Many years ago, search engine optimization professionals relied on keyword and phrase density as one of the core strategies behind top rankings. What made keyword density so appealing is that it was straightforward and simple. The downside is that it was outright abused. This caused search results to show irrelevant pages. To combat this, search engines had to use more sophisticated methods to build their indexes

Each search engine has its own means and methods to rank sites for a particular keyword or phrase. These methods are closely guarded secrets. Search engines consider the following: 

• Usage data
• Anchor text of inbound links
• Site/domain age
• General authority (ie. what other websites link to it)

Each one of the above criteria also has its own way of relating keywords and key phrases. This is called natural language processing and is something you, as someone responsible for high site rankings, have control over and should spend time on improving.

Athough keyword density is a bit dated as an SEO tactic, there is still value in revisiting the practice as a means to improve website rankings -- if you know how to use it.

Using keyword density is not a bad means to determine website relevance; it’s just that search engine algorithms have evolved but many SEOs and the search engine optimization software tools they use, have not evolved.

Keyword density tools fall short in their ability to provide meaningful help into ranking improvements. But keyword density tools are helpful when used in conjunction with the right tactic. The “right” tactic in this case is to increase relevant  content on a page.

How to increase content relevance.

Search engines typically look at supporting vocabulary when determining the relevancy of a page. So, by removing irrelevant content you boost the relevence of the remaining content.

For each phrase, ask yourself this question:

If you removed this keyword phrase, would it be very easy to rank for that term?

If the answer is yes, then search engines can still determine what your page is about with the supporting text.

Let’s look at a few popular keyword density analyzer tools to see this in action.

David Naylor’s Keyword Density Tool reports on the content of a website. This tool provides useful information to give you a big-picture view of why competitors are outranking your site. For example, you might notice that a website with which you are competing has a higher keyword density in its title or page headings than you do. Naylor’s tool provides a quick overview of this very important information.

For even deeper depth of the relevency of keywords, try Keyword Density and Prominence at www.ranks.nl. Their tool provides a “Ranks Wizard” that is helpful in identifying the non-primary keywords on your page that support search engines as they relate/associate keywords and phrases with your site.

Conclusion

Keyword density tools are useful in determining how relevant a page is to a specific keyword.

• You get to see your page from the perspective of a search engine crawler.
• You can minimize irrelevance.

As search engines continue to evolve keyword density remains a good initial measure of future performance (if you know how to use it). By knowing how to use it correctly, your site’s ranking will be that much better.

Do Not try to achieve some specific keyword density percentage. Instead, use density as a measuring stick to know that you are doing all you can to tell search engines that the page you are optimizing is indeed relevant.