SEO Copywriting Essentials - Calculating Keyword Density
Topics: seo copywriting, seo, search engine optimization
When writing content for SEO copywriting, the very first thing you need to know before you ever open a blank Word document are which keywords the content will target. Beginning a marketing plan without keywords is like setting out on a road trip without a destination. You’ll get somewhere, but it may not be where you intended! In this article, we won’t talk about choosing keywords — that’s a science all of its own.
Instead, I’ll focus on how to calculate the keyword density of your articles, blog posts, and web pages. I’ll also cover some of the most common mistakes people make with calculating keyword density, as well as some little known SEO copywriting tips help you work in difficult keywords.
Calculating Keywords Density
Ideally, when doing SEO copywriting, your primary keyword phrase should be the most prominent phrase of its length on the page. I measure keyword saturation by calculating keyword density. When writing articles for distribution through article marketing, I strive for a keyword density of between 1.0% and 1.3%. This means that primary keyword or keyword phrase should appear about 1 time per every 100 words. With web content, I typically shoot for a keyword density of 2.0% to 3.0% - or 2 to 3 times per every 100 words.
Using Live Keyword Analysis
There’s an easier way to figure out your keyword density rather than counting your keywords by hand. A free service called ‘Live Keyword Analysis’ allows you to paste the body of your article into a field, type in your keywords, and instantly get a count of the density.
There are a few things you’ll need to know before using this SEO copywriting too in order to get an accurate reading:
Calculating Singular Keywords
It may seem that plurals and singular terms wouldn’t make that much of a difference in SEO copywriting — but they do. Take a look at how the search results for “real estate agent” (singular) differ from “real estate agents” (plural).
Live Keyword Analysis doesn’t recognize the end of a word - not knowing this could give you an inaccurate reading. For example, if you had 10 instances of the word “real estate agent” and 13 instance of the word “real estate agents” it will evaluate all 23 occurrences because it sees the singular term in the plural term.
Because of this, you’ll need to subtract the singular percentage from the plural percentage:
3.2 (singular)
- 0.9 (plural)
=
2.3 (actual singular density)
Calculating Two-Letter Keywords
I’m sure that the folks that created Live Keyword Analysis were trying to be helpful when they programmed the tool to ignore all two-letter keywords. But this can be really annoying when one part of your keyword phrase is a two-letter word.
For example, if your keyword phrase is “homes in California” and you enter this into live keyword analysis, you’ll get a ratio of 0%. In order to get around this, simply drop the two-letter word (in) form the keyword box so that it reads “homes California.”
This works well when the two-letter word was in the middle of the keyword phrase. However, oftentimes when the two-letter word is at the end of the keyword phrase, you may have to take a different approach.
If our keyword is “California DJ” we could simply remove the term “DJ” from the keyword box, but then Live Keyword Analysis will calculate the ratio of all of the instances of the term “California.”
In this case, I do a ‘find and replace’ in Word and replace all of the terms “DJ” with some 3-letter word such as “DJX.” Then I copy and paste the body of the article into Live Keyword Analysis and enter “California DJX” into the keyword box.
After calculating the density, I hit Control Z (or Undo) to undo the change.
Apostrophe’s Affect Search Results
If you type the term “children’s clothing” into Google you’ll get different search results than if you type “childrens clothing.” Though “children’s clothing” is grammatically accurate, some companies and/or SEO’s will want to optimize for the term without the apostrophe since many people will type the term into search engines without it. I usually try to optimize for the grammatically correct term and then add in a few within the page that are written the incorrect way. That way I am covering all of the bases.
Knowing the rules of calculating keyword density can make a big difference in your overall SEO copywriting strategies. Being able to properly account for plurals, two-letter words and punctuation means you will be better equipped to write effective content and therefore increase your page ranking.
Christine O’Kelly is co-owner of SEO Content Solutions (seocontentsolutions.com) a leading SEO copywriting firm. The company provides SEO press releases, articles, blog content and web content to resellers and end users alike (seocontentsolutions.com)
Previous Articles Highlighter:
7 Special Holiday Gifts For Writers (1)
Besides all of that they will marvel at how thoughtful you are. To celebrate the writer in your life here's 7 gift ideas to choose from: 1. eBook Reader Most writers are avid readers.
SEO Copywriting: How To Choose Article Marketing Topics To Achieve Maximum Exposure (2)
Realizing that I did not have the skills nor the desire to learn the skills necessary to build a professional trade show display, I followed the link at the bottom to visit the author's website.
Whatever Your Business, Printing Deserves Some Attention (3)
Colour is perhaps the most important consideration. The brain whether you are aware of it or not recognises colour first, above everything else. It then creates an emotional response based on the colours it has been shown.
How To Write A Book That Pulls Readers In Like A Magnet (4)
Shorten your sentences, stories and analogies. Your professional format will include a strong heading (question) your reader needs answered and the answer. This professional formula presents the problem and solution quickly without a lot of words.
Trash Your Newspaper! Real News Will Be Online (5)
Also, because you have the opportunity to search for articles of interest, you can easily ignore the articles you have no interest in reading, and these articles did not waste any paper.
7 Profitable Things You Get To Do When You Write Your Book (6)
Here's to seeing your name in print! Are you ready to profit when you write your book yet? Go get my free 7 lesson mini-course Jumpstart Writing Your Book!
Binders For Your Reservation Books (7)
You can also chose the types and number of rings you want in your binder, whether it is a two or three ring binder or has small or large rings.
Internet Marketing: Copywriting For A Client-Attracting "About" Page (8)
And now I invite you to find out more by visiting www.makewebsiteprofits.com. Download my free report, 7 secrets of websites that really attract clients. From Cathy Goodwin, The Website Makeover Pro.
Where To Find Personalized Reservation Books? (9)
So a standard reservation book will not be appropriate for all businesses though you can use a standardized reservation book for many occasions and services if so desired. It is possible to obtain personalized reservations books for function, banquet and meeting rooms, table reservations, function/table reservations, time based reservations, log books, group room control reservations, guest registers, standard reservations, menu covers, wine list covers, guest check presenters, two sided table tents, ring binders, case bound books, table tents and restaurant menu covers.
Get Your 2009 Reservation Book Now! (10)
Lance Thorington's articles have been distributed on different sites online. So if you are in the market for a reservation books for your restaurant, bar, or hotel. The people at reservation book can assist you.
What's Important When You Look For Quality Reservation Books (11)
You can also get a good idea of the prices for each type of book which can help you when purchasing your own. Lance Thorington's articles have been distributed on several places online.
Setting Up Your Own Website (12)
Websites about love and romances are so extensive that you have to be certain that what everything you're offering to readers are fresh, informative and easy to understand tips and advices.
Article Marketing Essentials- How To Optimize An Article For Maximum Effectiveness (13)
Proper keyword research should be able pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses in your campaign, what keywords your competitors are targeting and which keywords are more easily mastered than others. Choose one primary keyword to target in the article, as well as 2-4 related keywords to sprinkle throughout.
Surge Up In Search Engine Rankings Using The Author Resource Box Wisely (14)
Too many links can cause your reader to be confused. An effective resource box will increase your website traffic and provide your reader with additional references. Your website becomes a valuable resource for the reader.
7 Self Publishing Mistakes That Block The Success Of A Self Publshed Author (15)
Topics: How to publish your book, self publishing mistakes, self published author And now I would like to offer you free access to my FREE Self Publishing eKit on book writing, publishing and marketing tips.
Thinking Of A Freelance Writing Career? (16)
Monika Mundell is a successful freelance writer and pro-blogger. If you visit her blog freelance writing www.thewritersmanifesto.com you can gain invaluable knowledge on how you can get started in the freelancing industry.
The Honeymoon Is Over Once You Gain A Publisher For Your Business Book (17)
Robert came to live in a hotel near our offices while the two of us settled in to write night and day. A difficulty of distance had slowed our earlier progress.
How To Write Headlines For Sales Letters (18)
Pre-headline is located at the topmost part of the sales letter and is primarily used to lure the reader to the main headline, while the sub-headline usually contains the punch line or makes use of what copywriters call the attention device, which draws the attention of readers to the body of the letter.
How To Plan Your Sales Letter Theme (19)
Another powerful element that makes this landing page successful are the repeated psychological triggers. "Smoking HOT products," "insane profits," "instant access" all of these phrases create urgency, increase perceived value, and induce action.
Affiliate Marketing - Create Passive Income With Affiliate Products And Services (20)
Writing articles are the best ways, in my opinion, to get started promoting other people's products and services, but they are by no means the only ways. I will share more of what I am talking about.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Article Marketing - Five Top Tips For Successful Article Marketing (1)
These keywords should feature regularly throughout each article you write. This means your content will match what your potential market are looking for and will appear high up on the search engine results.
Marketing In A Recession: Why You Won't Survive If You Stop! (2)
They stop the very engine which drives their business - the marketing. Yes, totally nuts, I know. But that doesn't stop them doing it. I understand why they do it, because it's an emotional decision based on fear: the fear their marketing isn't actually working.
Copywriting Tip: Do Your Client A Favor And Ask For The Order (3)
And now I invite you to find out more by visiting www.copy-cat-copywriting.com. Download my free report, 7 secrets of websites that really attract clients. From Cathy Goodwin, The Website Makeover Pro.
Article Submissions - Learn Some Tips On Getting Your Article Submitted To The World (4)
Write about what you know and enjoy. This goes for anyone who wants to write articles and have them accepted by a submission site. For the business owner looking to increase traffic and revenue, the topics will pertain to your business in general, business products that you sell, and/or business services that you provide.
5 Ways To Brain Storm Non-Fiction Book Title Ideas For Your Book (5)
Remember, your title may be 90% of the pulling power for your book. It would be worth your effort to create a sizzling title for your message. Researchers say you have 4 seconds to hook your potential buyer.
3 Ways To Keep MS Word From Killing Your SEO Strategy (6)
Pasting into the HTML tab eliminates all of this sloppy extra code that can severely dilute your keyword density and make it more difficult for search engine spiders to crawl your content and decipher the primary topic of the article.
Ensuring Your Article Submission Strategy Evolves (7)
Article submission works and it always will as long as your article is making a bigger splash in the pool of article directories. Author: Chris Kennelly writes for Talkinmince.com, to find more resources go to www.talkinmince.com
5 Irresistible Reasons To Write A Short Book First (8)
Writing this way will allow you to refine, repeat and repackage your information. Develop a continuing flow with a website, a stream of articles, reports, follow-up products and even services to build your book, your brand and your profits further.
Increase Sales With An Easy-To-Navigate Web Site (9)
The standard color for non-visited links is blue. Use a different link color for visited links. 7. Include a sitemap (table of contents) if your site has more than 20 pages.
How To Use Effective Communication Skills To Get What You Want (10)
Wouldn't it be great to have others 'hear' you? How awesome to be able to have access to another's 'map of the world' and really understand how they perceive reality.
Is Your Article A Winner Or Not (11)
Your following points must then follow in a structured and organized manner, addressing each and every point you intend raising in your article. Structure should follow smoothly and your article writing style should encourage the reader to be able to easily read your content, without making it a belaboring task to work through the information.
Learn The German Language (12)
Most of the people are doing business with german companies or they want to go on vacation in good old germany. Therefore it is good to have the right vocabulary.
Mastering The Art Of Article Writing (13)
If you use a provider that sends you work you must edit heavily, replace them. Your time is too valuable to do work you already paid to have done.
Article Submission And Related Services (14)
The moment you stray off the rules and desired format will result in the article being returned and unpublished. One has the opportunity of utilizing an article submission service whereby the service provider will submit your articles on your behalf, which would most likely involve thousands of submissions.
To Attract A Larger Audience And Sell More Books, Consider Becoming An Online Book Reviewer (15)
Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist and The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution about business model innovation. Read about creating breakthroughs and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at www.fastforward400.com
The Article Directory Explained (16)
Topics: article writing, article Marketing, article submission, article directory The article directory is used by people wishing to share their insight into a variety of subjects, this can be from their pets and training them to sewing.
The Role Of A Proper Press Release In Your SEO Services (17)
The SEO services also advocate press release writing as it can get instant visitors. Online press releases are one of the viral marketing tools used for website promotion in search engine optimization campaigns.
Take Time To Submit An Article (18)
Unfortunately if you have answers to a limited number of issues, you business will most likely not take off and you would have been better off providing the help and information via the article directory.
How To Use Ebooks To Start A Viral Marketing Campaign (19)
Topics: ebooks, ebook writing, viral marketing Viral marketing. It sounds like some kind of disease, but it's really not. Viral marketing is really word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing is where your customers like your product so much that they tell others about it, others try your product and then tell others about it, and so on.
Writing An Article Aligned With Your Passion (20)
By piquing the readers interest sufficiently you will hopefully encourage the reader to click through to your site and then purchase the service or product that you have on offer, related to you article writing subject and story line.
Permalink to SEO Copywriting Essentials - Calculating Keyword Density