Keyword Volume for Websites

[SteveM]

I have a question that's been burning a hole through my skull for months. How many keywords on a webpage is enough? I realize there may be too many (i.e. keyword stuffing), but what, if any parameters apply to "too few?" How many of each keyword will trigger a response from a search engine?

I can find plenty of excellent keywords that I would love to use, but there is no way I can use them all without sounding like a total spammer. My WordPress platform has an All-In-One SEO package that a person can fill for on each page that doesn't show up as content, but I'm not sure if adding one particular keyword in that package is a waste of time, or if it's totally worth the effort.

Any help is appreciated!

[AshleyWhiteBusiness]

For a search engine to rank your web site highly, focus on one or two keywords per page. This will allow the spiders to be convinced of the relevance of your page content to the keyword. Keeping a one-keyword-per-page policy is the best bet. Writing a minimum of 250 words creates enough content to naturally include a good keyword density.

[SteveM]

Thanks for the help! That's pretty much the opposite from what a lot of people have been dishing, and it makes sense.

[nicolassage]

Its a great question, but I think there is no special keyword volume to use. According to me 20% is a limit but no one can tell you a trusted number...

[keiooz]

I have read from somewhere that you need to have at least 3-10% keyword available in a single article post. That's if you have a blogsite.

[SteveM]

Thanks for the input!

[DeniseTaylor]

Hi

I agree with AshleyWhiteBusiness, but my minimum page length recommendation is 400 words. With Panda's thin content issues, I prefer to ensure there's a little more meat to my pages. Better safe than sorry. ;-)

[ThirdSEO]

If your entire site is about the same topic I would focus on one or two high-traffic keywords and spread them throughout multiple pages. A number that I've found that's been working for keyword density is about 4-7% of your content. In the end, you should be focusing mainly on the user experience so if you think you're using your keywords too much, you probably are. Use your gut instinct and go with that. I used to be a fan of the All-In-One SEO package until I found the SEO plugin made by Yoast. I feel like it does a better job.

[vangogh]

How many keywords on a webpage is enough?

One? A million? There's no specific amount of keywords you should or shouldn't use. Think of it more like building a page or a section of your site around a keyword theme. Think about it more holistically. Ignore things like keyword density and don't agonize about exactly how many times you should use a keyword phrase or exactly how many keyword phrases to target.

Better is to think about what your page is about and write it so it reads well for real people. Search engines are smart enough to know that if you're page is about cars you're still going to use words like auto, chevy, and manual transmission. Using all these words can help you rank for those words as well as the original cars. If you try to count how many keywords you can or can't use you'll limit how many different phrases might pull traffic for the page and you probably won't rank as well for the keywords you're trying to use since the kind of pages search engines prefer ranking do use a variety of words and phrases.

I'll second the recommendation for Yoast's SEO plugin. I think it's better than All in one SEO and I'd recommend any plugin Yoast creates.

[Matt121]

One? A million? There's no specific amount of keywords you should or shouldn't use. Think of it more like building a page or a section of your site around a keyword theme. Think about it more holistically. Ignore things like keyword density and don't agonize about exactly how many times you should use a keyword phrase or exactly how many keyword phrases to target.

Better is to think about what your page is about and write it so it reads well for real people. Search engines are smart enough to know that if you're page is about cars you're still going to use words like auto, chevy, and manual transmission. Using all these words can help you rank for those words as well as the original cars. If you try to count how many keywords you can or can't use you'll limit how many different phrases might pull traffic for the page and you probably won't rank as well for the keywords you're trying to use since the kind of pages search engines prefer ranking do use a variety of words and phrases.

I'll second the recommendation for Yoast's SEO plugin. I think it's better than All in one SEO and I'd recommend any plugin Yoast creates.

I agree. Yoast is an extremely helpful SEO plugin than All in one SEO or Ultimate SEO pack. It has helped me to great lengths in posting SEO-friendly posts to our blog.

[vangogh]

Yoast knows both WordPress and seo very well and his is the plugin I use now. I've never used Ultimate SEO Pack, though I've been subscribed to the blog of it's creators and they know their stuff too. Knowing them I'm pretty sure you can trust their plugin too.

[cheaper accountant]

I've always been unsure of this as well, but after reading the comments above I think I'll aim for 400 words per page with keywords mentioned a few times.

[vangogh]

Don't aim for specific word counts. Just write what you have to write. However long it is, is exactly the right length. There's no seo benefit for writing a certain amount of content. If anything writing more would be better.

[billbenson]

Don't aim for specific word counts. Just write what you have to write. However long it is, is exactly the right length. There's no seo benefit for writing a certain amount of content. If anything writing more would be better.

Would you go as far to say that synonyms can work without ever mentioning the keyword. Such as a link to a page that say's bushes but shrubbery is used instead in the entire page and the word bush is never used?

[vangogh]

Yes synonyms are good. No one wants to read an article where the exact same phrase is always repeated. I don't think you have to really think too hard about this though. My point above is to just write naturally. Spend less time worrying about how a search engine will view what you wrote and spend more time worrying about what real people will think of it. Focusing on people leads to better results with search engines than focusing on the search engines.

But, yes synonyms are good and yes a page can rank for a word without ever mentioning the word. Search Google for the single word "computer" and check the results. For me Apple's home page (http://www.apple.com/) was the #3 result. Count how many times the page uses the word computer. It should be exactly 0.