoo: They are much more liberal and allow for a whopping 5%.

Here are a few other things to remember as well…

Some search engines actually attach greater importance to the keywords in your title, web copy and meta tags, and Google, widely regarded as the most important search engine, searches for keywords in your web page text.

Another thing to remember is that ideal keyword density changes with the type of keywords. For instance, when the keyword is very competitive the site’s owner should focus on no more than one word per page where as less competitive keywords should focus on two or three keywords per page. Usually, search terms are often moderately competitive keywords — these should be used on the home page and be linked with internal supporting pages.

In a nutshell, keyword density is actually more of a range than an actual figure, and a 1-7% density is what most pages should aim for. Here’s a quick breakdown of how to calculate:

For a 1% keyword density, use a keyword one time in every 100 words of text. You can do the math from there — hey, I can’t make it too easy:-) Using a keyword once in every 1000 words will water down your density and will, in turn, hurt your chances of ranking high in search engine results.
I’ll be sure to write more soon about the importance of using (but not overusing) keywords in your content, as well as other topics of interest to those needing or writing content.