Keyword density

[BuckfastMonk]

From what I have been reading, most say that you should not have a keyword density greater than 50%.

Is 50% a good figure to go by or what should I be aiming for?

Cheers

[mtb167]

Whoa! 50%!

Maybe for MSN, but I shoot for around 5%, and I do just fine.

[pleeker]

what should I be aiming for?
A well-written page that uses your primary keyword and a couple variations and persuasively encourages your site visitors to take the action expected of them from that page. :)

[Kostis Panayotakis]

Hi
When we say keyword density we mean keyword density on the visible text or some composite density metric (e.g. including title, meta title/description)?

In order to draw a conclusion on a successful density level, one has to check the SERP on the keyword and check the density on top ranking pages. In general, the higher the density the better the ranking (other factors excluded).

I had posted some relevant questions on
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=15457

K

[mtb167]

And lets not forget latent semantic indexing.

You can't just rely on keyword density anymore as it is. You need to include other words on your page that would suggest it is on topic.

[gobeyond]

When you write for your web site, you should write with your readers in mind. If you write for search engine and stuff a lot of keywords, it serves no purpose if visitors brought by search engines don't read your content.

50% is way too much. Seems like spam to me. Keywords are more important if they are present in the title, h1, h2 tags.

[pleeker]

When you write for your web site, you should write with your readers in mind. If you write for search engine and stuff a lot of keywords, it serves no purpose if visitors brought by search engines don't read your content.

50% is way too much. Seems like spam to me. Keywords are more important if they are present in the title, h1, h2 tags.
Exactly. Placement is much more important than density.

[Northie]

Aim at 2% keyword density.

Yes, this is low, but as the engines start to integrate LSI you'll end up with a 'topic density' of 10%-20% if the page is naturally written.