Keyword Density - Are You Getting the Right Result?

Written by Andy Theekson


When checking keyword density, would it shock you to knowrepparttar results from using different analyzer's can differ by over 150%. I used 5 analyzer's and rarely got close torepparttar 127928 same keyword count or word count with any of them.

If you're using an analyzer to optimize web pages for keyword density and you should, it's important to measure keyword density to see ifrepparttar 127929 right figure's achieved. When using a keyword density analyzer how do you know ifrepparttar 127930 analyzer's givingrepparttar 127931 right density & what'srepparttar 127932 right density anyway ?

I set about trying 5 analyzer's on 5 different pages ranked from position 1 to 30 on Google.com. I wanted to see how important keyword density was to ranking order and findrepparttar 127933 right figure.

If you don't know what keyword density is, it'srepparttar 127934 number of keyword's divided byrepparttar 127935 word count onrepparttar 127936 page expressed as a percentage. So, 20 keyword's on a page with a total word count of 500 should be 20/500 or a keyword density of 4%. As we'll see, it's not quite so simple.

A keyword density of between 2% to 20% for a page is often quoted as a target figure. Personally I think at 20% you would be regarded byrepparttar 127937 search engine as spamming (to much repetition) for which you could find your site penalised. It would also not make very interesting reading.

It might seem obvious to say, but there are only two ways to get higher keyword density. One is more frequent use ofrepparttar 127938 keyword or phrase,repparttar 127939 other is having fewer words.

It's only when using an analyzer to look at keyword density, you start to realise how difficult & time consuming it can be to reach keyword density figures of 4 to 5% never mind anything higher. Reducingrepparttar 127940 words on a page often seems likerepparttar 127941 easier answer to improving density.

Some optimizer's believe that some search engines look at word count as well as density. It then adds a weighting factor against a page with a low count, compared to say another page withrepparttar 127942 same density but a higher word count.

But is it true, or a theory and what's an acceptable word count ?

A well known and respected analyzer that many optimizer's use, for Google.com recommended a total word count of 505 to 795 with 436 to 629 words inrepparttar 127943 body text.

I carried out an experiment on Google.com running a query onrepparttar 127944 exact phrase "keyword density" and then used a keyword density analyzer to determinerepparttar 127945 density & word count for chosen pages inrepparttar 127946 Google rankings.

Each page was stored torepparttar 127947 hard drive to ensurerepparttar 127948 software was analyzingrepparttar 127949 same page each time. Forrepparttar 127950 exact phrase "keyword density" there were 55,100 other competing pages on Google.

Keyword Density onrepparttar 127951 total page

The table this section refers to is at: Table 1

Inrepparttar 127952 keyword density columnrepparttar 127953 1st figure is for "keyword" and in brackets for "density". Only position 30 complies withrepparttar 127954 analyzers recommended total word count!

Fromrepparttar 127955 keyword density analyzer results it's clearrepparttar 127956 No.1 position is not being significantly penalised for only having a word count of 161 and neither is No.10 with 102 words when compared torepparttar 127957 others.

Interestinglyrepparttar 127958 No.10 & 19 positions have almost identical keyword density, still with low word count, butrepparttar 127959 one with lower count getsrepparttar 127960 higher ranking.

We know keyword density is notrepparttar 127961 only factor to determine page rank. What about keywords inrepparttar 127962 Meta Tags and link text andrepparttar 127963 main body content ?

For Googlerepparttar 127964 keyword and description Meta Tags are supposed to be ignored. However a recent report by Jon Ricerca of www.searchenginegeek.com entitled "Doesrepparttar 127965 Keywords Metatag Affect SE Ranking?" would seem to suggest that might not be true.

Inrepparttar 127966 first part of this article,repparttar 127967 Meta Tag's don't seem to matter sincerepparttar 127968 No.1 posn does not have them!

Next, a keyword inrepparttar 127969 visible link text and 2nd inrepparttar 127970 actual link URL to a page,repparttar 127971 href part.

Fromrepparttar 127972 Keyword Density Analyzer, Posn 1 has keyword's inrepparttar 127973 link text, but so do No's 19 & 30. No's 4 & 10 don't have keyword's inrepparttar 127974 link text.

Posn 1 also has a keyword inrepparttar 127975 link, but again so do No's 19 & 30 and both 4 & 10 don't.

Also on positions 10 & 19, No.10 beats 19 even though it has no keywords inrepparttar 127976 link text or link.

So far, No.10 beats No.19 even though they have almostrepparttar 127977 same keyword density. No 10 has a lower word count and no keywords in eitherrepparttar 127978 link text or link compared to No 19 which has both. So what'srepparttar 127979 missing factor/s that explain why No 19 has a lower ranking than No 10 when byrepparttar 127980 optimizer rules it should berepparttar 127981 other way around.

It's nothing to do with keywords inrepparttar 127982 title either, because they all have those.

What about keywords inrepparttar 127983 Alt tags, no its' not that either,repparttar 127984 only one that has those is No.4.

I do hope your following this so far !

Perhaps it's due to keywords inrepparttar 127985 body content, but No.19 has more than No.10, so it's not that. Let's not forget No.4 it has a lower keyword density than 10 or 19 but still manages to beat them both.

.com Not Listed in Regional Yahoo? Don’t Despair!

Written by Glenn Murray


.com Not Listed in Regional Yahoo? Don’t Despair! By Glenn Murray *

If you’re a non-American business with a .com web address, and your regional Yahoo ranking is important to you, then my story might interest you.

Recently my copywriting website dropped out of Yahoo’s Australian rankings. For quite a while, it had been at number 1 for my primary keywords “advertising copywriter”, “copywriter”, and “website copywriter”. But then it suddenly disappeared. I clicked through about 10 pages of results, and it was nowhere to be seen. I then searched for my domain, and Yahoo couldn’t find it.

Something smelt fishy.

I’d done nothing ‘naughty’ to my site to warrant a ban, and I still had heaps of links to my site (actually, I had more than ever before).

I’m an Australian advertising copywriter. I’m based just north of Sydney and I host my website with a major Australian host. But my web address is a .com, not a .au. I started thinking this might berepparttar problem.

So I emailed Yahoo support, explainingrepparttar 127927 problem, and sharing my thoughts onrepparttar 127928 cause.

And all of a sudden, nothing happened.

So I waited. And I waited. And I waited. And finally, after about a couple of weeks, I received an email from a Yahoo support representative informing me – incorrectly – that my keyword wasn’t featured in my page title or description. I should remedy this shortcoming and re-submit my site to Yahoo.

Frustrated, I replied. I repeatedrepparttar 127929 important facts fromrepparttar 127930 first email just to ensure they’d listened. They hadn’t. They hadn’t even searched for my domain to confirm that Yahoo no longer recognised it.

When they got back to me this time, they had started paying a bit more attention. The support rep confirmed my suspicion that Yahoo had excluded my site because of its .com URL. Her very helpful solution was that I should change my domain to .au! She included some ridiculously complex instructions for how to do so, and sent me on my merry way.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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