keyword density tools

[wlodi]

hi,

i am wondering which keyword density tools you use (if you use at all).
I used to use the one at: http://tinyurl.com/2pdhs but it shows different results everytime I check a page.
What is more, it shows some keyphrases that are not visible on my page.

Merry Christmas to all of WebProWorld members!

wlodi

[braknews]

I use...

http://www.searchengineworld.com/cgi-bin/kwda.cgi

and

http://www.gorank.com/seotools/

[JKomp]

I tend just to do it by eye, perhpas highlighting my targeted keywords in the text first. But those tools do seem like useful resources.

[rlrouse]

I don't use keyword density "tools" at all. An effective keyword density can be anywhere between 3% and 93%, depending on the content of the page in question.

The general rule that serves me well is:

If the search engines can't determine the topic of the page the keyword density is too low. If the page copy appears un-natural when you read it the keyword density is probably too high.

When it comes to SEO, keyword density gets way too much attention from way too many webmasters. If you write good, useful copy that "sounds right" with your target keyword used in a few phrases you'll do just fine.

Concentrate your SEO efforts in more important areas such as creating more content, getting inbound links, etc. and you'll be well-rewarded.

[mlevenhagen]

"rlrouse" is right. Density itself doesn't always matter. I've been surpised by having the SEs pick up a keyword that is only mentioned a few times. Although I think if you were up against an identical page to yours, one extra keyword might break the tie... I could be wrong.

I find myself using the tool to get a feel for the page and tweak it. It summarizes the page for me so I can get a birds eye view.

I may try and change the keyword focus a little to try and improve ranking for a different keyword. Or if I do discover I have to many single words or phrases by using a tool I can go in and mix it up a little with some different ones and see if I can pick up results on different keywords or make the copy sound better... or, if I see a single word I may try and increase it's presence.

But as "rlrouse" said, your copy does have to sound right. Don't sacrifice good copywriting with to much keyword density...

Here's another tool I've used (I use the one above also)... although this one does have a page size limit:

http://www.ranks.nl/tools/spider.html

I do think it's a good way to summarize your pages and get a feel.

...

[Tjaart]

I use GoogleRankings

Tjaart
Siam Excursions

[pdrew]

Thank you for supplying links to keyword density checkers in this thread. Much appreciated.

Question: Most of the checkers permit allowing or not allowing the program to check your page's meta tags and title. If I include them, the density for my prime keyword "voiceovers" is about 13 percent. Blocking the meta tags and title, "voiceovers" comes in around 6 percent. Which figure should I pay attention to? I don't want to end up stuffing my page with my prime keyword. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[mlevenhagen]

Tjaart, I forgot about GoogleRankings density checker. Thanks! I use several of their tools already...

pdrew, I don't think anyone can answer that question... it's different for every situation...

You don't have a lot of text to begin with the way it looks. A lot of them are in your anchor text which can only be a good thing.

I don't know if I would add any more... IMHO. You don't want to get penalized for spamming the SEs.

...your gaining on your competition with that keyword, but your competition gets tough towards the top. And very little of that is about keyword density.

I would suggest doing a search for that keyword and take a hard look at what you're up against and see what you can do...

An idea might be to do a little research and see if you can't target a phrase instead (including that keyword). You might get less searches, but there will also be less competition and you'll have an easier time getting to the top of the SERPs.

You've already got a good start with your Inbound Links (Mr. PR5:)... keep going after those.

Just my thoughts, Good Luck!

[pdrew]

Thank you, Matt, for your advice.

The home page has about 250 words. I've thought about re-writing it to make it a little more conversational, but I'm reluctant to do so. I was in the top 25 on Google, but have moved down and bounced around between 25-50. I rank number 6 in Yahoo! and MSN, and 8 in MSN Beta. I don't want to lose the SERPs I have now, so I'm still thinking about it.

I've researched keyword phrases and have inserted the one that makes the most sense, but the site doesn't rank well at all for it. You suggested including my top keyword in that phrase. Unfortunately, that would be grammatically impossible.

I've been very selective with my outbound links and try to get truly relevant inbound links. I've found writing articles and getting them picked up by other sites does work really well, better than trying to trade links. In fact, an article I wrote actually appears at number 15 in Google and my website is at number 50!

Thanks again for your thoughts and to all in this thread, Happy New Year!