In SEO news, several discussions have been swirling around about what the optimal keyword density is in light of the latest Google Penguin Update. It is known that the old standards which pushed the envelop will no longer work as much of the heavily keyed web content on the outer limit has been penalized. The question is, how far can you push, and should you be pushing the envelope at all? How much is too much when it comes to keyword density?
The days of pushing for 4% are long gone, and even a 3.5% keyword density is proving problematic – and should never be necessary anyway. A good SEO copywriter can get the job done more than effectively with only a 2% keyword density. It seems like 3% is the new 4% and relevance and anchor text are the key to success when you choose keywords and link from them. Googlebot is getting increasingly smart at separating the wheat from the chaff and in many instances, that one extra use of a keyword is what Googlebot is deciding does or does not make an article spammy.
The best advice from SEOs that is circulating now is to aim for the 2% density with your keywords and be safe rather than sorry. You will get away with a little inflation now and then, but if your content is dragging you down rather than boosting you up, it isn’t even worth having on your site. This appears to be something that Google will only get tougher on as time goes by, and 2% has always been considered the golden density of strong SEO content.
Tags: keyword density, seo news
