Keyword Density and Placement

Keyword density and placement is a topic that is becoming very popular these days. There are many SEO Experts that think that keyword density is not even an issue, or at least it is a small issue. So, I wanted to dedicate this edition of the blog to my take on the issue of keyword density and placement.
First off, key placement is easy to deal with, from my opinion. You have to get your keywords into articles, titles, meta-tags and meta descriptions on your website. They also need to be used in meaningful ways. You have to place the keywords in and around rock solid content for your website, unless you are using them in the title. Spamming the keywords does not work well. So, if you are going to write content, make sure you are placing keywords often. I try to have my big keywords in at least every other article I add.
So, let’s talk of density for a bit. The search engines are not currently using a metric that includes keyword density. Yet, the use of well placed keywords can make a difference. Here is the question you may want to ask yourself: “ in relation to the use of my keywords, have I covered all aspects of the topic on my website, in my blog, on my information pages?” If you can answer yes to this question, then you probably don’t need to cram more keywords in. If your answer is no, then you need to add more keywords. A good rule of thumb, for me, has always been to use a 3% or less keyword density. Most of the time, you can thoroughly cover a topic in that amount of keywords. I don’t freak out, though, if I need to use the keywords more than that, to get things to make sense. Search Engine Optimization strategies will not fall apart because I used my keyword one too many times.
I do, however, feel it is important to use keywords in Titles. Getting your keywords in your title can really help to get the article noticed. Then, the good content of the article will only help to drive the overall SEO for the whole article. Subtitles are also a good place to get keywords hidden. This is an old SEO Expert trick that still pays dividends. Not all titles yield to the use of certain keywords. However, witty little subtitles often do, and can help to get the article noticed.
Johnny Smoes is an IT Programmer and Principle with SEO Experts Australia, a company that specializes in search engine optimization. He frequently writes about the topic of SEO here, and in other publications. You can reach him at SEOExpertsAustralia.com.au or @seoaus2010 on Twitter.