What is keyword density?

Is "Keyword Density" this?

• I got a quick question... keyword density... I've head to keep it between 1% and 5%. If my keyword is "my keyword example", the keyword is technically 3 words. Does the 3 words count as only 1 keyword, or does it count as 3 keywords? and to calculate the keyword density %, ive just been copying everything off my blog and putting it into word to get a word total. for example: if "my keyword example" exact comes up 30 times on a blog post with 1000 words (30/1000) = .03 or 3% That 30 times was only in the body tho, not counting H1, H2, H3 tags, Not Counting Alt tags on pictures and not counting the title of the post... are those keywords still considered or is it only the keywords in the body that make the keyword density percentage? Thanks!

• Answer:

  Great question. First, for those who don't know, keyword density is the amount of times a keyword OR keyphrase is repeated on page. (Both are referenced as KEYWORDS). That said, one word "keywords" can fall into gray area when it comes to density because in many cases you cannot escape repetition of certain words - and in some cases you cannot escape a higher density in them either. So for the sake of this response, I will address 2+ word keyphrases (not one word keywords). Here's what you need to know. 1) A 1%-2% density is usually the average IF you are actually trying to optimize 2) That DOES include what you have on page and in your TAGS (across the board) 3) But TRYING to optimize can also look fake and render your page unfriendly to readers - so be careful. 4) You definitely DO NOT want to exceed 5% density on any page no matter what the word(s) BTW: You can download the SEOQuake toolbar for firefox or chrome to automate your density calculations (so you don't have to copy paste and count in word anymore). Good luck. :D