Keyword Density and Keyword Prominence

Keyword density on a particular web page should be between 2% to 5% as a rule of thumb. A somewhat higher Keyword Density percentage is acceptable but the higher keyword densities can eventually make reading the page awkward for human visitors, and the keyword density should not reach the level of 5%+ certainly.

Keyword density ratio percentage includes the calculation for both on-page and off-page factors such as image alt tags, title, and metatags, and readable content. After a web page is initially published you can easily spider the page with SEO tools to evaluate density and then make needed adjustments up or down.

Keyword Prominence

Keyword prominence is an attribute that measures the highly emphasized keywords or queries focused upon on that page due to special attributes assigned to the words by web designers. By focusing upon your keywords at the top of the page with multiple occurrences in the top paragraphs and H1 tag for instance, and with larger font and other emphasizing techniques such as underlining, bold, or italics, you can usually achieve a keyword prominence of 60% or higher which is desirable for top level keywords.

Spidering the page with a robot tool will help you identify shortfalls in content such as exceedingly high (or low) keyword density. Web spidering tools also identify useless words such as: you, the, or for, a, with etc which may be edited down in frequency. You want your primary search queries to be denser than useless filler words. Do not try to perfectly design cookie-cutter web pages with perfect keyword density existing on many web pages, or it can be seen as over-optimizing and draw a penalty entitled the OOP or Over Optimization Penalty from major search engines. Mix-up the content design and layout on various web pages so it is less-contrived, your visitors also will appreciate a variety of design elements along with the in-depth professional coverage of the page topic.