Using Keywords and Keyword Phrases effectively

This article will explain briefly what the differences are between; keyword density, frequency, prominence and proximity in relation to search engine ranking via some basic search engine optimization techniques.

Keyword Density

Keyword density refers to the ratio (percentage) of keywords contained within the total number of words that can be indexed within your web page. (This is commonly referred to as spidering)

The best keyword density ratio varies from search engine to search engine. In general, I recommend using a density ratio in the range of 5-8%. Do not go higher than 8% as this is very close to being regarded as "keyword stuffing" and can lead to your website being banned from the spider visit list.

Keyword Frequency

Keyword frequency refers to the number of times a keyword or phrase appears within a web page. A keyword phrase is a string of words. For example "computer" and "service" could be good keywords but a phrase like "computer services" is far more powerful. A keyword phrase is like guessing what people are entering into search engine search boxes to find information.

The theory is that the more times a keyword or phrase appears within a web page, the more relevance a search engine is likely to give the page for a search with the keyword or the phrase. I recommend that you make sure that the most important keyword or phrase are used most frequently in your web pages.

But be careful not to abuse the system by repeating the same keyword or phrase over and over again, this could be read by the search engine spider as Keyword Stuffing as previously mentioned.

Keyword Prominence

Keyword prominence refers to how prominent the keywords or phrases are within a web page, where they are on the page rather than how many. The general recommendation is to place important keywords and keyword phrases at, or near, the start of a web page, sentence, TITLE or META tag and somewhere near the end of the page, in the last sentence for instance.

Keyword Proximity

Keyword proximity refers to the space between two or more keywords. In general, the closer the keywords are, the better.

For example:

• keyword density affects search engine ranking

• keyword density affects ranking in search engines

Using the example above, if someone searched for "search engine ranking", a web page containing the first sentence is more likely to rank higher than the second. The reason is because the keywords are placed closer together. This is assuming that everything else is equal, of course.

Keywords and Phrases in Alt Tags

Where you have images in your web page content make full use of the image Alt tags. These are the ALTernative descriptions for your images that appear when you hover your mouse over the image on screen.

Simple Search Engine Optimization Techniques

This article has explained the differences between; keyword density, frequency, prominence and proximity in relation to search engine ranking via some basic search engine optimization techniques. Use this to help increase your own website traffic.